mwrede,
Deck-o-seal comes in various colors in a tube that you could use or your stone setter can use white mortar, which would be preferred. Good luck.

golfgeek thanks so much for responding to my question! I tryly appreciate your help. So you are saying the white mortar is better than the silicone caulking - is that in terms of strength etc. or because of the fact that we are trying to match the stone?

Also by white mortar do you mean pure white portland cement? Would you mix sand in it since the joints are over 3/8"?

Besides deck-o-seal i have been told about mp-1 caulking by Basf but i think they are both silicones and would look plasticky which is not at all what I would want.

Anyone else have any thoughts?
I'll need to buy this stuff today so I am kind of stressed out.

Wide gaps require sanded grout. It should be sealed too.DeckoSeal is for use between a deck and coping, not tile and coping.

Scott

Yeah, I agree with Scott Deck o seal is used for horizontal expansion joints, not on vertical planes. It would just roll down the face of the tile.

I recommend using a high quality silicone, that matches the color of your grout. That way in the freeze/thaw periods its less likely to knock the tile off..

Many big suppliers to masons, tile setters, etc have this stuff available, sometimes you can find them at big box stores as well.

You can also use Sika Flex if you are ok w/ the colors they have.

Trying to figure this out on such short notice has been really stressfull so thank you poolguynj and racket for your suggestions.

Our patio needs to be finished so the pool builder can continue his work which involves acid washing the pool and get plaster scheduled. The stone mason is going pretty slowly - or maybe slowly by my standards - I guess i lived up north too long and am not used to the ways of the south. I was going to try and deal with filling the gap between the coping and tile myself.

The PB suggested I try SONOLASTIC NP1 one part polyurathane sealant. I drove 45 min to get it on Friday before the store closed for the weekend but when I tried it yesterday it looked really uneven and sloppy - it was really thick and I couldn't find a way to smooth it out. This was with using backer rod to fill the deeper openings. Now I am left with 10 tubes since they don't take returns. I do think it's meant for floor and not wall application much like the deck-o-seal.

So I called around at the local tile shops yesterday trying to find out whether there was some sanded grout they recommended for such application and they recommended mapei ultracolor sanded grout. From what I understand it's meant for commercial applications of 3/8-1" and is suitable for settings like swimming pools. It is supposed to be fast setting though. Funny thing is after all that I looked at the bag they gave me and realised that it's expired. I will try to get a new one so i can try it tommorow and see how it works.

We normally make up our own grout, with a mixture of (1) 94 # bg. of white portland, 14 -15 shovels of mason sand and color from the Cast Stone manufacturer. This allows us to match the grout color to the stone. You can use a SMS grout color that comes in a 25# bgs. as provided by the tile supplier, or Home Depot., and pick the color you like; or have your designer pick it out for you. We always make up a batch of color and allow it to dry, as it is considerably lighter when it dries than when it is wet. If your tile is uneven where it meets the bottom of the stone, you will need a 3/8" grout jt. in order to lay the travertine level. You can lay a 1/4" th. grout joint, however it is more difficult to install. Most stone or brick is tuck pointed after it is used for coping. Tuck pointing allows for the grout to be pushed into the joint and leave a nice tight finish, and eliminate any voids. One little trick that you can try that will give you a little more time, and make the grout, either by hand or premixed bagged, is to add a tiny bit of KARO syrup. This makes the grout more flowable, and allows more time to work the grout. As soon as you add the KARO syrup to the grout, you will notice a creamer consistency..

A lot of the travertine paver( 1-1/4" thick) is sand set here in Florida. A couple of reasons. Eliminate the expense of forming, pouring and paying for concrete, which could crack and causes a transfer crack(s) to anything placed on top of it. If you place 4" crushed concrete(which is recycled concrete) instead, it is considerably less costly. Place a 1" leveling course of screening sand.( In Florida it is made from crushed limestone), then place the travertine paver on that. The perimeter will be mud set, so as to secure the border. If at some point you decide to add to the deck, you just need to repeat the process and it will not look like an add on.

NO CRACKS EVER on your sand set pool deck. They do make a special polymer sand to place between the joints of the travertine pavers. I prefer tumbled travertine pavers as opposed to the chiseled edge. Ivory colored travertine makes for a beautiful clean look. Tom A from South Florida