Fitting guide 2 min read

Herringbone Installation Guide

Planning and fitting a herringbone floor. Why the pattern needs full glue down, how to set the first row, and the waste allowance to order.

Difficulty

Professional advised

Method

Full glue down

Waste allowance

10% to 12%

Underfloor heating

Suitable

1/ 5

What you are taking on

Herringbone is the same oak as a straight plank floor, arranged so that every block meets its neighbour at a right angle. That arrangement is the whole appeal and the whole difficulty. On a plank floor a small error disappears into the next row. In a herringbone field it accumulates, and by the far wall it is visible from the doorway.

Blocks arrive as left hand and right hand boards in matched quantities. Check both are present before you start, because a field laid with the wrong ratio cannot be finished.

Good to know: Herringbone and chevron are not the same pattern. Herringbone blocks are cut square and meet at a right angle. Chevron blocks are cut at an angle so the rows form a continuous point. They are ordered and fitted differently.

Order the right quantity

This is the number people get wrong, and it is the one that stops a job halfway.

Straight plank

5% to 7% extra for waste

Herringbone or chevron

10% to 12% extra for waste

Why the difference

Every perimeter cut in a pattern floor produces an offcut that cannot be used elsewhere in the field.

Important: Order the whole quantity, including the waste allowance, in one go. Boards are produced in batches and a later top up may not match what is already down.

Why glue down, and only glue down

A floating herringbone floor is a bad idea, and it fails in a predictable way. Each block is small, so each one carries very little of its neighbours. Without a bond to the subfloor the individual blocks work loose over time and the pattern opens at the joints.

Full glue down locks every block in position, keeps the pattern tight, and gives the firmer, quieter feel underfoot that people expect from parquet. It is also the method that works best over underfloor heating, because the floor is in direct contact with the heated slab rather than floating above an insulating air gap.

Pro tip: Spread adhesive for one or two rows at a time. Cover more than you can lay inside the adhesive open time and the bond is compromised across the whole area.

Setting out the pattern

The floor is decided by the first two rows. Everything after that follows them, including the mistakes.

Find the sightline

Herringbone is normally set along the longest view through the room, usually from the door towards the main window. Snap a chalk line on that axis.

Dry lay a test row

Lay one full pattern row across the room without adhesive. Shift the centre line until the cut blocks at both walls finish at a similar width.

Fix a batten and work to it

A straight batten on the chalk line gives the first spine something true to sit against. Free hand starts drift.

Check the angle constantly

Put a square across the pattern every few blocks. A small error is invisible at the third row and obvious at the thirtieth.

Cut the perimeter last

Lay the full field first, then cut into the walls. Trying to fit the border as you go locks in any drift.

Before the room goes back into use

Adhesive needs time, and this is where an otherwise good job gets damaged.

Keep off it while it cures

Walking on a freshly bonded field moves blocks before the adhesive has taken.

Furniture back last

Felt pads under every leg, and lift rather than drag.

Damp mop only

Standing water sits in the joints of a pattern floor far longer than on a plank floor.

Mats at the doors

Grit is what cuts the finish, and a pattern floor has more joints for it to sit in.

Our recommendation: We recommend a professional fitter for herringbone. The material cost is the same either way, and the difference between a good pattern and a poor one is entirely in the setting out.

See the pattern before you commit

Herringbone reads very differently in a real room than on a screen. A sample on your own floor settles it in a week.

Browse parquet Order samples

Fitting guide Engineered Wood Installation Guide Fitting guide LVT Installation Guide Technical guide Subfloor Requirements

On this page

Email WhatsApp

Not sure it suits your room?

A real cut from a real board. Samples £1.99 each, up to 10 per order.

Order samples · £1.99

Your Basket

Your basket is empty