To Travertine or not to Travertine?

I really like the look of travertine and was considering it for my overall floor. It seems cheap, pretty durable, and easy to maintain. Now for the hard part, I was told by someone that if I was going to lay it down I would have to make sure I use some sort of cement board as a sub floor, as the plywood that's there right now can expand and contract in the changing seasons and lead to cracked tiles. Does this mean I have to rip all the sub floor and switch it out for cement board? The current floor is in good shape and strong. It is basically joists over a crawl space with a ply sub floor and some bad oak parquet that I want to get rid of. Any ideas out there? Thanks.

They are refering to concrete backer board- and it is correct advice. It goes over your plywood subfloor- so you don't remove the plywood. It provides many things that the plywood won't- mastics stick to it better than plywood could, and most importantly it provides a release layer so as the floor flexes below the tile you don't get cracked grout and tile.

There's a (relatively) new and innovative product from a company called schluter systems that does the same thing- without the weight, and without the 1/2 buildup you will get from your CBB- (or hardibacker- same concept slightly different material).

The schluter stuff is really cool-
http://www.schluter.com
http://www.schluter.com/english/products/2002/sectionf/ditra/601-index.html

they also have some great systems for showers that we are dying to find the right project for.

wow you are not kidding, this stuff is cool, I am checking into it, I will post whatever I find out. Thanks glier.

franco

http://www.francovogt.com

The guys over at the John Bridge Tile Forum are huge Schluter fans. My parents have recently re-tiled a shower with a travertine-look ceramic tile. If you look at the edge of the bullnose tiles, it is obvious that it isn't the real thing, but otherwise you'd be hard pressed to tell. The upkeep is simpler for ceramic and you don't need quite as beefy a floor support, so there are some advantages to ceramic tile. There are some fabulous stone-look tiles out there and if you aren't wedded to the idea of real stone, you might want to consider them.

I have used the schluter system for our shower. Great product and easy to work with. I will use it in two other bathrooms too...