Considered to be one of the most popular of the natural stone finishes, travertine tiles are often a first choice by homeowners to be installed in their home bathrooms, kitchens and hallways, as well as for external paving and masonry. It has long been an established favourite of different commercial sectors, most notably the leisure industry.Today's professional tilers need to be fully competent to work with a large number of tile materials, finishes, especially individual surface stability, preparation, adhesives and grout. From relatively straightforward ceramic tiles to the specialised laying of natural stone, an individual embarking on a career in tiling should consider learning to tile on more than one type of approved NVQ tiling course, and gain valuable competency in key tiling knowledge and skillsets known to be required in the modern tiling industry.Travertine, which originates from Italy, is a high quality, durable building material, available in its pure form as white or in many warm or cool variants of yellow and brown, near black and many finishes, from honed, filled and tumbled edges.Travertine is available in three grades of finish:First Grade : Premium - A smooth, even appearance often used in monumental applications and found in church buildings.Second Grade : Midgrade - A higher number of shade variations used for most home applications.Third Grade : Commercial - A natural appearance, mostly unsorted, often cracked, chipped, or broken and predominantly used for outdoor use.Working with travertine tiles also requires the use of the correct tile adhesive and grout for the particular material. It is vitally important to gain knowledge of the different types of tile adhesive on the market, from ready mix, including waterproof grades and non slip, chemically-based cement adhesives that can take polymer strengtheners and multi stick, anti vibration types, often used for fixing to timber floors.Installing travertine tiles requires specialist instruction before commencing installation. At AbleSkills recently extended Tiling Centre, a marble slate course is available to cover the necessary skills required. Also available is a Victorian and Mosaic tiling course and candidates should also be aware of a 5 day introductory tiling course too. A number of integrated City & Guilds NVQ tiling courses of varying lengths, from 3 to 8 weeks are key to developing a career to enter the building industry as a fulltime qualified tiler.