Herringbone Floors in Cary, NC

Cary Hardwood Flooring lays herringbone hardwood floors in homes across Cary. We check the floor underneath, measure each room and plan the pattern to fit it.

What a herringbone floor is

The herringbone floors we lay are made of short boards set in a zigzag, with the end of each board meeting the side of the next, so the rows look like the bones of a fish.

The herringbone we lay is one kind of parquet, which is wood laid in a pattern of small pieces. The National Park Service says historic flooring can be highly decorative, like parquet floors with inlaid wood in the front room of a row house or a hotel ballroom.

Herringbone or chevron

We lay both. On a herringbone floor we lay, the boards have square ends. On a chevron floor we lay, the ends of the boards are cut at an angle, so each row meets the next in a clean point, like a row of arrows.

We bring sample boards of both, so you can set them on your floor in your own light before you choose.

Planning the pattern

A herringbone floor shows every line, so we plan it before the first board goes down. We find the center of the room and the wall you see first when you walk in. Then we run the zigzag from there.

Next we work out where the pattern meets each wall, doorway and cabinet, so you don't end up with thin slivers of wood along one side. We also pick a border, if you want one, to frame the pattern around the edge of the room.

Solid or engineered herringbone

We lay herringbone as solid hardwood flooring, one piece of wood top to bottom, and as engineered hardwood flooring, a layer of real wood on top of a base of thinner layers glued together.

The Wood Handbook from the U.S. Forest Service says parquet flooring is sold made to be glued down, along with the more common tongue-and-groove boards. On the herringbone we lay, we glue or nail the boards to the floor underneath, depending on that floor and the boards you pick. We lay the pattern in white oak flooring and in other woods too.

Moisture in a Cary house

The Forest Products Laboratory says wood takes on moisture from its surroundings, and that the moisture left in wood tends to come to balance with the humidity of the air around it.

So we check the moisture in the new boards and in the floor under them before we start. We also leave a small gap at every wall, hidden under the trim, so the boards have room to move.

What changes the price

We price herringbone floors for your house once we've measured, and you get that quote in writing.

We set our price by the size of the rooms, how many doorways and corners we cut around, and whether you pick herringbone or chevron, solid or engineered boards. We also count in any border, taking up an old floor, repairs to the floor underneath, and sanding and finishing in your house if the boards come unfinished.

What to get in writing

Ask for these in writing, whoever you hire:

• Herringbone or chevron, and the size of each board.
• The wood species, the grade and whether the boards are solid or engineered.
• Where the pattern starts in each room, and whether there is a border.
• Whether the boards are glued or nailed down.
• How the moisture of the boards and the floor below will be checked.
• The stain and finish by name and the number of coats, if the floor is finished in your house.
• Whether moving furniture, taking up the old floor and hauling it away are in the price.

Questions about herringbone floors in Cary

Get a quote for herringbone floors

Call us, or send the quote form with your ZIP code and the rooms you want done. We'll measure, go through pattern, wood and finish options with you, and give you a written quote. To see the other flooring work we do, go to the Cary Hardwood Flooring home page.