Materials & comparisons
Herringbone flooring: what to know before you commit
The blocks are the easy part. Setting out is what makes or breaks the floor.
A herringbone floor draws the eye along its pattern, which means every error is amplified down the length of the room. Where a plank floor can absorb a slightly out-of-square wall in the last board, herringbone cannot — the pattern has to be set out from a true centre line and worked outward, and the borders are what absorb the room's irregularity. That is why fitting time, not material, tends to dominate the cost.
Herringbone vs chevron
Herringbone uses rectangular blocks laid at right angles to each other, creating a stepped zig-zag. Chevron uses angle-cut blocks that meet in a continuous point. Chevron blocks are cut for the job and cost more; the pattern reads more formal and directional.
Setting out and room shape
The pattern is set from a centre line, usually running with the main sightline into the room. In an irregular or open-plan space, choosing that line is a design decision — get it wrong and the pattern fights the room's geometry rather than reinforcing it.
Subfloor flatness is non-negotiable
With far more joints per square metre than a plank floor, herringbone shows any deviation as lippage between blocks. Levelling is not optional preparation here — it is part of the installation.
Borders, thresholds and wastage
Most herringbone floors are finished with a border or a plain perimeter run, which tidies the meeting with a wall that is not straight. Cutting waste is higher than plank flooring and should be allowed for in the order rather than discovered halfway through.
Questions we're asked about this
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