Why You Need Herringbone Flooring In Your Home

Looking For A Characterful, Hard Wearing & Timeless Floor For Your Home? Here's Why Herringbone Could Be The Perfect Choice...

In this blog, our experts aim to provide you with all of their knowledge surrounding herringbone flooring, from frequently asked questions to installation guides. We'll also cover some of our favourite herringbone floors - not just according to us, but our customers!

What is Herringbone Flooring?

Herringbone flooring is a type of parquet flooring; flooring made up of small blocks or boards laid out in a geometric pattern. And is generally attributed to the pattern of bones in the skeleton of a herring fish. This fishbone floor pattern has been used by humans since antiquity, however, the style of flooring became popular in France during the Renaissance period and spread across Europe and the World. Making a herringbone wood floor was a very skilled craft and each floor took a substantial amount of time to create so it tended to be limited to the wealthy and was frequently seen in the opulent stately homes and palaces of the time. Even today a herringbone floor brings to your home a sense of this history and opulence.

What Types of Herringbone Flooring Are There?

There are 3 main types of installation when it comes to herringbone flooring. The traditional installation type for herringbone floors is the tongue & groove system. However, as time has moved on you have the additional options of solid blocks (with no tongues or grooves) or the Click Lok system. Each type comes in a huge variety of species, finishes, colours, and sizes, so you won't be limited by this factor.

You can also get laminate herringbone flooring as well as herringbone vinyl flooring in the form of Luxury Vinyl Tiles (LVT) and these tend to come with a click system for installation.

Tongue & groove and herringbone click flooring boards will be split into A boards and B boards; sometimes called Left (A’s) and Right (B’s). Boards are usually marked on the back A or B, or L or R.

Is Herringbone Floor Out Of Style?

We know all too well that fashion trends come and go; flares, 80’s music to name a couple, and it’s true that herringbone flooring is now more fashionable than it was 20 years ago, however, style is more individual and a herringbone floor never goes out of style. Herringbone floors are very popular right now with grey herringbone flooring being particularly on trend at the moment. Is herringbone flooring a fad? Will herringbone flooring go out of Style? We believe that herringbone flooring has a long-lasting, timeless appeal. There may come a point when it is not at the height of fashion, however, it will always have style, class, and elegance.

Are Herringbone Floors More Expensive?

In our experience, this really depends on what type of floor you are wanting. For example, a herringbone oak floor may be more expensive than a cheaper plank engineered wood floor, however, it may be cheaper than a premium solid oak floor or engineered oak floor. Also, herringbone laminate flooring or wood effect vinyl flooring may well be cheaper than even the cheaper engineered wood floors, yet will still give you the dynamic look of modern herringbone flooring. 

When it comes to fitting cost, herringbone flooring is usually more expensive than plank flooring as it is more challenging to fit; more on this later.

The most popular types of herringbone flooring are solid wood, engineered wood, and LVT. However, you can get laminate herringbone floors too. Even though laminate herringbone is often less popular than other herringbone floors, there are actually many reasons why you should consider opting for laminate, besides the obvious save in costs. 

Are Herringbone Floors Worth It?

A herringbone floor in the right setting can really elevate your home to the next level, giving your home a touch of class, whilst making a bold statement. Imagine opening your front door and seeing the elegant herringbone pattern caressing the features of your home. Now imagine opening the door to your friends and seeing the look on their faces that shouts out ‘I wish I had a floor like that in my home’.

Where Can You Use Herringbone Flooring?

Herringbone flooring is versatile and can go in any room of your house, however, there are some exceptions you need to be aware of before snapping up one of our superb herringbone floors. Wood, especially solid wood is not suitable to be laid in moist, humid environments, or areas with significant temperature changes. This is because wood is a living, breathing product that absorbs moisture whilst expanding in heat and contracting in the cold, so it shouldn’t go in a bathroom.

If a herringbone floor in the bathroom is your heart's desire, then do not despair, as LVT herringbone and some laminate herringbone floors have waterproofing and water resistance built in whilst looking truly fabulous. If you want herringbone kitchen flooring or for a dining room then a lacquered parquet wood floor finish may be preferable over an oiled parquet wood floor finish, this is because spilled liquids can penetrate an oiled floor if not removed quickly leading to staining. Other than that, the world is your oyster, so feel free to choose herringbone floors that suit your tastes and lifestyles.

Is Herringbone Flooring Hard To Lay?

Herringbone flooring is more challenging to lay than a conventional plank floor because you are laying individual boards at right angles to each other and it takes more time to ensure that they are aligned correctly, as a small misalignment at the start can prove to be significant further into the installation. This is why people tend to leave this type of floor to the professionals and why it costs more to fit. However, if you are up for a challenge, you prep your subfloor correctly, buy the right tools and accessories and spend quality time watching tutorials on YouTube then you can lay a herringbone floor yourself.

Other questions people tend to ask about laying herringbone flooring are:

What Subfloor Can Herringbone Flooring Lay On?

It is generally desirable to lay your herringbone on as flat and even a floor as possible, removing small bumps. The reason for this is that herringbone boards are usually small in size and imperfections in the subfloor will show once the floor is finished, leading to problems later.

Does Herringbone Flooring Need Underlay?

This will depend on the type of herringbone flooring you are wanting to lay. LVT herringbone usually comes with foam or cork backing as a built-in underlay, sometimes called herringbone cushion floor. Herringbone laminate will usually be floated on an underlay. Click system engineered wood would also usually be laid on an underlay creating a floating herringbone floor, whilst narrower traditional parquet flooring would usually be bonded down to the subfloor using a suitable adhesive.

Which Direction Should Herringbone Flooring Run?

Herringbone flooring looks best when it is laid with the points aligned along the longest length of a room. You can however modify this and have the points running towards a focal point of a room, or towards a light source. The best way to determine this is to loosely lay some boards out in your room and try out different directions to see which you think suits the room best. If you are feeling adventurous, you can even try out double, or triple herringbone patterns. Once you’ve decided you need to mark a line in the centre of the room which will act as your guide and align the central points towards it.

Our Top 10 Herringbone Floors

We hope that reading about the timeless elegance of a floor that never goes out of style, coupled with tips on what to buy and how to lay it will have convinced you that you do need a herringbone floor in your home, so check out the amazing deals in our sale pages.

Clearance Parquet Wood Flooring

Clearance Laminate Flooring

Clearance Vinyl Flooring (LVT)

Whether you have your floor professionally fitted, or you give it a go yourself, we would love to hear about your experience and see some wonderful pictures of our superb herringbone floors.

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