Tile Floor Installation Information

We typically install travertine with a 1/8 in grout line, per special customer request. We do offer a 1/16 grout joint for an additional charge of $.25 per square but only if the calibration (consistency of size from piece to piece) of the stone permits the use of a 1/16in a grout line. Most stones vary slightly in size though some low-quality products may vary 1/8 in or more. Low-quality Travertine can be out of a square or lopsided (for example 16in wide on top and 15 7/8 on the bottom). Poor quality stones need to be set with a larger grout line. We exclusively use Medium bed latex modified thin-set on our stone tile installations. A medium bed thin-set is a blend of thin sets that has less sag than a traditional thin-set to help support the additional weight of travertine. A medium bed thin-set makes the tiles much easier to keep flat. Medium Bed also is designed to be applied in thicker coats than regular thin sets, which allows for additional, even leveling of the entire floor. In most cases, we set our travertine, granite, and marble floors with a 1/2in x 1/2in square notch trowel. The ½ square notch trowel uses a lot of mortar(35sqft bag) but allows for better leveling of the stone. At Kennedy Tile, we use Custom building products or c-cure grout on all of our installations. Non-sanded grout must be used on grout lines less than 1/8 in and Sanded grout on grout lines above 1/8 in. Unlike Porcelain or ceramic tiles that can be cut with a snap cutter or cutting board, Travertine, Marble, and Granite can only be cut with a diamond blade wet saw. Due to the fact that a wet saw is required for every cut, this adds a lot more labor and time to the installation and is a major reason why the labor costs of natural stone tile are typically much higher. We install all of our floors to ROC (Registrar of Contractor) guidelines, meaning there will be no more than 1/16 in of lippage between tile on 18x18in and smaller tiles and 24x24in products may have up to 1/8in lippage.