With the layout marked out in part one of this guide, you're ready to actually start laying boards. This stage covers finding your working lines, fitting the first boards, and working through the room until you reach the border. It's the most hands-on part of the process, and the one where careful, methodical work pays off most.
Establishing your working lines
Before any board goes down permanently, you need working lines on both sides of the perpendicular line chalked in part one.
- Place painter's tape along the face of each board before marking anything on it, so mistakes can be lifted off and redone rather than permanently marked on the wood
- Use a square to mark a 45-degree angle from one tip of the board, then a second 45-degree line from the opposite tip, meeting the first
- Connect the intersection of those two lines to the board's edge, then draw a line parallel to the original 45-degree line from that edge point
- That parallel line becomes your working guide, aligned to the centre line established in part one
Lay a few boards along these working lines to mark your actual starting point before fixing anything down permanently.
Installing backer boards
Screw scrap pieces of wood down just behind your traced line, positioned so the first row of real flooring rests against them. Nail one board on each side first, since this anchors the ends and keeps everything lining up accurately as you continue.
Creating and fitting splines
Every board already has a groove on one end from the routing work in part one, but the herringbone joint method needs a tongue on the other end too, which the boards don't have naturally. A spline, essentially a separate strip of matching material cut to fit, creates that tongue. Cut splines to match your specific boards, then glue and nail them into place at the joints where they're needed.
Nailing across the room
Work steadily across the room, nailing boards down and checking that every end lines up cleanly against its neighbour as you go. This is where the accuracy of your earlier layout work either pays off or reveals itself, small misalignments become obvious quickly once several boards are down.
Backfilling as you progress
Once you've installed roughly seven or eight boards along your working line, unscrew the backer board you fixed in place earlier. From here, apply glue into each groove, set a spline into it, and nail it down, continuing this pattern until you reach the borderline marked out in part one.
Reversing direction
Once the "V" formation is complete across the room in one direction, reverse and continue the same process back the other way, filling in the rest of the pattern until the full floor area within the border is covered.
Cutting the border line
With the main pattern laid, you need to trim everything back to the exact borderline. A Festool plunge saw with a track is the tool for this job, since it gives the straight, clean cut a hand saw simply can't match across a long line. Apply painter's tape along the intended cut line as a visual guide, then run the saw along all four sides of the border.
Finishing the border pieces
The boards you've just cut with the plunge saw won't have a tongue or groove on the newly cut edge, so route a groove into them the same way described in part one, and hand-bevel the edge with a sanding block to match the rest of the floor. Glue splines into these grooves around the entire perimeter and nail them down, then fit any remaining border pieces the same way you'd close out flooring against a wall in any standard installation.
Once the border is fitted and finished, the floor is complete. If working through this process has made clear just how much precision herringbone demands, that's a completely fair conclusion, and it's exactly why most people choose to have it fitted professionally rather than take it on themselves. Our parquet floor fitting team handles herringbone installations across London from start to finish. Get in touch for a free quote whenever you're ready.
Frequently asked questions
What is a spline actually for, in simple terms? It's a separate strip of wood that creates a tongue where the board itself doesn't have one, letting two grooved edges join together properly. It's a standard technique for board ends that have been cut on-site rather than pre-machined at the factory.
Do I really need a Festool plunge saw, or will another saw work for cutting the border? A track saw gives a straight, clean, controlled cut over a long line in a way that's very difficult to match freehand, which matters a lot for a border that runs the full length of a room. It's worth hiring or borrowing one specifically for this stage if you don't already own one.
How do I know if my boards are lining up correctly as I go? Check regularly rather than waiting until a whole section is done, since misalignment is much easier to fix a board or two back than several rows later. Small gaps or ends that don't quite meet flush are the first signs worth stopping and addressing.
What happens if I make a mistake partway through laying the pattern? Because backer boards are only removed section by section as you backfill, you generally have a chance to catch and correct errors before they're permanently glued and nailed. This is part of why working in the seven-to-eight-board sections described above is worth sticking to rather than trying to rush ahead.
Is this process different for engineered wood herringbone compared with solid wood? Engineered boards typically arrive pre-finished with the joinery already accounted for, which removes most of the routing, bevelling and splining covered across both parts of this guide. That's a large part of why engineered herringbone is considered the more practical option for most projects.
