The pitted, banded, honed character of travertine, troweled as one seamless plaster surface. No slabs, no grout lines, no engineered support, no twelve-week fabricator lead time.
Travertine is everywhere in Toronto retail and hospitality right now: reception desks, bar fronts, columns, full feature walls. Almost every brief we see for it hits the same wall, literally. The reference is a slab installation and the base building, the schedule or the budget cannot carry one. A travertine look plaster, known as travertino, reproduces the open pores, the fine veining and the horizontal banding of the stone in a lime and marble plaster that is troweled over drywall a few millimetres thick. If you are searching for travertine look walls, travertine effect plaster, faux travertine or a travertine finish for a desk or a hood in Toronto, this is the page.
A base coat sets the body colour. A second coat is troweled, then pulled and dragged to open the surface into the pitting and banding that reads as travertine. A final pass takes the surface to a honed, unfilled or lightly filled finish depending on your reference, and a sealer locks it in. We can run the banding horizontally for a vein-cut read or work it more randomly for a cross-cut read. Colour ranges from classic ivory and cream through silver, noce, walnut and warm grey, all from mineral pigment and all approved on a sample board before site work.
Horizontal banding for the architectural travertine look, or random pitting for a softer, more organic stone.
Open pores for a raw stone read, or a filled, honed surface for something cleaner and more polished.
One continuous surface across the wall, around corners, up columns and onto bulkheads.
Bring the stone the design was built on. We match tone, banding direction and the scale of the pitting first.
| Travertine look plaster | Travertine slab | Travertine tile | Travertine veneer panels | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joints | None | Slab seams | Grout throughout | Panel joints |
| Weight | Negligible, over drywall | Very heavy, engineered | Heavy, cement board | Moderate, mechanical fixing |
| Curves and columns | Any radius | No | Small tiles only | Limited |
| Lead time | Days, on site | Weeks to months | Weeks | Weeks |
| Staining and etching | Sealed, wipeable | Etches, needs sealing | Etches, grout stains | Etches |
| Repair | Spot repair, blends | Replace slab | Replace tile | Replace panel |
| Best for | Walls, desks, columns, hoods, curves | Floors, countertops | Floors, showers | Large flat walls |
Browse the portfolio, or ask to see travertine sample boards in person.
We produce the finish from a stone sample or a photo, run it seamlessly around columns, curves and bulkheads, and finish desks, hoods and fixtures so the stone appears carved rather than clad. Sample boards, mock-ups and spec language are part of the service. Fixtures can be finished in our shop when that suits the millwork schedule. For Ottawa locations, our Ottawa team applies the same finish.
Ottawa project? Travertine look finishes in Ottawa.
Yes. Travertino is one of the oldest Venetian plaster techniques and it exists to imitate the stone. Pitting, banding and tonal variation are worked in by hand. It reads as stone at arm's length and is warmer and slightly softer in the hand.
It depends on the area, the substrate and the detail, so we quote from drawings or a site visit. As a rule the plaster costs a fraction of a slab wall once fabrication, engineered support and installation are included, and usually less than an equivalent tiled wall once substrate, grout and sealing are counted.
Yes, and those are the places it makes the most sense. Real travertine has to be cut and jointed around them. The plaster is troweled on as one continuous surface.
No. Real travertine is calcium carbonate and etches with anything acidic. The plaster is sealed, so wine, citrus and cleaning products wipe off.
Yes. Send or bring it and we match tone, banding direction and pitting scale on a board before site work.
A feature wall or reception desk is typically three to six days including cure and seal. Larger fit-outs are phased around your schedule.
Share your stone reference or drawings and we will bring sample boards to your site or studio. Serving Toronto, Mississauga, Vaughan, Oakville, Richmond Hill and the GTA.