replace travertine with wood?

5 years ago

I would like to replace travertine with wood for a refresh but am overwhelmed with the idea of it. The travertine was installed over the original layer of ceramic tile. We would have to remove two layers of tile from around the kitchen cabinets, not to mention across the entire main floor of our house. I would also replace the carpet in living/dining with wood. The other option is to leave the tile and refresh the walls with a new coat of paint and replace the carpet in living/dining area. The laundry room cabinets are being replaced along with cabinets in two bathrooms as well. The travertine flows through these rooms. My main fear is damage to the kitchen cabinetry (even though my contractor promises to protect). We would have to pry the baseboards from the kitchen island and move them down to compensate for going from two layers of tile to one layer of wood. Is the overall headache worth the time and expense? I’ve almost convinced myself to leave well enough alone. Looking for a sanity check.

(I know many love the look of travertine and I agree that it is a beautiful natural stone. However, the tile installed in my house was by the previous owners and it isn’t necessarily what I would have chosen for myself.)

Featured Answer

SJ McCarthy

5 years ago

Sigh...this is why we always suggest REMOVING the tile BEFORE putting down another permanent floor. I'm sorry you decided to leave the tile in place. Now you have DOUBLE the issue you would have had.

Now on to the Elephant in the room: you are replacing grayish travertine with grayish wood. Why? The visual effect will be *roughly the same. It's like choosing between a gray pair of pumps vs a gray pair of mules. Gray is gray.

Your walls are a taupe/greige. The travertine is picking up HUGE amounts of the beige. It is causing them to turn brown/tawny. So long as you leave the walls that colour, your wood floor will do the SAME THING.

You have beautiful tone-on-tone-on-tone coordination. That works really well with an outfit...because you change your outfit everyday. But....you've noticed this gets a bit BORING in a kitchen/house. Lovely...but boring.

My real question is: why are you replacing 'like colour for like colour' and expecting it to look 'refreshed'?

I say PAINT...and see how you feel about the real colour of the travertine....once you get all that beige out of it.

The floors can be done when you are READY to tackle the KITCHEN. That's when you spend the $3-$4/sf to jack out ALL that stone/tile. Do not touch the floors until you are READY to do a FULL renovation of the kitchen.

And be aware, when you remove the cabinets from the bathrooms, you are going to find VOIDS underneath them...you will have to fill the voids if your new boxes are NOT identical to your old.

Believe me, that's when the floor-on-floor-on floor is going to come in and bite everyone's butts.

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Comments (7)

apple_pie_order
5 years ago
"Is the overall headache worth the time and expense?" Not at this point. The prospect of resetting the cabinets, adjusting the plumbing for the sink, redoing the countertops and backsplash , and so on is a lot of work. However, if you detest the travertine, it might be worth it to you. You could have the travertine professionally cleaned and sealed if it has not been done lately.
allibump thanked apple_pie_order
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allibump
Original Author
5 years ago
Thanks for the input SJ. The previous homeowners put in the tile over tile, probably to avoid the mess that we are now going to have to deal haha. The first thing we did after moving in was completely renovate the kitchen because it was literally falling apart. We were assured replacing the tile after renovation wouldn’t be a problem. That’s when we discovered the two layers of tile (and, yes, we did have voids in the floor that had to be remedied). We are planning to repaint whether or not the tiles are replaced so that should help tremendously. I chose the wood color to compliment the new kitchen cabinets and rugs/furniture we already have so that’s why they are similar in tone. I like the idea of painting first and seeing how we feel after that. Thanks for the input.
rustynail
5 years ago
I also would try paint first. Your travertine looks beautiful to me, it has a nice patina.
allibump thanked rustynail
PRO
Design Directives, LLC
5 years ago
At this point we might suggest just leaving it as it seems it would be a huge hassle to remove.
allibump thanked Design Directives, LLC
kayozzy
5 years ago
I love the travertine. Bigger bang for your buck to change the paint color as suggested.
allibump thanked kayozzy
allibump
Original Author
5 years ago
Apple_pie_order, Rustynail, design directives, and kayozzy, thanks for the input. Much appreciated! We’ve decided to leave the travertine and paint the walls.