Herringbone vs chevron: geometry, set-out and where each goes wrong

At a glance

Distances: our arithmetic for a 90 x 450 mm block (chevron long edge 450 mm). Naming follows the pattern atlas.

Two rules, one block

The parquet pattern atlas names the patterns and sets out the convention used here: the cut angle θ is the acute angle between the end cut and the long edge, and the V between two chevron blocks is 2θ. This sheet does not repeat it. It asks what the choice does to the set-out.

Herringbone has square ends. Each block's end meets the side of the next, so every column is a zigzag with a stepped, saw-toothed edge. The straight line an installer builds from is a control line, with working lines either side and 45° diagonals (NWFA, Ornamental Floors, page 13 and Installation Guidelines, Chapter 7). Chevron has angled ends, so left- and right-hand blocks meet on a straight spine and every V point sits on it. The column edge is straight too. That straight spine is why a chevron floor reads as cleaner, and why one block set a hair off the spine shows at once.

Two things follow before any room is drawn. The reference lines are different, and a chevron block comes in two hands, so the order has to say how many of each.

At 45 degrees, the same lattice

At 45° the two patterns are cousins. Take a herringbone block, cut the green triangle off one end and add it to the other, and you have a 45° chevron block: the same long edge, the same area and the same width. Because the block is only sheared, the lattice does not change. Turned so the columns run up the page, herringbone repeats every √2 × L across the columns and every √2 × W along them, and a 45° chevron of the same size repeats at exactly the same distances. That is why one supplier says a 45° chevron can look like herringbone.

The 60° cut changes both distances: a longer repeat across the room (779 mm instead of 636) and a shorter step along the spine (104 mm instead of 127). One supplier's guide says 60° is generally the more popular chevron cut but harder to fit.

Our arithmetic from the geometry above, not catalogue data. Replace W and the long edge with your own.

Common mistake: ordering from the wrong length. A maker may quote a chevron block tip to tip. Treat 540 mm as the long edge of the 45° block and you work out 20.6 blocks to the square metre instead of 24.7, which is 17% short (10% short at 60°, where the tip to tip length is 502 mm). Put the long edge, not the tip to tip length, on the drawing, and ask the workshop for its coverage per pack for the cut you specify.

Set-out: crown line, repeat and the wall

Every guide we read sets the floor out from the centre, not from a wall. NWFA asks for a centre layout with working lines, a dry-laid small section to confirm the layout is balanced, and one row at a time with alignment checked as you go. One UK supplier calls the first two rows the crown line: they must be laid perfectly in line, left to cure (it says 24 hours) and only then built from, because a crown line that is out gives ever-increasing gaps as the floor is laid.

The step the guides skip is arithmetic. The pattern repeats at a fixed distance, so a room of any width puts each wall somewhere in that repeat. For a room 4,000 mm between expansion gaps with the crown line on the centre:

NWFA gives the principle: adjust the apron (the band between the border and the wall) so cuts are equal on all sides, and let the field end with a whole or a half repeat of the pattern. A UK installer's article says the same of out-of-square walls: set the lines true and let the cut at the wall vary by a few millimetres, because a pattern that follows the wall drifts. On our room, a wall 10 mm out of true over 4 m turns a 51 mm sliver into 61 mm along its length; a pattern that followed it would carry 10 mm of drift to the far end.

Doorways. The installer's article ties the pattern to the most important doorway, and one supplier puts a chevron crown line on the centre of a doorway or other vista. Then check the phase. A 900 mm opening centred on the crown line has its jambs 132 mm past a pattern line in herringbone and 60 mm past one in 60° chevron, which is a thin cut piece at each jamb. How the floor then carries on past the threshold is a junction detail: see floor transitions and movement joints.

Where each goes wrong

Almost every fault traces to the start or to a number nobody wrote down. Each row below says which pattern it bites, how it shows, and what to ask for.

Drift figures are our arithmetic from the geometry and the cited tolerance. Tolerances, handing and cut angles are the partner workshop's to confirm.

What goes on the layout drawing

The layout drawing does the work the installer would otherwise improvise.

