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What Are the Main Hardwood Floor Patterns, and What's the Difference Between Herringbone and Chevron?

Straight planks side by side are one look. Zigzag patterns are another. Two names get mixed up all the time: herringbone and chevron. They are not the same cut. Below is the difference in plain words, then a Canadian-made engineered example from FloorBox, then a short note on parquet.

Herringbone wood floor in an open kitchen

What is the difference between herringbone and chevron?

Here is how to tell them apart:

  • Herringbone uses rectangular strips. The ends meet at about 90°, like a broken zigzag or fishbone. Each piece has square-cut ends.
  • Chevron uses strips whose ends are cut on an angle, so the pieces form a continuous V or arrow down the floor.

If the ends are square and the joints look stepped, you are looking at herringbone. If the ends are mitred into a sharp V line, you are looking at chevron. Product names on FloorBox sometimes keep the English word Herringbone even on French pages — that is the pattern name on the box.

What is a real herringbone engineered floor on FloorBox?

The Lauzon Collection Engineered Hardwood Bastille Herringbone 3-1/4" x 7/16" lists:

  • Pattern: Herringbone
  • Species: European White Oak
  • Width 3-1/4", Length 13", Thickness 7/16" (11 mm)
  • Wear Layer / Veneer Thickness: 3.2 mm
  • Origin Country: Canada
  • Grade Level: On / Above / Below
  • Relative Humidity: 35% – 65%
  • Radiant Heat Compatible: Yes (Electric And Hydronic)
  • Installation Method: Nailed, stapled, glued or floated

Shop more in Engineered Hardwood. Engineered means a real wood wear layer on a stable core — here the core detail lists Douglas fir — so the top is wood you can see and feel, in a herringbone pattern. For how engineered compares with solid wood, read Hardwood Flooring vs Engineered Flooring.

Herringbone wood floor

How do you install this herringbone floor?

The Bastille Herringbone page lists four installation methods: nailed, stapled, glued or floated. Follow the maker's instructions for your subfloor and humidity range (35–65% on this page).

Do people still use parquet flooring?

Yes — "parquet" here means a pattern of wood pieces arranged into a design (including herringbone-style layouts), not a dusty old basement leftover. People still choose patterned wood floors; Bastille Herringbone is a current engineered example made in Canada. If someone says "parquet" in a shop, ask whether they mean a patterned wood floor or an old glued block floor — the word is used both ways in casual talk, but in this post it means the pattern.