Herringbone Flooring - Why You Need This In Your Home

Do You Love Herringbone Flooring? Discover Why You Need Herringbone Flooring In Your Home

This blog will consider questions we frequently get asked about herringbone flooring and we have also included or 5 favourite herringbone floors.

What is Herringbone Flooring?

Herringbone flooring comes under the umbrella term of parquet flooring and is generally attributed to the pattern of bones in the skeleton of a herring fish. The fishbone pattern has been used by humans for hundreds of years, however the style of flooring became popular in France during the renaissance period and spread across Europe and then the World. Each floor took a substantial amount of time to create as it was a very skilled craft and because of this it was limited to the wealthy and was frequently seen in the palaces, castles and stately homes of the time. Even today a herringbone floor brings to your home a feeling of opulence and grandeur.

What Types of Herringbone Flooring Are There?

As with all wood flooring herringbone comes in a large variety of species, finishes, colours and sizes, however throughout all this diversity wooden herringbone floors come in three main types, being solid blocks with no tongues or grooves, traditional tongue & groove boards which are usually glued together and now more recently boards featuring a system allowing boards to be clicked together without any glue.

The more modern flooring types of laminate and luxury vinyl tiles (LVT) also come in herringbone form with laminate herringbone flooring and herringbone vinyl flooring. These usually come with a click system for installing.

For installation purposes tongue & groove and herringbone click flooring boards come as Left and Right boards; sometimes called A’s (Left) and B’s (Right). Most manufacturers mark their boards on the back to denote if they are A or B, or L or R.

Is Herringbone Floor Out Of Style?

Change in life is a constant and fashions come and go, some fleetingly whilst some endure for longer. Herringbone flooring is now more fashionable than it was 20 or 30 years ago, however style is more tuned to the individual and a herringbone floor never really goes out of style. So, is herringbone flooring the latest fad? Will herringbone flooring ever go out of Style? We do not think so and believe that herringbone flooring has a timeless appeal. There may come a point where herringbone flooring is not showcased as much in the glossy design magazines, however it will always have style, class and elegance. Grey flooring is in vogue right now with Grey herringbone flooring being particularly on trend at the moment.

Are Herringbone Floors More Expensive?

Herringbone floors are usually a couple of pounds more expensive per m² than their equivalent plank floor, however in our experience this really depends on what type of floor you are wanting, as a herringbone oak floor may be more expensive than a cheaper plank engineered wood floor, however it is usually 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, so we will sell a herringbone floor that will suit your budget. One area where herringbone is more expensive is with the fitting cost, which is more expensive than a plank floor. This is because fitting a herringbone floor requires a little bit more skill and patience.

Are Herringbone Floors Worth It?

There is no doubt that a herringbone floor can really give your home the ‘wow’ factor.  in the right setting it makes a bold statement, elevating your home with a touch of class. Please think for a moment about the feeling you will get from admiring your wonderful herringbone floor as its angles sweep past the features of your home. Now think about how all your friends will desire your herringbone floor and will want to follow in your footsteps. Just be satisfied though that yours will always look the best.

Where Can You Use Herringbone Flooring?

The versatility of herringbone flooring makes it suitable for any room of your home with some exceptions you need to be aware of. Wood, especially solid wood does not like moisture, or drastic temperature changes, so it would not usually be fitted in moist, humid environments, or areas with significant temperature changes. This is because wood absorbs moisture whilst expanding in heat and contracting in the cold, so it is not ideal for a bathroom. If you just have to have a herringbone floor in the bathroom then you may be in luck as LVT herringbone and some laminate herringbone floors have water proofing and water resistance built in without affecting their stylish looks. 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 liquids when spilled could penetrate and stain an oiled floor if not removed quickly, so feel free to choose the type of herringbone floors that suit your tastes and lifestyles.

Is Herringbone Flooring Hard To Lay?

There is no question that laying herringbone flooring is more of a challenge than a conventional plank floor. This is because you are laying individual boards at right angles to each other and it takes patience and time to ensure that they are aligned correctly and a small misalignment at the start can prove to be significant further into the installation. This is why it costs more to fit and why people tend to leave this type of floor to the professionals, but if you are up for a challenge, you take the time to prep your subfloor correctly, buy the right tools and accessories, spend time learning from the many tutorials on You Tube and don’t rush, 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?

A herringbone floor should really be laid on as flat and even a floor as possible. The reason for this is that herringbone boards are usually small in size and imperfections in the subfloor will show in the finished floor leading to problems later on, so knock in nail and screw heads, scrape off bumps, fill in deep cracks and repair blown concrete.

Does Herringbone Flooring Need Underlay?

LVT herringbone usually comes with a foam or cork backing as a built in underlay, sometimes called herringbone cushion floor and is not recommended to be laid with an additional underlay. Herringbone laminates will usually be floated on an underlay. Click system engineered wood is are also usually laid on an underlay creating a floating herringbone floor. Narrower traditional parquet flooring would usually be glued down to the subfloor using a suitable adhesive.

Which Direction Should Herringbone Flooring Run?

Traditionally a herringbone floor is laid with the points aligned along the longest length of a room, but it is your house and you can lay it anyway you want, for example you can have the points running towards a focal point of your room, or towards a light source. The best way to figure this out is to loosely lay some boards out in your room and try out different directions to see which you think suits the room best. The more adventurous among you may even try fitting a border around the room, or experimenting with double, or triple herringbone patterns. Once you’ve decided you need to mark a line in the centre of the room in the way the pattern is facing which will act as your guide and align the central points towards it.

5 Of Our Favourite Herringbone Floors

Pinsley Engineered Grey Oak

Wyncham Luxury Vinyl Smoked Oak

Vivante Grey Oak Laminate

Shibden Solid Natural Oak

Quin Engineered Natural Oak

Conclusion

We hope that reading about how wonderful herringbone patterned flooring is will want you to get on with that project you’ve been delaying or just give you the impetus to put one in your home. Once installed your home will benefit from the timeless elegance of a floor that never goes out of style.

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

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