Travertine Pavers Phoenix
We are Travertine Pavers of Phoenix and we have containers of travertine pavers, travertine tile and travertine split face. We can ship directly from Turkey right to your location in Phoenix and we can make you competitive with the local travertine paver competition. Are you already selling to the pool builders or landscapers? Do you want to expand your material offerings to your existing customers? We want to help you succeed. Call us and we will help you out. We also have travertine pavers in the U.S. that we can ship to you in Phoeinx while you are waiting for your travertine pavers to import.
Travertine Pavers Phoenix
1. What are the Advantages of Travertine Pavers?
People are using travertine pavers because they are stronger than a typical paver. Travertine pavers at 3 cm (an inch and a quarter thick) are about 17,000 psi. That makes travertine pavers one of the strongest decking material you can use on a pool. The nice thing about travertine pavers is that you do not have to trade strength for luxury. Travertine pavers are used on the highest end swimming pools in the South because they are a beautiful natural stone. So you have the strength and durability of a travertine pavers with the beautiful and timeless look.
Travertine pavers are also a non slip paver. The holes in the travertine pavers allow for a non slip traction to build up from water form the swimming pool or rain.
2. Where do Travertine Pavers come from?
Travertine Pavers come from Quarries and it is mined out of the ground like other natural stone like granite and marble. Most Travertine pavers in the U.S. and from the Phoenix area come directly from Quarries out of Turkey. The travertine pavers are cut out of the quarry using lasers. Back in the old days, they used dynamite to bust the travertine into sections and then removed it. But Turkey has all the modern upgrades that allow less travertine to be lost from dynamite. Lasers have become a big part of the travertine pavers being mined. The travertine pavers are then sent to local manufacturers that are usually located within a mile of the quarry. The travertine blocks can easily be shipped to the manufacturer and then the travertine blocks are cut into smaller pieces like the french pattern, 16x24, 16x16, 8x8, 8x16, 12x24 and 12x12. The travertine pavers are then put into pallets. The pallets are then send to a yard where they are loaded on to a container and the containers are shipping on a freight boat from Turkey to Europe. And then the travertine pavers are shipped to the U.S. and then the travertine pavers are shipped right into Phoenix from the port.
3. How do you determine the quality of the travertine pavers?
Judging the quality of travertine pavers can be subjective. Some people look at the most obvious and see how many holes are in the travertine pavers. I think the customers tend to focus on that first. Also the size of the holes makes a difference on how people determine the quality. There are other less obvious issues you want to look at with travertine pavers. The sizing it important. When the travertine pavers are tumbled, the size of the travertine pavers can be reduced by 1/8 of an inch. That is pretty normal. But if the sizing is off by 1/4 of an inch, people start to complain. If you are dealing with a french pattern, 1/4 of an inch off in sizing can mess up the whole install. It will just create gaps with time if you have a deck of 1000 square feet of french pattern travertine pavers. Another issue in determining quality is the color variation. You have to be careful when talking about color variation on travertine pavers as it relates to quality. Some types of travertine pavers have a natural color variation that people like. For example, a silver or even a scabos travertine paver might have more variation but those pieces are not considered to be low quality pavers. But some colors are considered more desirable if the travertine pavers are a little more consistent in colors. That is the case with most of the ivory travertine pavers. But even that is not a hard fast rule. The final issue in determining the quality of the travertine pavers is "clay balls." Clay balls build up in travertine pavers but some of the pieces have more of them than others. The clay balls will wash out with time leaving holes that are larger than normal in the travertine pavers. Travertine pavers with clay balls at a high frequency are generally considered to be of lower quality. Some companies try to break down the categories of travertine pavers. You will see some companies use categories like premium, standard and builder grade. Others use terms like category 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C. These categories are used by companies to help the customer determine what grade the travertine pavers are and help them make a decision about pricing. The only problem I see in rating travertine pavers this way is each company determines what is a premium or standard grade. One company might be calling the same material premium while another company is calling it standard. You really need to look through the travertine pavers in the pallet and determine for yourself the quality and use your best judgment.
