QUESTION

Warped Travertine Stone Tiles - I am doing a travertine job for a lady and they stored the 12 x 12 pieces under the house (on stilts) for over a year. The tile was on a pallet but the pallet was warped and sitting on a slope. Could this cause the travertine to warp?

ANSWER

ANSWER - To answer your question, I think if you have found the travertine tiles to be warped that it is likely due to the way they were stored under the house for over a year.  Chances are that the warping is due both to it being placed on a surface that was warped and not fully supporting the tiles, and because it was subjected to moisture.  As the travertine tile absorbs moisture on one side and dries from one side it would be expected that the disproportionate conditions would result in the stone warping to some degree.

I don't know if it will work or not, but you could try soaking the stones in water to see if they will straighten out.  In Europe the installers soak their moisture sensitive stones in water prior to setting so the stone is fully saturated and will expand evenly.  Then they install the tiles damp, but not with a wet surface, over the concrete substrate.  Then once the thin-set cures it restrains the tile from moving as it dries, as long as it is being bonded to a concrete surface and not an elastomeric membrane that will not fully restrain the tile from moving.