Everything You Need To Know About Travertine

Travertine might not be as well-known as Granite or Marble, but it is definitely just as elegant and versatile.

What is Travertine?

Travertine is a type of Limestone, formed by the precipitation of Calcium Carbonate near hot springs. This exquisite natural stone is found in regions such as Peru, Mexico, Turkey and China and available in a range of lighter tones from soft greys to glowing golden hues. Some variations even boast delicate veining!

How Do Travertine and Limestone Differ?

Travertine is softer and more porous than limestone, which is an important factor to keep in mind when choosing where you will install Travertine in your home.

What Can Travertine Be Used for and Where Can I Install It?

Travertine is quite versatile and can be used for a variety of home elements. Because of its soft and porous nature, it isn’t highly recommended for high-traffic areas such as kitchen benchtops, although with proper care it is still an option.

Let’s look into the various options of including this natural stone into your home:

Backsplashes

A Travertine backsplash is an ideal way to add a dash of sumptuousness to your kitchen. Its striking and tasteful appearance is the perfect focal point for one of the home’s most loved rooms.

Travertine Fireplace

Transform your fireplace into a statement piece by cladding the surrounds with Travertine tiles. This enigmatic natural stone will captivate onlookers with its beguiling hues and subtle veining.

Travertine Benchtops

Travertine benchtops are an opulent addition to any interior. The classic streaks and inclusions of this natural stone are beautifully displayed in a benchtop setting, and with proper maintenance you will keep them in top condition.

Travertine Walls & Floors

Travertine flooring and walls lend a touch of sophistication to any home and a stylish way to highlight a shower or bathroom wall, a staircase or your bedroom floor.

Outdoors

Travertine is also fabulous for your outdoor areas. When honed it is slip resistant, making it a perfect way to clad entertainment areas such as patios, walkways, pool decking and even driveways.

What Are the Two Most Popular Types of Travertine?

Silver Travertine

Silver Travertine boasts a glamorous blend of steel grey and silvery swirls, with soft green nuances and delicate flecks of coffee brown. Timeless and sleek, this natural stone closely resembles marble and is a wonderful way to infuse your interior space with a sense of refinement.

Travertine Navona

This charming Italian natural stone brings with it a warmth that adds a subtle energy and allure to any room it adorns. A dazzling backdrop of ivory tones holds delicate darkened veining, making it the ideal addition to any classic or contemporary home.

What Finishes Does Travertine Offer?

Unfilled

Unfilled Travertine has a far more rustic look and feel. Being a natural stone, Travertine often features small exposed holes, and when left unfilled, these holes add to the texture and aesthetic of the stone.

Filled

Filled Travertine uses a coloured epoxy to fill the little holes, creating a much smoother and more contemporary aesthetic.

How Do I Care for Travertine in My Home?

Day-to-Day Care

Cleaning the stone is simple and all it takes is a wipe with warm water and gentle detergents. Avoid using any harsh cleaning substances such as bleach, ammonia or anything acidic, such as vinegar, as these will cause etching in the stone. Rather use a pH neutral detergent with warm water. Should a spill occur, it is always best practice to wipe it up immediately, especially if the substance spilled is acidic, such as soda, tomato sauce, coffee or wine.

Long-Term Care

Because of Travertine’s porous nature, we recommend sealing at installation and then every few years thereafter. By sealing your Travertine, it is less likely to absorb liquids, keeping it in top shape for far longer and preventing unsightly staining.

How To Repair Stone Benchtops

Point Piper Residence Verde Van Gogh kitchen island

Having a stone benchtop in your kitchen is simply wonderful. From the beauty of natural or engineered stone to the hardiness and durability of the material, nothing can stand up to the quality of a stone benchtop.

Both natural stone and engineered stone benchtops are made up of hard and long-lasting minerals. However, a ton of activity happens in the kitchen, there’s a lot of traffic around and past most benchtops and the benchtop itself sees a LOT of action.

So, despite your best intentions and the care and maintenance you invest into your stone benchtop, chips, cracks, stains and burns are possible, even if they’re unlikely and unfortunate.