• Pattern and block. Width, length and thickness. For chevron, the cut angle and how it is measured, and which length is quoted (long edge or tip to tip).
• Hands. Equal numbers of left and right for chevron; handing for tongue and groove herringbone.
• Direction. NWFA: the points may look best toward the longest dimension of the room or toward a major focal point. One maker suggests toward the main window. Choose and draw it.
• Crown line. Its position, dimensioned from two fixed references, and the hero doorway it is tied to.
• The edge. Frame or apron width, and how the field ends against it: whole repeat, half repeat, or a cut band of a stated minimum.
• Doorways and thresholds. Where the pattern stops or carries on, and the strip.
• Movement. Where the expansion gaps fall and what covers them.
• Approval. A dry-laid sample area on site, signed off before fixing.

Quantities. One supplier's guide asks for at least 5% waste, and more for herringbone and chevron. In our own trial of a 4 x 6 m room and a 90 x 450 block, with no offcut reused, the cut-off came to about 9% to 23% depending on the pattern and where it started, so draw the layout before you pick a percentage.

Pattern: [herringbone / chevron] to layout drawing [ref]. Block [90] x [450] x [14] mm; for chevron, end cut [60] degrees measured between the end cut and the long edge, and [450] mm is the long edge, not tip to tip. Crown line on [the centre line of the room / the centre of doorway ref], dimensioned from [two fixed references]. Points face [the longest dimension of the room / the window wall]. Frame or apron [ ] mm wide takes up the irregularity of the walls; cuts at the walls to be equal on opposite sides.

Block width tolerance [+/- 0.2] mm and length tolerance [+/- 0.5] mm, stated by the workshop; blocks outside tolerance de-selected before laying. Chevron blocks supplied in equal numbers of left- and right-hand [and tongue and groove blocks handed], drawn from at least [three] packs while laying.

Crown line of two rows laid first, checked with [a chalk line / a laser], and left to cure for [24] hours before the rest is laid. Alignment re-checked every [ ] rows against the working lines; no row adjusted to follow a wall.

Quantity [ ] m2 calculated by the workshop from layout drawing [ref] for the cut specified, with an allowance of [ ] %. A sample area of [2 x 2] m dry-laid on site and approved by [the designer] before fixing.

Standards and sources

• NWFA Technical Publication No. B300, Ornamental Floors: Design & Installation (3rd edition, 2015): read: layout, working lines, herringbone, aprons.
• NWFA Installation Guidelines, Section III, Chapter 7, Parquet Installation (revised 02.2016): read: herringbone layout.
• A UK distributor's guidelines (Jan 2024), two UK supplier guides (2015, 2018): read: crown line, sizes, tolerance, handed blocks.
• BS 8201:2011, BS EN 13226, 13227, 13489: named; not read. Check current editions.

Questions we are asked

What is the difference between herringbone and chevron?

In herringbone the blocks have square ends, and the end of each meets the side of the next at 90 degrees, so each column zigzags and its edge is stepped. In chevron the ends are cut at an angle and the blocks meet point to point on a straight spine in a V. Chevron blocks come as left- and right-hand pairs.

Is a 45 degree chevron the same as herringbone?

No, but it is built on the same lattice. A 45 degree chevron block is a herringbone block with its ends sheared: the same long edge, width and area. The repeat distances are identical, which is why the two can look alike. The ends and the column edge differ.

Which is harder to lay?

One UK supplier says 60 degree chevron is generally the more popular chevron cut but harder to fit, and our own wood flooring guide says every inconsistency in chevron shows at the points. Both patterns need a flat subfloor, a straight crown line and an experienced floor layer.

What is a crown line?

The first two rows of the floor, laid exactly on the set-out line and left to cure before the rest is built from them. A crown line that is out carries its error into every row.

Which way should the points face?

NWFA says herringbone may look best with the points toward the longest dimension of the room or toward a major focal point. One maker suggests toward the main light. There is no rule: choose it, and draw it.

Why do chevron floors end in slivers at the walls?

The pattern repeats at a fixed distance, so a wall can fall just past a pattern line and leave a thin cut piece. In our worked example, a 60 degree chevron of 90 x 450 mm blocks in a room 4,000 mm wide leaves 51 mm at each wall. Moving the repeat with a frame or apron, or a different block length, avoids it.

How much extra should I order?

A supplier's guide asks for at least 5% and more for herringbone and chevron. Our trial of a 4 x 6 m room gave about 9% to 23% cut-off without reusing offcuts. Ask the workshop to calculate the quantity from the layout drawing for the cut you specify.