Travertino in Reading

Travertino is lime plaster worked by hand to read as cut travertine, with open pores, faint horizontal bedding and a honed, matte face. If you are after travertino in Reading, Zavoré supplies it tinted to your colour and our own artisans lay it. We are based in Birmingham, and our nearest centre is the showroom and training centre in London, open by appointment. Send photos of the wall to begin.

Why it suits the town

Reading has red brick everywhere, in terraces, villas and Victorian public buildings, and warm stone tones sit very comfortably beside that colour. A travertino wall in a Redlands hallway or a Caversham dining room adds a pale, sunlit stone quality without trying to compete with the brickwork outside.

Newer homes gain from it too. Plain apartment walls near the river and 1970s estate houses at Earley often lack texture, and a travertino chimney breast or entrance wall gives the space a focus. It is real lime and marble, so it sets hard, yet it weighs almost nothing and needs no fixings or substructure.

How the pitting is made

The holes are not stamped on and they are not a roller pattern. Material is laid in a broken pass that leaves voids, then a second pass partly closes them, so the face is flat to a straight edge but pitted to the hand. The banding comes from working the trowel horizontally, so the passes line up rather than wander. How open the finish reads is a decision, and the same tub can look heavy or light in different hands, which is why we settle it on a board.

It is lime plaster read as travertine, not the real stone, and we would never claim otherwise. The gain is that it follows curves and columns and runs without a joint unless you ask for one.

Where to use it, and where not to

Good places are entrance halls and stairwell walls, chimney breasts, columns and alcoves, restaurant and hotel interiors and shop interiors. A feature wall lit from above or the side shows the pitting well. Basin walls and cloakrooms work if the finish is sealed, and our travertino page lists the products.

Keep it away from a hob, because grease goes into open pores and stays. A narrow corridor brushed by coats and bags or a wall at toddler height is a poor choice too, and inside a shower tadelakt is the right finish. If you want a calm, quiet wall, this is the liveliest finish we sell.

How a Reading job runs

Photos of the wall and its size come first. We survey for flatness, cracks, damp and movement, and say plainly if the wall needs work first. Order a sample board at the pitting level you prefer and stand it against the wall in daylight, because this finish is read by shadow. Dates are agreed once the sample and price are signed off, and long walls are planned in blocks of days with two people, because holding the rhythm across a wall matters.

Our Venetian plaster installation service covers travertino as well as polished plaster and marmorino.

Learning the trowel

It is a good finish to learn at our training centres in Birmingham, London and Manchester, and a risky one to improvise on a room you care about. The training page lists the courses, and decorative work shows what pairs with it.

More decorative work in Reading

Travertino sits well with other work. For deeper stone effects see artificial rock in Reading, and for patterned wall surfaces sculptural plaster in Reading and bas relief in Reading. Painted additions are in murals in Reading, metal leaf in gilding in Reading, and a glossy contrast in lacquered walls in Reading. Ceilings above a stone wall are in cornice and coving in Reading, and floor or splashback detail in mosaics in Reading. The other lime finishes are covered under Venetian plastering in Reading, and a decorative finishes specialist in Reading can help you choose between them.

Questions about travertino in Reading

Is travertino real travertine?

No. It is lime plaster worked to read as travertine, with the pores and bedding put in by hand. It weighs very little and needs no fixings.

Can travertino go in a bathroom?

On the walls, sealed, yes, for example around a basin. Inside the shower we would use tadelakt, because open texture and running water do not suit.

Can it go behind a cooker?

We would not use it there. Grease gets into open pores, and a splashback wants a closed surface.

How do I choose the level of pitting?

Order a sample board at the level you like and look at it against the wall in daylight. A heavier or lighter pitting is a decision made at the sample stage.

To talk through a travertino wall, call 07592 929191 from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm, or email sales@zavore.co.uk with photos, rough measurements and your postcode. The sample board is the place to start.