Features of travertine facades

Travertine is a rock that served as a building material for our ancestors... The Roman Colosseum, built from it, stood for several millennia. Today travertine is used for exterior cladding of buildings and for interior decoration. It is popular for its attractive appearance and good value for money.

Travertine belongs to limestone tuffs, although it is a transitional form to marble rocks. It is processed easily, like limestone, but, despite the lower density, the structures made of it are distinguished by their durability. A stone formed in stagnant water acquires a denser and more coherent structure than a rock formed in places with a turbulent current.

The cladding material has two main features - porous structure and discreet colors. Both characteristics are simultaneously attributed to the advantages and disadvantages of this natural stone. The fact is that the pores absorb moisture like a sponge. This property of the material adversely affects its strength and appearance. If, after rain, there is a sharp drop in temperature to palpable frost, the water freezes, expands and destroys the rock. But usually the temperature does not drop so rapidly, moisture has time to disappear from the pores and does not harm the building, this is the big plus of the porous structure.

The advantages include other characteristics of the facing material.

• Ease... Due to the porosity, travertine slabs are lighter than dense products made of granite or marble, which means that they give less load on the walls. This allows travertine facades to be mounted even on small concrete structures.
• Environmental friendliness... Travertine does not have a radioactive background at all, so it is used not only for external cladding, but also as interior decoration of rooms, to create countertops.
• Resistant to temperatures. If you do not take into account the sharp jumps, the stone tolerates a large temperature run-up - from severe frosts to prolonged heat.
• Ventilating properties. Ventfacad is another advantage related to the porous texture, thanks to these qualities, the house "breathes", and a pleasant microclimate is created in the premises.
• Compliance facade material makes it easier to repair or reduce installation time. It is easy to cut, peel, give any shape.
• Thanks to pores the mortar is quickly absorbed, and excellent adhesion of the board to the surface is created, which also speeds up the tiling process.
• The stone is good heat and sound insulator.
• Excellent fire resistance allows them to tile fireplaces and barbecue areas.
• Building with travertine facades possesses a noble, discreet beauty.

The disadvantages include all the same porosity of the material, which allows it to absorb not only moisture, but also dirt, as well as exhaust products, if the building is located near the motorway. In this case, the maintenance of the facade will be problematic, since it is not recommended to carry out it with aggressive liquids and with the help of abrasive cleaning agents. There are modern methods to help close the caverns of travertine and make it less susceptible to precipitation and other manifestations of the external environment. For this, manufacturers use two-component adhesives.The density of the material also depends on the place of its extraction, that is, it is important to understand the environment in which the rock was formed.

Travertine has relatively low cost, but it fluctuates depending on the characteristics obtained under different conditions of formation and strengthened by an industrial method. Affects the price good balance of density, porosity, brittleness, crystallization, as well as the percentage of calcium carbonate. Samples close to marble are considered the most valuable.

Now let's move on to the features of the color scheme. Travertine does not have a noticeable variety of shades and patterns; its tonality is close to sandy versions. But even in this small range, you can find many shades of white, yellow, golden, beige, light brown, gray. A pleasant natural tonality combined with an unobtrusive pattern gives the facade a noble stylish look and makes an unforgettable impression.

A variety of colors and textures are achieved with simple techniques. For example, due to the longitudinal or cross section of the slab, unequal variations in the pattern can be obtained. And from a change in the direction of grinding, different shades appear within the same tonality.

The refined elegance of travertine makes it possible integrate it into any design of an architectural ensemble... It meets the trends of classicism, hi-tech, eco-style, Scandinavian and Western European design trends. The stone goes well with concrete, metal, glass and all kinds of wood.

There are two ways to mount natural travertine slabs on building facades.

• Wet facade. This method is simple and economical to make cladding of houses using an adhesive base, which is why it is called "wet". A special construction glue is applied to the seamy part of the slab. Travertine is laid on a prepared, carefully leveled wall surface, observing the ideal line of rows. Plates should be selected in small sizes that can be held with the help of an adhesive composition. The material can be installed without a seam or leave 2-3 mm spaces between the plates, which are then painted over to the general tone of the walls. The wet facade technique is used in most cases by the owners of private houses.

• Ventilated facade. This is a more expensive method of cladding, as it requires the cost of lathing. It is installed from metal profiles along the entire surface of the walls. It is more difficult to mount travertine on the lathing than to lay it on the plane of the walls with a wet method. In order not to damage the plates, the work is entrusted to qualified specialists. The free space between the facing stone and the wall acts as an air cushion, which contributes to the insulation of the building. But in cold regions, for a greater effect, a heat insulator is laid under the crate. Ventilated facades are installed on public buildings that can significantly exceed the size of private houses.

Liquid travertine refers to an artificial stone, it contains rock fragments enclosed in an acrylic base. Decorative plaster creates an insignificant load on the walls, it is resistant to temperature run from - 50 to + 80 degrees, does not change color under the influence of sunlight, skillfully imitates natural stone.

Liquid travertine is applied on a well-prepared, leveled wall surface. For this, the dry mixture is diluted with water in the proportions indicated in the instructions. First, the first layer of plaster is applied and left to dry completely.The second layer 2 mm thick is drawn with a brush or a stiff brush, creating the pattern you like.

You can immediately apply plaster to the wall in jerks, changing the texture of the surface. The frozen tops are rubbed with sandpaper. This method helps to create a different tonality of the picture.

In order not to create problems for yourself in the future, it is better to immediately revet the house with slabs of dense grades of travertine. Or purchase material processed with special compounds at the production stage. Closed pores will prevent dirt from ruining the façade. After several years of operation, it will be possible to refresh the walls with a simple pressure of water from a hose.

Acids such as vinegar and other aggressive liquids must not be used to care for the stone. If there is a need for more thorough care, you can purchase special solutions for travertine in hardware stores.

For how the facade is faced with chipped travertine, see the next video.