What's the Proper Thinset for Travertine Tile?

Travertine -- a form of limestone -- is a porous, sedimentary rock known for its rich tan, white and cream-colored tones. Due to its ancient mineral and hot-spring creation, no piece of travertine is exactly like another. Because of the porous nature of the stone, the selection of proper thinset for travertine installation is paramount; several choices are available for the do-it-yourself homeowner.

Middle of the range of polymer-modified thinsets produced by the Custom Building Products company, VersaBond Fortified provides excellent bonding to travertine and the surface to which you are bonding it, the substrate. VersaBond Fortified comes with a homeowner warranty.

VersaBond Flex is similar to VersaBond Fortified, but, as the name implies, it has the additional ability to isolate small cracks in the substrate. VersaBond Flex also bonds well to plywood subfloors and comes with a homeowner warranty.

Custom Building Products' Marble, Granite and Travertine Premium Medium Bed Mortar is specifically suited for installing larger stone tile, including travertine. Because of its medium-bed properties, it is a good choice for installation where the bed (amount) of thin-set mortar exceeds a traditional, thin, notched-trowel stone application. It is useful for ungauged, large, modular travertine tile.

Polymer-modified and well suited for large, ungauged travertine tile installation on rough surfaces, Laticrete's 220 Marble & Granite Mortar is a good choice for the do-it-yourselfer. It can be mixed with Laticrete's 3701 Mortar Admix for underwater applications.

High strength, polymer-fortified, premixed with portland cement and graded aggregates, Laticrete's 3701 Fortified Mortar Bed is ideal for installation of large travertine tiles on extremely uneven surfaces.