"GUIDE"

Complete Guide

Herringbone
Flooring Guide

Everything you need to know before specifying a herringbone floor — board sizes, patterns, costs, fixing methods, finishes, and what to ask an installer. Written from direct installation experience, not flooring industry generalities.

Short answer: Herringbone is a parquet pattern of rectangular blocks laid at right angles. Choose block size to suit the room: around 70–90mm wide for smaller rooms and period houses, 125–150mm wide for large and open-plan spaces. Engineered oak herringbone should always be glued down, works over underfloor heating, and needs about 15% extra for cutting. Updated October 2026 by the LIGNORA flooring team

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Board Sizes

Choosing the Right
Board Size

The most common herringbone board size in London properties is 60-90mm wide by 300-450mm long. Narrower boards produce a finer, more traditional texture — closer to Victorian finger parquet. Wider boards produce a bolder, more contemporary herringbone. The ratio of width to length affects how the pattern reads: a 1:5 ratio (e.g. 75x375mm) produces the classic herringbone proportions; a 1:3 ratio produces a blockier, more graphic pattern.

For a standard London reception room or hallway, 75x300mm or 90x450mm are the most commonly specified sizes. Below 60mm, the pattern becomes very fine and requires significantly more installation time. Above 120mm, the boards are wide enough that the pattern starts to read more like wide plank flooring than herringbone.

Thickness matters separately. 14-20mm engineered oak is the standard range. Above UFH, 14-18mm is recommended. On timber subfloors where secret-nailing is possible, thicker boards can be used — but for most London herringbone installations on concrete, 14-18mm glue-down is the correct specification.

Traditional Scale

60-75mm Width

Fine, detailed herringbone closest to period finger parquet. More installation time per m2. Suited to smaller rooms and period hallways where a delicate pattern scale is appropriate.

Most Common

75-90mm Width

The sweet spot for most London properties. Fine enough to read as classic herringbone, bold enough to be visible from a standing position. The most commonly specified range for reception rooms and hallways.

Contemporary

90-120mm Width

A bolder, more graphic herringbone. Works well in larger rooms and open-plan spaces where a finer pattern would be lost. More frequently specified in contemporary properties than in period homes.

Specification Decisions

Five Choices That
Define the Result

Pattern Orientation

45 vs 90 Degrees

45 degree herringbone (boards at 45 degrees to the walls) is the classic orientation — period-appropriate and versatile. 90 degree herringbone (boards running parallel to walls) is more geometric and contemporary. The datum line for each is set differently, so the decision must be made before installation begins.

Oak Grade

Prime vs Character

Prime grade oak has tight, even grain with minimal knots or character markings. Character grade has visible knots, grain variation, and natural movement. Both are correct choices — prime suits formal, contemporary spaces; character suits period properties and rooms where you want the floor to feel lived-in. Character grade costs less.

Tone

Natural, Smoked, or Stained

Natural oak has a warm golden tone. Smoked oak is given depth and darkness through a smoking process that penetrates the grain. Stained oak has a surface colour that can range from grey-washed to near-black. Always assess samples in the actual room at different times of day before committing. The same board reads differently under north and south light.

Fixing Method

Glue-Down or Secret-Nail

Herringbone on concrete subfloors is always glue-down — full-spread adhesive across the entire board face. On timber subfloors, secret-nail is possible where the boards are thick enough. Glue-down produces a more stable result for herringbone at any scale; it is our standard recommendation for herringbone regardless of subfloor type.

Finish

Oil or Lacquer

Hardwax oil produces a natural, penetrating finish that shows the grain depth of the oak and can be spot-repaired. Lacquer produces a surface film that is more durable and more liquid-resistant, but requires a full sand-back when eventually worn. For herringbone in hallways and family kitchens, lacquer is more practical. For reception rooms, oil.

Border

With a Border or Flow-Through

Herringbone flooring with a border — the field framed by one or two rows of straight boards, sometimes in a contrasting tone — adds a formal quality suited to reception rooms. Flow-through herringbone — run continuously through doorways without borders — makes a space feel larger and more connected. The border decision should be made when the pattern layout is first discussed, before the datum line is set.

Getting Quotes

What to Ask
an Installer

When comparing herringbone installation quotes, the questions that matter most are not about price. A quote without answers to these questions cannot be reliably compared to one that has them:

Will you set a datum line before installation begins — and from what reference point?
How long will the floor acclimatise in the property before installation begins?
What is the moisture content of the subfloor and does it require a DPM?
Is the subfloor levelling included in this quote or charged additionally?
Will your own in-house team install this floor, or will it be subcontracted?

How to Lay
Herringbone Flooring

1. Prepare the subfloor

Concrete and screed must be dry and flat; timber must be sound and screwed down. Test the moisture and level any dips first, because herringbone shows every one of them.

2. Let the blocks settle

Bring the blocks into the room before fitting so they settle to its temperature and humidity. With underfloor heating, follow the commissioning schedule before any adhesive goes down.

3. Set the datum line

Find the centre line of the room, usually from the main doorway or the longest wall, and mark a datum line. The whole pattern is built off this line, so the cut blocks at each wall match.

4. Dry-lay a few rows

A short dry run without adhesive confirms the angle to the walls, 45 or 90 degrees, and shows where the points of the pattern will meet the doorways.

5. Glue every block down

Spread flooring adhesive over the subfloor a section at a time and press each block into place along the line, working outwards from the centre. Engineered herringbone should always be fully glued.

6. Cut the edges and finish

Cut the blocks to the walls with an expansion gap, add a border of straight blocks if you want one, and cover the gap with skirting or trims. Unfinished blocks are then sanded and oiled or lacquered on site.

Laying herringbone yourself is possible, but it is slow and unforgiving: a datum line that is slightly out runs through the whole floor. Our own fitters lay herringbone across London and the South East; see herringbone flooring installation, or how to acclimatise wood flooring.

Herringbone,
Answered

The questions we are asked most often.

Ask Us Anything →

What size herringbone block should I choose?

Scale the block to the room. In hallways and smaller rooms, 90 × 400mm or 90 × 450mm blocks keep plenty of full blocks across the width; in larger rooms and open-plan spaces, 125 × 600mm or 150 × 600mm blocks give the pattern the right weight.

Can herringbone flooring be installed on underfloor heating?

Yes. Engineered oak herringbone blocks are fully compatible with all underfloor heating systems. The installation must be glue-down rather than floating, and the adhesive specification must be rated for the UFH system present.

How much does herringbone flooring cost to install in London?

Herringbone installation in London typically costs more than straight-lay flooring due to the additional cutting, waste, and labour involved. The pattern adds approximately 20-30% to the installation cost versus equivalent straight-lay boards. We provide itemised quotes covering supply and installation.

Can herringbone be laid in a kitchen?

Yes, and it works particularly well in kitchens. Herringbone creates a defined visual zone in open-plan kitchen-diners, reads cleanly with both traditional and contemporary cabinetry, and the engineered construction handles the temperature and humidity variations typical in kitchen environments.

Herringbone
Flooring Guide