Surprised you haven't gotten any responses-- 'flooring' must be very quiet these days.

I'm not going to be much help either, I'm afraid. I've never dealt with a polished trav/marble floor. Yes, it should be sealed, but sealing won't stop etching. Sealing basically fills the pores so that liquid doesn't penetrate, but etching is a chemical reaction between the alkaline elements in the stone and anything acid it comes in contact with.

Etching can't really be removed, either. It's possible some of the new high tech polishes would make it less noticable, but the stone has been eaten away, and isn't coming back.

It is possible to hone stone tiles, removing the polished surface. I think they'd be much easier to maintain that way, and the damaged areas as well as future damage would blend in better. I've heard of people doing it themselves.

As to the loose tile, yikes: not sure what to tell you. You should be able to scrape the thinset off the backs and backer, re-set with a white, modified thin set.

I'm not sure what you mean by being able to push the grout down. Grout is cement based, and can't flex. I wonder if they used a caulk instead, which stays rubbery.

You can remove damaged and loose grout and re-do it, but unless you have some sense as to why its giving way, it could be an exercise in futility. The original install could have been bad, or the floor below could be flexing [which would also account for the tiles popping up].

If its the latter, it's going to be very tough to address.

Best of luck!

Thank you for your help!

I like the idea of honing the tiles and will research that some more.

Let me clarify the grout issue: Imagine grouting really fast and not pushing the material down in the cavity between the tiles. It sets up fine, but over time it cracks and can be pushed down because there is just air underneath.

I have removed areas where the grout looks bad and begun to regrout being extra careful to push the material in as far as possible. I think the space is 1/16 or 1/8" wide so I was told unsanded grout was ok.

In addition to all that, my handyman had me knock on the corners of tiles and you can hear that many are not properly attached.

I'm guessing we need to start saving for hardwood. It seems like such a shame.

Thanks again - I appreciate the advice.

It does seem that most of what you are dealing with is a result of a bad [possibly 'flip this house inspired] install.

On the upside, most of the needful repairs sound as though they are within your ability. You'll be out a lot of sweat, but hopefully not much cash.

As I understand it, honing is pretty easy with a material as soft as marble. I think all you need is a good sander and a fine grit paper.

When we were thinking of getting marble for our kitchen countertops, I paid a marble refinisher to hone a marble tile I'd bought so I could see the difference... anyway, he then came over and talked to me for a long while about marble. He told me that the beauty of marble is that it can be completely redone (whether honed or polished) over and over and over again until there is no marble left. I seem to recall that travertine is a softer version of marble. So it seems logical to me that you can have the whole floor re-done if you want to keep it. Hardwood is my favorite flooring, but travertine is a close second and is a beautiful substance. I hope you can make the repairs and keep it.

Where is floorguy and glenn?

bigdoglover, thanks for letting us know. I had no idea that marble and travertine tiles could be refinished as well as being so beautiful.