Herringbone flooring is a great design choice to add a subtle statement in your home without making overly bold interior design choices. When installed correctly, the final result can be stunning, with the striking patterns transforming any room. However, herringbone flooring can be incredibly unforgiving when it comes to laying it down, especially for people considering doing a DIY job.
This is why it’s best left to the professionals, since even the smallest mistake can really throw the whole pattern off. If you would still like to learn more about the process, we’ve broken it down for you into a brief outline below.
The first step to laying down herringbone flooring is to establish the layout of the planks. To do this, measured markings need to be made on the floor, starting with a centre line drawn directly through the middle of the room’s length, which is where the pattern will start.
From this line, a perpendicular line will be drawn, intersecting this line across the centre of the room width ways. These two lines are important, as this will allow the planks to be laid in a perfect 45° angle.
Often, two lines will be drawn either side of the first centre line, which together act as a guide when the planks are being laid to ensure that the centre line runs through the centre point of these once they have been joined.
Once all the necessary markings and measurements have been made, it’s time to measure and cut the planks. These must be cut to an exact multiple of their width and there should be an even number of them.
Once these have all been cut to the necessary size, grooves are added to the ends, which will allow them to properly interlock when placed down.
Next is time for the boards to be placed in the correct pattern. Typically, this is done before they are officially secured into place, just to double check that the layout works before it’s too late. As we’ve already mentioned, the laying of the pattern starts in the centre of the room, with the rest working outwards to the sides.
A starter board is typically secured into place (temporarily), which acts as a guide for the first two pieces to be laid down. Once these are placed and are fitting within the marking guidelines, then they are ready to be secured and the rest of the planks put into place.
When laying down planks in a herringbone design, they can be secured in a couple of ways. When laying down oak herringbone, this can be laid down directly onto the base of your floor; often, it is glued down on the back using a full surface bonding technique. When using laminate flooring, this typically requires a subfloor underneath; when using a subfloor, there is also the option to nail each plank into the subfloor.
If you’re looking to have a hardwood floor renovation in your home, here at Just Wood Flooring we offer herringbone flooring as part of our renovation services. Contact us today for your free quote.