Oh those Travertine Floors. You are so pretty but alas, you are stone. Why is stone being installed in every new and newly remodeled home? From granite to travertine, slate to marble and everything in between – stone. Oh yes, because you are so pretty.

Stone is like a high maintenance woman. People are attracted to her because of her looks but once you get to know her you see it is not easy being pretty. Nails, hair, waxing, working out, eating all that salad. Which brings us back to pretty travertine, I love the look. Now, the problem – we have moved into a new house that has so much travertine. Entry hall, kitchen, dining room, study, master bedroom, every bathroom floor, and the entire shower and bathtub walls and floor – even the stairs. Those spiffy little cleaners they sell at Home Depot, in a spray bottle, are just not going to cut it at five to seven dollars a pop – we’ll be buying them weekly (you know, if I actually cleaned all of this travertine…at one time…weekly)!  So what is a thrifty homemaker to do?  Internet research, of course.

The real problem in cleaning natural stone is in it’s nature.  Stone is porous.  Granite is really hard, but still porous.  It, and other natural stones, suck up liquid like a sponge.  So, the solution is that you seal stone.  Good job!  Research over!  Seal it and clean it with whatever is handy. Sealants wear off and depending how often your stone is used and to what degree you may need to reseal from every six months to every two years.   And, the big kicker, is that even a properly sealed stone may still stain (a.k.a. suck up that wine you spilled and leave a red spot for all of eternity).  So, perhaps a five dollar spray bottle is the lesser of many evils – like paying a whole ton of money at once to have the plethora of travertine running amok in my house professionally resurfaced and sealed.

For about, .50 cents a sq. ft. you can get your travertine professionally cleaning and sealed! Not bad considering the investment paid to put these beautiful floors in. So relax, call and pro and get on with life!