That herringbone pattern almost beat me today

Spent an hour trying to get the first row straight before it clicked. You really have to start dead center and work out both ways, otherwise it just walks off on you. Who knew a simple zigzag could be such a pain?

3 comments

3 Comments

nguyen.eva2mo ago

Herringbone is trickier than it looks. I ended up snapping a chalk line right down the middle before I even laid the first piece. @victorhill mentioning the slide is spot on, and that center line stops the walk. Getting each piece at that exact 45-degree angle is the real key, but once the first row is set, the rest follows.

hayden_nelson852mo agoMost Upvoted

Did my buddy ever learn the hard way with herringbone? He skipped the chalk line and just started laying pieces from one corner. It was exactly what @victorhill described, with everything sliding and the pattern walking off after a few rows. He fought with it for an entire afternoon, getting more frustrated as each piece refused to sit right. Without that exact 45-degree starting point, the whole floor looked crooked and he had to tear it out. Your method with the center line is the only way to avoid that mess, and I wish he'd known that before wasting a weekend.

victorhill2mo ago

Wait, you spent a whole hour just on the first row? That's crazy lol. I tried herringbone once and gave up after twenty minutes because it kept sliding around. Starting from the center makes sense, but I always thought you could go from one end. Now I see why it walks off, and it's wild how something so simple turns into a geometry test. I might try your method, but an hour is serious commitment.