4. Should I use a Travertine Tile or Travertine Pavers?
Travetine pavers are typically laid on a dry setting. Travertine pavers are an inch and quarter thick (3 cm) and can have a car drive over them at that thickness. Most people living in Phoenix starting from scratch on the exterior of the house are going to use travertine pavers. Even if you have an existing concrete base, most people will use travertine pavers. You can lay an inch of sand on top of the concrete and then surround the existing deck with sand that is 4 inches deep. Then you lay the travertine pavers on the deck and it all matches. Almost everyone building a deck has to extend their deck and make it larger. So as long as you can add an inch of sand and put a travertine paver on top of the sand and still be able to open your backdoor without a trip hazzard, you will probably use the travertine pavers. It will just look like you put the travertine pavers all down at the same time and it will look more professional. The only time you tend to use travertine tile on the deck is when you are not extending the size of your deck. In that case, travertine tile is the best option. But most people will just lay the travertine pavers and let it look like one whole deck that was built at the same time. People sometimes wonder if they can save a little money by laying the travertine tile on the existing concrete and laying the travertine pavers on the new section. It rarely looks right to use the travertine tile and the travertine pavers on the deck at the same time. The travertine tile and the travertine pavers will not perfectly match because the travertine tile and the travertine pavers would have been cut out of a different block from the Quarry. Plus it is difficult to make the joint right where the travertine tile and travertine pavers meet. One will be on concrete and one will be on sand. It just does not usually work out.
5. How will the contractor install my travertine pavers?
Your contractor will typically start by placing concrete center blocks around the perimeter of the deck. He will then put Portland around the concrete blocks to hold it in so the sand does not fall out the sides. He will then put crushed stone that has small and large pieces to fill in and pot holes. He will then compress that and water it down to make sure the stone is settled. He will then lay sand on top of the crushed stone and in total it will be about 4 inches thick. He will then compress the sand and water it down in probably two separate steps. Then he will lay your travertine pavers on top of the deck. He will use either mortar or Portland to hold down the travertine pavers to the concrete center blocks.
People are using travertine pavers because they are stronger than a typical paver. Travertine pavers at 3 cm (an inch and a quarter thick) are about 17,000 psi. That makes travertine pavers one of the strongest decking material you can use on a pool. The nice thing about travertine pavers is that you do not have to trade strength for luxury. Travertine pavers are used on the highest end swimming pools in the South because they are a beautiful natural stone. So you have the strength and durability of a travertine pavers with the beautiful and timeless look.
Travertine pavers are also a non slip paver. The holes in the travertine pavers allow for a non slip traction to build up from water form the swimming pool or rain.
2. Where do Travertine Pavers come from?
Travertine Pavers come from Quarries and it is mined out of the ground like other natural stone like granite and marble. Most Travertine pavers in the U.S. and from the Phoenix area come directly from Quarries out of Turkey. The travertine pavers are cut out of the quarry using lasers. Back in the old days, they used dynamite to bust the travertine into sections and then removed it. But Turkey has all the modern upgrades that allow less travertine to be lost from dynamite. Lasers have become a big part of the travertine pavers being mined. The travertine pavers are then sent to local manufacturers that are usually located within a mile of the quarry. The travertine blocks can easily be shipped to the manufacturer and then the travertine blocks are cut into smaller pieces like the french pattern, 16x24, 16x16, 8x8, 8x16, 12x24 and 12x12. The travertine pavers are then put into pallets. The pallets are then send to a yard where they are loaded on to a container and the containers are shipping on a freight boat from Turkey to Europe. And then the travertine pavers are shipped to the U.S. and then the travertine pavers are shipped right into Phoenix from the port.
