Travertine cleaning and sealing in Malabar

Malabar houses facing Long Bay often have travertine around the pool or on a terrace looking over the water, and that stone ages fastest along its most exposed edges. Pool water splashes onto the coping and dries, ocean spray adds more salt, and crystals growing in the pores slowly roughen the surface. Open holes fill with sand and leaf debris, and shaded corners develop a grey film. The early signs are a darker band along the waterline and coping that feels sandy underfoot. At that point, a careful clean, refilling and a salt-resistant sealer are usually enough to stop the damage progressing.

Because travertine is a limestone, our technicians keep acid well away from it. Many pool-shop scale removers and outdoor cleaners are acidic, and they leave dull etched patches that cleaning cannot fix. Instead, alkaline stone cleaners are worked into the surface with soft pads on a low-speed machine and rinsed gently. The pool is protected first, and run-off is collected so it reaches neither the pool nor the garden nor the street. On the walk-around before we start, any existing etching is pointed out, so you know in advance which marks will clean off and which need honing with diamond pads afterwards.

After the clean, the travertine is left until it is completely dry, which on a bay-facing terrace depends on the weather. Holes are filled with a filler matched to the stone, and a penetrating sealer designed for salt exposure goes on in thin coats, with excess wiped back so no film forms. Underfoot, the deck feels exactly as it did before. You get a short note of the product, date and areas, and advice on when the pool and furniture can be used again. A splash of water on the coping each summer is the simplest test: if it soaks in and darkens the stone, resealing is due.