Something has to fill the space. You have to grout or else dig the pancake batter and marinara sauce and general kitchen grunge out of there. Better fill in the holes while you are grouting too. For the same reason.

I have the same tiles and you do need grout. Because of the nature of stone this isn't easy to clean off. I used a stone/grout sealant on them before grouting. Carefully wiping only the fronts. This helped keep grout out of the stone texture. Was my solution, but perhaps search for a tile forum and there may be a better way. Not sure of the minimum space for grout with the stone tiles.

Also, this stone loves water and a few other interesting things which need a bit of cleaning once in a while. Definitely needs a sealant. I love the textures and colors available. Would use them again. Anything worth having needs attention, so cleaning is part of it.

PO of my home used tiles shoved up against each other, without grout. It was a mess as Green Designs mentioned. Still have no clue why they did this. Redoing the tile was my first change.

crap. i love the look of them without anything. emagineer, can you post a picture of yours, since it is the same stone? i would love to see what it looks like with grout in between them.

also, another question i thought of this morning. right now our backsplash only goes behind the sink area and stops when it gets to the oven. would it look better if i did the backsplash all the way to the end of the wall, or should i just re-tile the areas that were done before?

{{!gwi}}

I would go all the way to the end of the wall with the tile. Our kitchen is an L shape and the GC suggested the tile backsplsh on both walls.

Take the backsplash all the way to the end, as well as all the way up the the cabinet over the sink.

I would suggest using something other than travertine though. It's not really suited to a working kitchen without a lot more care, despite having acres of it installed in them over the last couple of decades. Also, if you care about such things (some don't), it's out of style and will be seen as dated, much like the laminate counters with the wood edges that you are replacing.

You can do them without grout. I did because I really liked the "holiness" on the tile and the rough look of stacked stone. I sealed it and haven't had any problems with keeping it clean, and I suppose one afternoon with cotton swabs and a couple glasses of wine would do the trick if it got visibly dirty. One caveat, however, wherever the edges of the tiles don't completely meet, you can see back to the setting mortar. I wish the mortar had been tinted close to the color of the grout. Most people don't see it until I point it out, I'm trying to decide if I want to try and "color" the few places that don't meet with matching grout. I suppose if it get to the point where it really bugs me, I could grout the whole thing and let the grout "fill where it may" so to speak. Here's mine. . .

thank you, cherigw! good to know it's working for someone that way. i love how it looks

Your welcome Howling Angel! I know it's not for everybody. . as emagineer mentioned it's what the PO had and that was the first change he/she made. I just liked the look with no grout. . .and besides. . . I paid good $ for those holes (I think mine is considerably more "holey" than yours. . . . some of the indentions are almost dime size, most are pea/rice grain) and I didn't want to fill them in with grout.

Your back splash looks great Cheri. Thinking about how you stacked these, I like them without grout too. Grout or no grout, any tile needs care. I know these tiles are about 1/2" thick which is another draw for me...

I didn't explain enough that the original counter was the 6X6 cheap ceramic tiles in white, shoved up against each other without grout. I replaced the counter and put in a BS.

Not sure what is "out/in" anymore with so many BS seen. I could not do any of the glass because it is modern to me. And am probably watching too many British mysteries as I keep seeing hospital walls and ORs with subway installs. Can 't go there, but both options are loved by many and look beautiful.

I love the natural stone and defects. Am rustic, not antique or country. A past ranch gal that remains with some need for texture, color and nature along with style. Need to go with what welcomes me into my home.

Thanks emagineer! I absolutely agree. . . "need to go with what welcomes me into my home". . . or "wild thing, you make my heart sing"! The tumbled travertine was on its way "out" and glass was on its way "in" when I had this installed, but I love it and that is what counts. I am defintely not one to be chasing "the next best thing". . .you can't win that one! That's the wonderful thing about this forum. . .exposure to a myriad of options and ideas.