Greetings from Knots,
The travertine tile floor in my house is looking a bit rough, plus the original installation left many places where the tiles weren’t planing. Has anyone had any experience in re-honing this rather soft, natural material and/or a method for flattening the floor to erase the toe stubbers left by an un-impressive installation.
Any help in this matter would be appreciated.
Regards, Sean
Replies
Sean,
I just finished a Travertine hearth for a gas fireplace. Not exactly what you propose, but this is what I did.
The plans called for the exposed edges of the horizontal tile to be honed/polished to match the tile face.
I used silicone carbide belts on the belt sander (100 and 120 grit) to true up the tiles as needed.
Then I used a marble polishing kit on my grinder (essentially 5 different polishing wheels from coarse to extra fine) to polish or hone the tile and was quite pleased with the results. The polishing wheels worked well to buff out any scratches or dings from the belt sander on adjacent tiles.
I found the Travertine quiet easy to work.
Hope this helps.
Rent a floor grinder/polisher. A belt sand will work to shape the edges, but you will go through a lot of belts trying to do the faces. Be prepared for major dust control.
"Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
Do you mean the type with the stones, or are you thinking of something else?
It has 3 or 4 stones, looks very similar to a polisher/buffer. You can get different grits."Put your creed in your deed." Emerson
"When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it." T. Roosevelt
the same type grinding polishing machine that does terrazzo...
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I'll second the wheels for the grinder. I used my today to grind and polish the front edge of a couple of marble pieces that I turned into shelves for a shower. They'd probably work to ease the edges of your travertine, not sure how they'd work on the flat though.