If you're looking for a classic yet innovative way to tile a wall, consider travertine. These stone tiles are full of intricate holes and pockmarks that occur naturally and give it an interesting look. The stone is naturally light in color, and the holes usually are filled with dark grout during installation, so the hole patterns are still visible but the holes themselves won't collect dirt and moisture. Travertine is an absorbent stone, so it has to be sealed before and after grouting.
Instructions
1. Measure up from the floor by the height of one of your travertine tiles, using a tape measure, and mark the wall there. For example, if the tiles are 8 inches tall, make the mark at 8 1/4 inches up from the floor. Draw a horizontal line along the base of the wall at that mark, from end to end.
2. Measure the horizontal line and mark the middle. Use your level and pencil to draw a vertical line up the wall, from bottom to top, at the middle.
3. Spread tile mastic along the base of the wall, from the floor up past the horizontal line, using a notched trowel. The lines should still be visible through the mastic.
4. Set a travertine wall tile into the mastic to one side of the vertical line, with the top edge of the tile under the horizontal line. This will create a ¼-inch space between the tile and the floor. Hang the rest of the bottom row of tiles under the line, side by side, putting spacers between them. Cut the ends tiles on a tile saw as needed.
5. Install the next course up in the same manner, starting at the middle and working to the sides with spacers between them. Continue up the wall course by course, covering the whole thing. Let the mastic set overnight and remove the spacers.
6. Coat the tile surface with stone tile sealant, using a foam brush. Don't put sealant in the holes or spaces, just on the flat surface of the tiles. Let it set for four to six hours.
7. Spread grout over the wall from the top down, using a grout float. Scrape the long edge of the float over the surface to force the grout into the spaces and holes, while scraping it off the surface.
8. Wipe up the excess grout from the surface with a damp sponge, leaving it in the spaces and holes. Let the grout set for a week or more.
9. Coat the whole wall in another layer of stone tile sealant, covering the grout as well.