The good news: All stone benchtops can be repaired to look and function as good as new.

The even better news: Quick, professional benchtop repairs is just a phone call away. If you need your damaged benchtop appraised or work to be done, give us a call on (02) 8585 2999.

Do you really need to repair your stone benchtop?

Even if the unsightly chip, crack or stain doesn’t bother your inner perfectionist designer, benchtop damage–especially in the kitchen–can be more than an aesthetic flaw.

Food and liquid can get into the cracks or chips causing bacteria or mould to grow, and more stainage. Even dirt and moisture can get trapped and cause more damage. All of this can be hard to clean and get worse over time.

The longer you leave damage both the worse it can get and the more difficult (and costly) it will be to repair when you eventually decide you need to do it.

Well, you ask, how exactly do you repair a stone benchtop?

Good question.

Most of the time, repairing a stone benchtop is straightforward and affordable if attended to in a timely fashion.

Cracks & Chips – Epoxy Resin

Epoxy resin, or polyepoxides for the scientifically literate, is a very strong adhesive.

Epoxy resin is used for a number of building, construction and repairing applications, including repairing damaged stone benchtops.

Colour-matched epoxy resin (or resin with specifically added colour pigments to match the stone) is used to patch chips or fill in cracks.

Once the resin hardens, the benchtop is smoothed and polished to make sure the previous damage cannot be seen still.

UV lights (often in combination with a special UV glue) and additional adhesives can also be used to help fix certain cracks or chips depending on their nature, placement and severity.

The benchtop is then sealed for a full, seamless repair job, and to help prevent further damage or staining.

If you’re attempting to fix small cracks or chips, you’ll need to ensure you clean the area with an ammonia-based cleaner and nylon brush beforehand, and dry it thoroughly before applying the epoxy resin and allowing it to set for 24 or so hours.

Can you use super glue?

Short answer: no.

Long answer: Definitely no. Super glue will not only fail to repair your benchtop, it could damage the stone further and will not hide the original damage in even a best case scenario.

Large Cracks

While rare, large and deep cracks to a stone benchtop can require a little more of a process for repairing.

If one side of the cracked benchtop has sunk or dropped, then it will need to be lifted and kept in place with a clamp while it is being repaired. Additional reinforcement and support might be provided to ensure the benchtop does not tilt again or put too much strain on the repaired crack.

If additional reinforcement is needed, the repairers will make sure it is not visible but rather contained underneath or within the benchtop (depending on your specific kitchen).

Stains & Burn Marks

Professionally supplied and installed stone benchtops all come sealed for resistance against stains from food or liquid spills. Overly acidic foods can still cause a stain if left unattended for too long.

Discolouration can also occur to stone benchtops that are not properly maintained and cared for over a long period of time. The use of harsh chemical cleaners or acidic detergents can cause more harm than good and shouldn’t be used for getting rid of stains.

Burn marks can happen to a stone table if a very hot pot or pan is placed directly on the benchtop. While unsightly and damaging, most burn marks can still be removed and the benchtop restored by a professional.

Using a combination of stain removal polish and cleaner, as well as specialist sandpaper, benchtop repairers can often remove burn marks and have your benchtop looking just about as good as new.

Large Pieces

If a piece of your stone benchtop does break off, try to find and store any of the pieces you find. Small chips can be fixed with as closely a colour-matched epoxy resin as possible, but the best way to restore large breakages or chips is by reconnecting the different pieces instead of having to source new stone that matches the benchtop you have.

DIY Or Euro Marble?

That’s an overview for how stone benchtops are repaired, but the truth is that though there are plenty of detailed DIY instructions online, the most reliable and long-lasting way to repair stone is to get the professionals to do it. ESPECIALLY if the damage is extensive or left unattended for a long time.

We’d be happy to take a close inspection of your benchtop and walk you through all of the repair options available. Just give the Euro Marble team a call today.

For more information about stone benchtops, check out our other blog articles:

What are the Benefits of Marble Stairs?

