Parquet Flooring NZ: Herringbone, Chevron and What Parquet Actually Means

Parquet, and what the word actually covers

Parquet is not a product. It is a family of patterns, made by laying short boards or blocks in a geometric arrangement rather than in parallel runs.

The word covers a wide range: herringbone, chevron, basketweave, brick bond, and the elaborate panel work of Versailles and Chantilly. What they share is that the pattern is made by how the timber is laid, not by anything printed onto it.

That distinction matters more now than it used to, because most of what is sold as parquet in New Zealand is a photograph of parquet on a laminate or vinyl plank.

Real oak, not a printed pattern

A printed parquet board carries a photographic decor layer under a wear coat. Seen from standing height in a showroom it reads convincingly. Seen across a room in morning light it repeats, because the photograph repeats, and the grain does not change direction where the pattern does.

Ours is engineered European oak. A 6mm solid oak lamella over a eucalyptus core with birch backing, 20mm overall. Each piece is a piece of oak with its own grain, and the grain turns with the pattern because the boards themselves turn.

It can be sanded and recoated four or five times. A printed floor cannot be refinished at all, which is the part that decides the cost over a building's life rather than at the point of purchase.

The patterns we make, and the ones we do not

Herringbone is our stocked parquet pattern, available across the full colour range. The block is 600mm long and 120mm wide, a five to one proportion, which is what allows the pattern to close cleanly against itself rather than leave a running discrepancy down the room. Boards meet at right angles in a staggered zig-zag, each piece offset against its neighbour. See the herringbone flooring range.

Chevron we have supplied before, but it is not a stocked item. The boards are cut at an angle so the ends meet in a continuous point rather than a stagger, which gives a narrower, more directional line. It is an indent order. Talk to us early if a project needs it, because the lead time is the whole of the constraint.

Block, basketweave and Versailles panel parquet we do not make. If your project calls for those, we would rather tell you now than take you through a sample process that ends in the wrong place.

Herringbone or chevron

The two are constantly confused, including in specifications.

In herringbone, the boards are ordinary rectangles. Each one is laid at ninety degrees to its neighbour, so the end of one board meets the side of the next and the pattern steps. The zig-zag has a blunt, staggered edge.

In chevron, the boards are cut at an angle at each end, usually forty-five or forty-six degrees. The ends meet point to point, forming a continuous unbroken V. The line runs straight down the room.

Herringbone reads as older, denser and more forgiving in a room that is not square. Chevron reads as sharper and more deliberate, and it is far less forgiving of a wall that is out of true, because every point in the pattern lines up with the one before it.

What parquet costs, and why it costs more than a plank floor

Parquet is not priced by the board. It is priced by the board plus the labour plus the waste, and the last two are where the difference sits.

A parquet floor takes substantially longer to lay than a straight-lay floor of the same area, because every piece is placed to a set-out rather than run off a wall. It also carries higher wastage, since the pattern has to be cut into at every perimeter.

The supply rate, the install allowance and the wastage percentage we work to are set out on the herringbone flooring range, and the wider cost picture is in engineered oak flooring cost NZ.

Send a plan and we will take off quantities and quote properly, rather than give you a rate that turns out not to cover the job.

Specifying parquet

Three things decide whether a parquet floor looks right, and all three are settled before anyone opens a pack.

Set-out. The pattern's centre line has to be established against the room, not against a wall. In a room that is out of square, running the pattern off the longest wall will push the error into the most visible corner. Set out from the centre and the error distributes. With a 600mm by 120mm block, the pattern repeats on a 600mm module, which is the dimension to work the set-out against.

Substrate. A parquet floor is less tolerant of an uneven substrate than a straight-lay floor, because more joins land in a smaller area. Substrate preparation is covered in the installation guide.

Direction. The pattern's direction changes how long a room reads. Running the point of a chevron down the length of a space lengthens it; running it across shortens it. This is worth deciding on a drawing rather than on site.

Seeing it

Order samples free anywhere in New Zealand and look at them in the room they are for, at the hour of day you will use it. Oak changes considerably with the light.

If you are in Auckland, the Auckland studio at Residium holds the range. Christchurch and Queenstown studio details are on their pages.

Common questions

What is parquet flooring?

Parquet is timber flooring laid in a geometric pattern rather than in parallel runs. Herringbone and chevron are the two most common patterns in New Zealand. The pattern comes from how the timber is laid, not from a print applied to it.

Is herringbone the same as parquet?

Herringbone is a parquet pattern, so all herringbone is parquet, but not all parquet is herringbone. Basketweave, brick bond and Versailles panels are also parquet.

What size are your herringbone blocks?

600mm long by 120mm wide, 20mm thick, with a 6mm European oak surface layer. The five to one proportion is what lets the pattern close cleanly.

What is the difference between herringbone and chevron?

Herringbone uses rectangular boards laid at ninety degrees to each other, so the ends meet the sides and the zig-zag steps. Chevron uses boards cut at an angle at each end, so they meet point to point in a continuous V.

Does parquet cost more to install than plank flooring?

Yes. Every piece is placed to a set-out rather than run off a wall, so it takes longer, and wastage is higher because the pattern has to be cut into at every perimeter.

Can parquet flooring be sanded and refinished?

Real oak parquet can. Ours carries a 6mm oak surface layer and takes four or five re-sands. A printed laminate or vinyl parquet cannot be refinished at any point in its life.

Do you supply chevron flooring in New Zealand?

We have supplied chevron before, but it is not a stocked item and comes as an indent order. Raise it early in a project, because the lead time is the main constraint.