Do not let a handyman fill travertine joints with epoxy grout
I have said this publicly for years: do not let the handyman fill in your travertine joints with epoxy grout. If he misses a spot, or when it fails, it does not come out the way sand comes out. You can end up replacing travertine, an expensive mistake that started as a cheap quote. Travertine joints get refilled with the correct sand, by hand where the stone demands it, full stop.
How travertine gets treated here
Three rules separate stone work from paver work. First, penetrating sealers only: travertine has to breathe, and a film-forming sealer traps moisture and can yellow the stone. Second, gentle chemistry: pH-neutral cleaners, because acids etch calcium-based stone. Third, low pressure: blasting travertine scars it permanently.
The sequence on a travertine deck or patio: old silicone comes off along coping and hot tub lines, the surface gets a careful low pressure wash with stone-safe chemistry, the moldy joint sand gets washed out, the stone gets real drying time, joints get re-sanded correctly, and then a penetrating sealer goes in. The result is protected stone that still looks and breathes like stone.
If your travertine has already been coated with the wrong product, it usually shows as yellowing, haze, or a plastic-looking sheen. That is recoverable in most cases: the coating gets stripped with stone-safe methods and the surface gets resealed the right way. Text me photos and I will give you a straight read on what you have.
Straight answers
The questions I actually get, answered the way I answer them on the phone.
Can't a handyman just sand and seal my travertine cheaper?
He can do it cheaper. What you risk is the stone: epoxy grout in the joints, acid-based cleaners, film sealers that yellow, or high pressure that scars. Travertine mistakes are not do-overs, they are replacements. That is the whole reason a specialist exists for this surface.
What sealer do you use on travertine?
A penetrating sealer appropriate for porous natural stone, never a thick film-former. The stone keeps its natural matte face and its ability to breathe, and the protection lives inside the surface where it belongs.
My travertine has white deposits in spots. What is that?
Likely efflorescence, mineral salts working out of the stone, or the beginnings of a trapped-moisture problem if it was coated. It needs eyes on it before anyone applies anything. Send me a photo first.