Are you considering marble stairs for your home but not quite sure if it would be right for you?

In this article, we’ll run through the top benefits of and help you decide whether a luxury marble stairs design is right for your home and your needs.

Using Marble in the Home

Marble stone has been a staple material for use in construction and interior design for generations. And there is a good reason for this.

Marble is a beautiful, durable and practical natural stone that offers functionality and fashion. Widely used throughout interior design, you can commonly find marble used as kitchen benchtops, splashbacks, wall cladding, flooring and even fireplaces.

However, there is one application that – while less commonly associated with marble – offers a unique design opportunity: Stairs.

Many hotels, restaurants and commercial offices use marble to create exquisite aesthetics and infuse glamour into their interior design, but marble stairs design can also be a fantastic option for the home as well. Let’s explore why.

Exploring the Benefits of Marble Stairs

1. Aesthetic Beauty

Staircases are practical structures. They need to be sturdy, safe and – of course – functional for allowing family members and visitors to move across different levels of the house.

But there is no reason why you should have to compromise on an elegant and sophisticated aesthetic.

A luxury marble stairs design can be a magnificent addition to a home and create a real sense of royal luxury.

Whether you opt for the traditional off-white and grey vein look or choose another form of distinctive marble, this iconic stone is unparalleled when it comes to sheer aesthetic beauty.

2. Structural Durability

Marble stone is a hard-wearing, highly durable and long-lasting natural stone. Its inherent strength makes it a highly functional option of material for use as stairs.

Staircases are prone to high levels of foot traffic, shocks and other mechanical damage – such as bumps and knocks – and therefore needs to be made of a material that can keep pace with your and your family’s daily activity.

Moreover, well-maintained and treated marble can prove to be a long-term investment and last many years, even when subjected to significant use.

3. Range of Styles

Few construction and design materials are as instantly recognisable as the classic marble aesthetic. But the reality is that there is a surprisingly wide range of options when it comes to marble. While many people love the classic off-white and cloudy design of Italian marble, it is far from the only option.

Marble stone comes in a wide range of colours, shades, styles and patterns. Being natural stone, marble is quarried directly from the ground which means that every single slab is unique and unlike any other in the world.

Finding the perfect style and pattern of marble to meet your intended home aesthetic and design style offers the best of both worlds: Cohesive design and all the benefits and gloriousness of marble stairs.

4. Easy Maintenance

This benefit is invaluable: Marble stairs are easy to clean.

This might surprise you but just because marble is widely used in royal palaces doesn’t mean it requires the royal treatment! Caring for your marble is easy and simple. All you need to do is regularly wipe the marble stairs with a soft, clean and wet cloth.

Of course, accidents do happen. If your marble stairs need a more intensive clean, using a pH neutral soap or non-chemical cleaning detergent will do the trick. Between that and the occasional polish your stairs will look as impressive and inviting as they did on day one.

For best maintenance though we recommend the following:

Wipe up liquid spills as quickly as possible.
Never use abrasive cloths or sponges.
Never use acidic or harsh chemical cleaners.
Quick, regular wipes are ideal.
Reseal your marble every few years to maintain its beauty and strength.

5. Timeless Fashion

Another benefit of marble stairs is that its aesthetic is timeless. There are many design trends that wax and wane over the years, and it can be tempting for homeowners and interior designers to choose creations that appeal today but feel outdated as trends move on.

Marble stone has proven to be enduringly popular and its aesthetic strikes the perfect balance between being stunning and timeless. Whether you opt for colourful marble or black and white marble stairs, you can rest assured that your choice will be as bold yet beautiful tomorrow as it was today.

6. Home Value

Between the stunning aesthetic, functional versatility and long-lasting durability, marble stone is a great investment in your home.

If you end up moving to another home and want to resell your house, marble staircases will only add to the value of your property. The popularity of marble and its hardiness makes it a unique and rather luxurious way of investing and increasing the value of your home.

7. Customisability

Marble stairs can also be custom-created to suit your particular needs and preferences. It’s not just about the design either. Because marble is quarried in slabs and then cut to size, there is an enormous amount of flexibility in how this natural stone can be used to meet your staircase specifications and application.

