Mapei grout colour for filled and honed travertine floor tile

10 years ago

Any suggestions for the closest colour match for our filled and honed light travertine floor tile? We are using Mapei unsanded grout and are looking at 49 Light Almond, 39 Ivory, 13 French Vanilla or 14 Biscuit. We want the grout to "disappear" as much as possible.

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User

10 years ago

last modified: 10 years ago

First of all, you shouldn't use very narrow grout lines with trav. 3/16 is the narrowest. Sand has the needed body that will hold up to flooring wear and tear and won't pop out down the road. Any narrower and you're gonna have a bad layout with noticeably uneven lines. You will need a subfloor that is 2x as stiff as for ceramic, so I hope you've done the deflection calculations. Especially if it's large format. Or, it's a recipe for cracked tile.

Personally, I'd use a urethane grout and not worry at all about the sanded/unsanded. It's twice the cost, but will be bulletproof with the correct color every time, and is stain resistant without needing to be sealed. My go to is TEC Power Grout. It's the only thing I spec on my jobs.

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Comments (11)

User
10 years ago
You can't use unsanded. You need sanded, or a urethane or epoxy grout. Trav has so many color variations, and is usually on the pink side, so a light beige with pink undertones is usually a good choice to blend in.
gandertons thanked User
gandertons
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks Sophie! Could I ask why you say I need sanded? I spoke to Mapei and they said to use unsanded as we are using very narrow grout lines. I don't want to mess this up, particularly as we have to order everything from the US and then ship to the islands, so a mistake is costly both in time and money! Have you used any particular colours with the light travertine that you would recommend? Thanks again, really appreciate all input :-)
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dmackersie
10 years ago
I had travertine floors at my previous house & had several areas where the fill came out. Look at Traverfill on stoneproonline.com.. The person that ground down my floors to restore the shine used that & it looked great. The consistency is different than grout & will look better, I think.
gandertons thanked dmackersie
dmackersie
10 years ago
As far as sanded vs. unsanded grout - In general, I think you are supposed to use unsanded grout with natural stone like travertine & marble, because the sanded can scratch the tiles. Check out the Traverfill.
gandertons
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you Sophie and dmackersie! Glad to report that this is going onto a solid concrete slab so hopefully that will help. Tile is 18" x 18" throughout (all one level) We have an island location (Turks and Caicos) and we don't often use AC so it does become and indoor\outdoor environment.

Sophie, I am looking at the colours for the Power Grout, I will unfortunately have to chose online (not much for me to look at here!) so any thoughts to blend with the travertine gratefully received - I wondered about Ivory? I would prefer to be a bit light over being too dark. The grout sounds ideal for our harsh environment.

dmackersie, I am assuming "light" is the way to go with the traverfil? It sounds perfect for some repairs I need to do in a different area!

Thanks again!
Debi MacKersie
10 years ago
Is this an existing floor that you are repairing or a new install? If existing, what color is the existing fill? With light travertine, the lighter color will probably work better. It really does blend in well.
gandertons thanked Debi MacKersie
User
10 years ago
Ivory would be fine. Make sure they use a white medium bedding mortar similar to the linked product to set with. No gray thinset. It doesn't have enough body to support large tile, and can affect the color perception of the tile as well.
gandertons thanked User
gandertons
Original Author
10 years ago
This a complete strip down, so we are down to the original concrete slab which has been checked, repaired and leveled. Thank you both for taking the time to offer your advice, I really appreciate it! :-)
User
10 years ago
On a slab, especially one that has had cracks, I'd also want an uncoupling membrane, or anti fracture coating. You won't get cracks in your tile in the future if the slab settles again.
gandertons
Original Author
10 years ago
We are going to use the Ditra for uncoupling :-)