What's old is new again. Parquet patterns like herringbone and chevrons are gaining popularity and making a come back, especially in a rustic design, accommodated with a border design.

We expect an increase in projects involving one of these two designs this year. It is a luxury to have these wood floor designs installed. Make sure you choose an experience installer. One who knows how to properly prep the subfloor, square up a room, set-up starting lines and rows, pays attention to details and can recommend the proper installation technique for your type of wood specie and width.

Supply and demand for experience installers will dictate actual cost in most areas. General cost for installation labor starts at double the cost of strip flooring. Nail assist, borders and prep work is additional cost. Geometric designs would start at triple the cost of strip flooring installation labor.

Herringbone material costs more and it takes more time to lay. so labor cost would be higher. Are the installers using boards that come all the same size or are they having to cut each piece to length from random length material? This would add cost. It would also generate more waste.

Linear floors dominate the market with all parquets combined probably comprising no more than 5%. Many people just want a nondescript background floor but with a quality look, hence the popularity of plank. If you like herringbone you should have it. I love mine and wonder why people don't do it more.

I don't think so.

Last week I went to view an ultra contemporary condo that is being remodeled with herringbone wood floors. This is a multi million dollar renovation (elevator opens into the unit) and all the fixtures are extremely contemporary (and expensive LOL). The finish on the wood is not standard warm wood tones though.

Love herringbone! It is timeless and stunning! And that is just the price tag! I kid you not. The 2-3 times the labour is bang on. And that ASSUMES you have planks that are PERFECT for the install. If you do not, and they have to be cut, it could be the "3 -4 times" the labour. Engineered floors can be installed this way...but it is more common with solid hardwood. Expect 15% - 20% waste as well.

These patterns are HIGH END floors. They are HEAVILY SOUGHT AFTER. They add tremendous amount of value to a home. Which means you need a home that can HANDLE that upgrade. If you home is $250K (in an area where $650K is expensive) but you put in $35K worth of herring bone, that may not be the right investment. It certainly can handle $15K hardwood...but $35K might be too much for the house/market to handle.

Then again if you have a $1.5M house (other than Vancouver BC) a herring bone upgrade is right on track for the market to absorb the higher value floor. You will get some if not most of your investment back.

The style of home and the inherent value of the home will tell you if the intense investment is worth it. But then again if you LOVE herring bone and don't care about the investment (you just want beautiful wood floors that scream out GORGEOUS AND EXPENSIVE) then have fun. It is your home.

If you are going to the trouble/expense of putting in herring bone, PLEASE make sure your engineered hardwood floors can be refinished at least 3 times (offering 50-60 years of life). Anything less and you lose the longevity of this valuable pattern.

Personally I wouldn't put a herringbone floor in my house. Not my taste. Future owners may say the same thing. I do one sale every six months, but they aren't entire homes. One was a den/library (270 SF) that had an additional 3,500 square feet of 4 1/4" plank. Another shown below. A restaurant with a 300 SF entry in small herringbone. Solid 3 1/4" x 13" The rest was 5 1/4" engineered plank.

Work above performed by Highsmith Construction. Hilton Head SC