How much herringbone flooring do you need?

Don’t work out herringbone as floor area times a percentage. Herringbone flooring is often sold as two mirrored plank types – left-hand and right-hand – and a percentage can’t tell you how many of each you need. Draw your room in Parquet Planner, choose herringbone, and you get the number of planks, the left/right split and the number of packs for your actual floor plan.

Left-hand and right-hand planks are the whole point

Look at the box before you calculate. Many herringbone floors contain two kinds of plank: one made for the left side of the pattern and one for the right. They are often called A and B planks, and the marking is usually on the back.

That means an offcut from a left-hand plank can never become a right-hand plank. You can have plenty of pieces left on one side and still run short on the other. The square metres add up, but the floor doesn’t get finished.

That is why Parquet Planner shows the split as soon as you choose herringbone, along these lines: “You need roughly 96 left-hand (A) planks and 96 right-hand (B) planks — check what a pack holds before you buy.” That is the figure to take to the shop, not just the area.

Why area × 1.15 isn’t enough

A 20 m² room is 20 m² whatever the pattern. The difference is at the edges.

In a straight layout the planks run along the room and most cuts are at the ends of the rows. A long enough offcut can often start the next row. In herringbone the planks meet at 90 degrees – the pattern looks like the skeleton of a fish, hence the name – and every cut against the wall is angled. An angled offcut rarely fits anywhere else.

So a fixed percentage is a guess in both directions. In a large, simple room you may end up with packs you never open. In an L-shaped room you may run out before the last wall, and packs from a later delivery can differ in shade.

The edge against the wall

A herringbone pattern rarely lands evenly against all four walls. If the strip along one wall is too narrow, the edge looks odd and you cut away almost whole planks. Many people also cut starter pieces so the pattern sits centred in the room, and those pieces use material too.

In the drawing you can see how the pattern meets each wall before you buy, and you can shift the whole pattern with the sliders (“Move the pattern sideways”, “Move the pattern up and down”) until the edges look right. Moving the pattern only changes where it starts – the plank count stays the same.

What the planner shows – and what it doesn’t

The cutting list is behind the button “✂ Cutting list & saw templates”. Herringbone isn’t laid row by row, so the list groups the cut pieces by shape. First it tells you how many planks go in whole, split into A and B: “… whole boards go in untouched (… one way, … the other — the A and B boards)”. Then each shape gets a line with count, length and width, and a saw template.

The measurements are exact with no margin – check against the wall before cutting. If there are many different shapes, the list shows the common ones and you measure the rest on site. On a very large floor the app doesn’t measure the planks one by one; then you cut each edge piece against the wall.

Two things the planner doesn’t do. It doesn’t give an exact count: for herringbone the plank count is an estimate, marked ≈ in the app, because angled cuts at the walls make waste hard to predict precisely. The cutting list doesn’t change that – it shows what the floor is made of, while the shopping list assumes some offcuts serve in more than one place. And it doesn’t give a last-row width – herringbone meets the wall as angled pieces, not as a straight last row, so the edge pieces are in the cutting list instead.

Still, an approximate number worked out for your room is a very different thing from a number taken from a table. It’s wise to buy one extra pack anyway – unopened packs can usually be returned.

How to do it

  1. Open Parquet Planner.
  2. Draw the shape of the room. Add doors, and areas that won’t get flooring, such as a kitchen island.
  3. Choose herringbone as the pattern.
  4. Enter the plank size and how many planks a pack holds – it says on the box.

You then get the number of planks, the left/right split and the number of packs. Always round up to whole packs.

How much extra does herringbone cost?

Switch patterns in the same drawing to find out. Lay the room in herringbone, then lay it straight, and compare the number of packs. The difference is what the pattern costs in your floor plan – not in a table.

If you’d rather have the rules of thumb in percent, they are on the flooring waste calculator page. The usual calculation – area plus waste, divided by pack coverage – is on the laminate flooring calculator page. It is a good start for a straight layout, but it sees neither the edge nor the left- and right-hand planks.

Draw the room before you order the herringbone.

Calculate my herringbone floor

Frequently asked questions

How much herringbone flooring do I need?

Enough whole packs for the planks to reach the last wall, including cuts and starter pieces. The number depends on the shape of the room and how many planks a pack holds. If the floor has left- and right-hand planks, both kinds must last. Draw the room, read off the count and round up to whole packs.

How much waste should I allow for herringbone?

Rules of thumb are usually 10–15%, higher than for a straight layout, and more in rooms with many corners. For a number that fits your room, drawing the room beats picking a percentage.

What are A and B planks?

Two mirrored kinds in the same floor: one for the left side of the pattern and one for the right. The marking is often on the back. An offcut from a left-hand plank can’t become a right-hand plank, so you can have pieces left on one side and still be short on the other.

Can I calculate herringbone like a normal floor, area plus waste?

As a rough start, yes. As the basis for buying herringbone it rarely holds – that calculation sees neither the left/right split nor how the pattern lands against the walls.

Is there a cutting list for herringbone?

Yes. Herringbone isn’t laid row by row, so the cutting list groups the cut pieces by shape: how many planks go in whole, split into A and B, and for each shape the count, length and width with a saw template. Measurements are exact with no margin – check against the wall before cutting.

Is chevron calculated the same way?

Chevron also comes as A and B planks, usually pre-cut at 45°, and the planner shows the A/B split for chevron too. The edge against the wall works the same way as for herringbone.

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