Plus, there are additional ways of customising marble stairs. For example, non-slip stair coverings are an affordable and safe way of improving the usability of the stairs themselves.

Let’s Take the First Step Towards Marble Steps!

“Marble is nature’s gift to capture attention, and we believe our craftsmanship will capture yours.”

A luxury marble stairs design can elevate a home and infuse a true sense of opulence. But if you are not sure whether to incorporate marble stairs or even how to go about choosing the right type of marble for your interior design style, the Euro Marble team can help.

Our expert enthusiasts are more than happy to show you through our showroom so you can experience the various staples, colours and patterns available across our marble slab range. Alternatively, if you would just like to find out more about all things marble stairs, get in touch with us today on 02 8585 2999.

What Is Granite Used For?

03 Banda Property Design New York Apartment

Granite is one of a number of natural stones commonly used as a building material and for exterior/interior design. Quarried directly from the ground and cut to size for use in your home or building, granite comes in a number of styles and colours.

While granite is a common material of choice by builders and renovators today, it’s by no means a modern invention. Many ancient civilisations, including the Egyptians, used granite which is testament to how effective, practical and easy to use granite can be.

What is granite?

Like the other natural stones, granite is a hard naturally-occurring stone. It incorporates a number of minerals including mica, feldspar and quartz, which is the hardest mineral naturally found on Earth.

The structure of granite is unique because of its granular makeup. This elegant spotted and crystalline aesthetic makes granite a popular design choice. When cut to size and polished to a shine, a slab of granite can transform a home or office.

The Benefits of Granite

There are a ton of benefits of granite, which all add to its ever-increasing popularity.

Hardiness: Granite is one hardy material. With an ability to withstand high pressure and abrasion, including wear and tear, granite is a durable stone that always offers value for its investment.
Aesthetic: Not only does granite provide a sophisticated design with its deep detail and unique granular make-up, but it also comes in many colours, including grey, pink and white. This stylistic versatility makes granite an easy option for even the pickiest of designers.
Easy-to-repair: If your piece of granite does get damaged, it’s easy to get fixed! Professionals can repair granite slabs in most contexts.
Easy-to-clean: Got a granite benchtop? There’s no need to stress about spillages and staining because with granite all you need is regular cleaning with soap and a warm, damp, clean cloth!
Resistant: Granite is more than just a tough stone, it’s also chemical, heat, UV and pressure resistant so you can use it in just about any application.
Price Range: Granite comes at a variety of price points depending on the specific stone slab. While darker granites are more expensive, there are plenty of affordable granite options for those working under tight budgets.

The Applications of Granite

Granite is used for a whole variety of applications, many of them construction or design-based but a few others as well. Thanks to its versatility in style, colour and price, hardiness and striking visual appeal, there’s almost no limit on what granite can be used to achieve!

Kitchen Benchtops & Splashbacks

Granite’s resistance and durability even when scratched and spilled on, makes it an optimal option for kitchen benchtops. It’s an elegant option for long-lasting quality. Plus, you can even incorporate granite seamlessly with different types of wood as well.

Bathroom Benchtops, Vanities & Basins

Bathrooms tend to get wet. A lot. Often. And everywhere. So everything needs to be made of a material that won’t disintegrate or get ruined by being exposed to liquid. Granite is the perfect choice for your bathroom benchtop for exactly that reason.

Construction Tiles

Granite can be cut and applied in large slabs but its functional versatility means it can also be sliced down into smaller tiles and pavers for use in construction. Slabs, tiles, pavers… it’s all possible with granite.

Wall Tile Veneers

Granite tiles are often used for wall veneers. Both smooth and rough tiles–depending on the preferred aesthetic–can be used for wall cladding in buildings, houses, offices and other constructions.

Floor Tiles

Lots of people don’t think about granite as a material option for floors. But granite is used regularly by builders in the form of tiles. All of its hardiness and resistance qualities make it a wonderful stone to incorporate in interior flooring, and its elegant crystalline make-up means it looks stunning as well.

