Help!: grouting and sealing travertine wall tiles

[guitarmanic]

Hi I have just fixed 5 msq 100x100mm rumbled travertine wall tiles in a kitchen and need to grout and seal. What is the best way to grout ? Im not keen to completely cover the stone in grout with a spreader (as I would with glazed porcelain) as I am worried it will fill in all the pits and chips on the faces in white and I will lose a lot of the natural character and colours of the stone or is that what Im supposed to do with travertine? Any suggestions? Do I just take my time to grout carefully around each tile or is there any way of directing into the 2mm gaps eg with a refillable tube (if such a thing exists?) and put into a caulking gun?

Also do I put the sealer on before grouting or afterwards

thanks for your help

[theyomper]

Definately seal before grouting. Also Bal do a protective sealer that is brushed on,two coats, and after grouting it comes off with the washing down. I have found this very good when grouting rough faced tiles. Worth trying as I believe it will miminise the grout filling the open holes. Also have a toothbrush handy when grouting/wasing down to flush the grout off the face of the tiles.
Topps Tiles have the protector.

[doug boardley]

seal before grouting mate, there is a grouting gun on the market,similar to a silicon gun, but I prefer to fill the pits, I think it looks better and less chance of harbouring bacteria etc

[theyomper]

Grouting guns are a pain to use, however check out the link on the right to TradeTiler, enter shop and browse to grouting~grout application. You will find not only the grout gun but also a grouting bag....similar to a cooks piping bag.

[Oli]

Im with Doug on this one, seal first, then grout, i also fill the pits.

[beanz]

If your filling the pits with grout, use a more suitable grout colour... I don't think white will look too good.

[whitebeam]

Use limestone or similar colour to the tiles

[Daz]

If it's unfilled trav, don't seal first as you will prevent the grout from sticking in the holes. Only seal before grouting if it is filled trav.

I usually use limestone or ivory grout with travertine, looks much nicer than white IMHO.

[sWe]

Sounds like you've got unfilled travertine tiles. As the name suggests, it needs to be filled.