Herringbone is one of the best-looking floor patterns you can lay, but it comes with real trade-offs: it costs more per square metre than straight-lay, the install takes longer, the joints catch grit, and the pattern needs a square, level subfloor to look right. None of these are deal-breakers, but they’re worth knowing before you commit.
It costs more per square metre
Herringbone blocks are shorter and narrower than standard planks, which means more individual pieces per square metre and a higher manufacturing cost. The product itself usually sits 10-25% above the equivalent straight-lay range from the same brand. If you’re costing a job, treat herringbone as a step up the price ladder rather than a like-for-like swap. Our engineered timber flooring prices guide breaks down where the dollars go.
The install takes longer
A straight-lay floor goes down quickly because most planks run end-to-end with simple click joints. Herringbone is the opposite: every block sits at 90 degrees to its neighbour, the layout has to be set out from a centre line, and each row is two pieces wide instead of one. Expect the labour component to roughly double compared to a straight-lay job of the same area. On a 60 m² living-and-hallway run, that’s typically the difference between a two-day install and a four-to-five-day install.
This is also a job we’d recommend giving to an installer who has done herringbone before. The pattern is unforgiving — small setting-out errors compound across the room and end up as wedge-shaped gaps at the skirting. If you’re getting quotes, ask the installer how many herringbone jobs they’ve done in the last twelve months.
The subfloor has to be properly square and level
Straight-lay flooring is forgiving about a slightly out-of-square room because the planks run with one wall and any taper hides under the skirting. Herringbone has no such hiding place: the centre line of the pattern is the visual anchor of the floor, and any drift shows. Before install, the subfloor needs to be checked with a long straight-edge and self-levelled where required, and the room needs to be set out properly — the 3-4-5 rule for squaring a room is the standard method.
More joints means more places for grit to sit
A herringbone floor has roughly twice the linear metres of joint as a straight-lay floor of the same area. On a well-finished engineered or hybrid herringbone the joints sit tight and don’t trap much, but fine grit and pet hair will collect along them more visibly than on straight-lay. A regular dry vacuum (with the brush bar off, so it doesn’t scuff the finish) and a barely-damp microfibre mop is enough to keep it tidy. We’d avoid steam mops and wet-string mops on any timber-look floor, herringbone or not.
It doesn’t always suit the room
Herringbone reads best in rooms with a clear long axis — entries, hallways, formal living rooms, dining rooms, and main bedrooms. In small, irregular rooms it can look busy, and in very open-plan spaces with multiple doorways the centre-line layout becomes a planning exercise. If you’re laying one floor across kitchen, living and dining as a single zone, straight-lay often sits more calmly under the joinery. Our guide on choosing between herringbone and straight flooring walks through where each pattern earns its keep.
Resale and longevity
Two smaller points worth flagging. First, herringbone is more on-trend right now than it has been in decades, but trends move. Straight-lay rarely dates; herringbone can. If you’re laying a floor you intend to keep for 20-plus years, that’s worth a thought. Second, board-for-board replacement after damage is harder with herringbone because each block is keyed into two neighbours rather than one — keep a box of off-cuts from the original install, even if you don’t keep them for any other floor.
Is it still worth it?
For the right room, yes. A well-laid engineered oak herringbone in an entry or formal living lifts the whole house, and on a 3 mm or 4 mm lamella it can be sanded back and refinished decades later. The disadvantages are real but they’re mostly upfront: more material cost, more labour, more setting-out care. None of them affect how the floor performs once it’s down. If you want to see the patterns and tones we stock, the herringbone flooring range is a good starting point, and we’re happy to talk through whether it suits your room across our Sydney and Brisbane showrooms.
Ready to shop? Browse our full herringbone timber range online, or drop into our Sydney or Brisbane showroom to see the range in person.