Building Columns

Much like their ancient predecessors, modern builders use this hardy and strong natural stone to not only clad their buildings but create the central columns and support structure to bear weight and provide strength.

Landscaping

Crushed granite is commonly applied in landscaping contexts. Larger scale building projects, such as highways and even sewage systems, often use granite as well.

Paving

Driveways, garden paths, patios… Granite paving stones are often used for its variety of benefits, including its unique temperature and UV resistance. Cut into unique sizes and styles, granite paving can be designed in sophisticated and intricate patterns.

Gravestones/Memorials

For similar reasons to the application as external paving, gravestones and memorial markers are commonly made out of granite to ensure their long-lasting durability.

Interior Constructions

Thanks to its heat resistance granite is a popular choice for fireplace mantles. Thanks to its strength, it’s also popular for use in staircases. There’s simply a ton of benefits to thank granite for and tons of interior construction applications.

Jewellery

Rare and beautiful pieces of granite can be cut and polished into exquisite gemstones for use in jewellery. Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but granite can be customised to suit anyone!

Building Blocks

Left rough and natural or refined to a smooth and polished look, granite blocks are often used as a building stone. While it’s a strong, durable option of course, some buildings simply use it just for external cladding because of its visual appeal as well.

Conclusion

Ready to find out more about what granite is used for and how the Euro Marble team can help you? Contact us today on (02) 8585 2999 or at sales@euromarble.com.au.

The Top Stone Kitchen Benchtop Ideas

calacatta extra bookmatch reception counter

An artwork in itself, book-matched natural stone creates an enchanting vista that one could stare at all day. Two imposing slabs of stone opened up and placed next to one another like the pages of a book – perfect mirror-images of each other.

The effect?

A stunning continuance of the natural pattern within the stone, showing off the undulating colour and threads of dramatic veining. This compelling pattern gives rise to graceful elegance – a powerful inclusion to any interior space.

Book-matched Stone Installations

Now that we’ve confirmed its exquisiteness, how do you apply its allure in an interior space – whether that be a home or an office?

Book-matched stone is captivating, but also commanding, which is why it is most suited to be displayed across a large, uninterrupted area. Yet a backsplash will also benefit from its majestic presence.

Arabescato Marble

Book-matched Arabescato Marble is ideal for wall cladding in your bathroom or a feature wall, providing a soothing and glamorous finish.

Statuario Venato

A large kitchen island masterfully crafted from book-matched Statuario Venato sparks a striking appearance that adds a royal air to your interior.

Carrara marble

The ever-faithful Carrara marble provides an opulent statement when applied as flooring, the mirrored effect converting the room and infusing a sense of grandeur.

Which Stones Can be Book-matched?

All stones are not made equal, and some are better suited to be book-matched. Thus, it’s essential to approach a trusted natural stone consultant who knows exactly which types of stone will leave you with a dazzling pattern.

Many marble slabs provide vibrant movement, pronounced veining, and linear patterning throughout their façade that creates striking book-matched patterns. Calacatta Gold and Irish Green Marble are exemplary examples of the ideal façade.

The intense veining of Calacatta and the direct patterning of Irish Green marble create a magnificent mirrored effect. This masterful application will create a delightful focal point in any contemporary space, infusing the area with a luxurious splash of drama.

Is Book-matching more costly than a typical installation?

Not necessarily. It might take a while to discover the ideal match for your specific space. To make this process as fast and smooth as possible, make sure to team up with skilled artisans and reputable consultants at a company with access to many quarries around the world.

Transform your Home/Office with Book-matching

Add an exclusive touch to your next living room, kitchen or bathroom project by incorporating an arresting book-matched marble facade. Mother nature’s exquisite artworks bring unrivalled beauty to any home or office – transforming it with charm, sophistication and style.

A bespoke detail, unlike any other!

Get in touch with us or head on over to our previous residential and commercial projects, be inspired and kick-start your imagination.

Euro Marble is ready to transform your home – are you?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Euro Marble (@euromarble)