3. How do you determine the quality of the travertine pavers?
Judging the quality of travertine pavers can be subjective. Some people look at the most obvious and see how many holes are in the travertine pavers. I think the customers tend to focus on that first. Also the size of the holes makes a difference on how people determine the quality. There are other less obvious issues you want to look at with travertine pavers. The sizing it important. When the travertine pavers are tumbled, the size of the travertine pavers can be reduced by 1/8 of an inch. That is pretty normal. But if the sizing is off by 1/4 of an inch, people start to complain. If you are dealing with a french pattern, 1/4 of an inch off in sizing can mess up the whole install. It will just create gaps with time if you have a deck of 1000 square feet of french pattern travertine pavers. Another issue in determining quality is the color variation. You have to be careful when talking about color variation on travertine pavers as it relates to quality. Some types of travertine pavers have a natural color variation that people like. For example, a silver or even a scabos travertine paver might have more variation but those pieces are not considered to be low quality pavers. But some colors are considered more desirable if the travertine pavers are a little more consistent in colors. That is the case with most of the ivory travertine pavers. But even that is not a hard fast rule. The final issue in determining the quality of the travertine pavers is "clay balls." Clay balls build up in travertine pavers but some of the pieces have more of them than others. The clay balls will wash out with time leaving holes that are larger than normal in the travertine pavers. Travertine pavers with clay balls at a high frequency are generally considered to be of lower quality. Some companies try to break down the categories of travertine pavers. You will see some companies use categories like premium, standard and builder grade. Others use terms like category 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C. These categories are used by companies to help the customer determine what grade the travertine pavers are and help them make a decision about pricing. The only problem I see in rating travertine pavers this way is each company determines what is a premium or standard grade. One company might be calling the same material premium while another company is calling it standard. You really need to look through the travertine pavers in the pallet and determine for yourself the quality and use your best judgment.
4. Should I use a Travertine Tile or Travertine Pavers?
Travetine pavers are typically laid on a dry setting. Travertine pavers are an inch and quarter thick (3 cm) and can have a car drive over them at that thickness. Most people living in Phoenix starting from scratch on the exterior of the house are going to use travertine pavers. Even if you have an existing concrete base, most people will use travertine pavers. You can lay an inch of sand on top of the concrete and then surround the existing deck with sand that is 4 inches deep. Then you lay the travertine pavers on the deck and it all matches. Almost everyone building a deck has to extend their deck and make it larger. So as long as you can add an inch of sand and put a travertine paver on top of the sand and still be able to open your backdoor without a trip hazzard, you will probably use the travertine pavers. It will just look like you put the travertine pavers all down at the same time and it will look more professional. The only time you tend to use travertine tile on the deck is when you are not extending the size of your deck. In that case, travertine tile is the best option. But most people will just lay the travertine pavers and let it look like one whole deck that was built at the same time. People sometimes wonder if they can save a little money by laying the travertine tile on the existing concrete and laying the travertine pavers on the new section. It rarely looks right to use the travertine tile and the travertine pavers on the deck at the same time. The travertine tile and the travertine pavers will not perfectly match because the travertine tile and the travertine pavers would have been cut out of a different block from the Quarry. Plus it is difficult to make the joint right where the travertine tile and travertine pavers meet. One will be on concrete and one will be on sand. It just does not usually work out.
5. How will the contractor install my travertine pavers?
Your contractor will typically start by placing concrete center blocks around the perimeter of the deck. He will then put Portland around the concrete blocks to hold it in so the sand does not fall out the sides. He will then put crushed stone that has small and large pieces to fill in and pot holes. He will then compress that and water it down to make sure the stone is settled. He will then lay sand on top of the crushed stone and in total it will be about 4 inches thick. He will then compress the sand and water it down in probably two separate steps. Then he will lay your travertine pavers on top of the deck. He will use either mortar or Portland to hold down the travertine pavers to the concrete center blocks.
Travertine Pavers Phoenix Arizona