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Parquet Flooring

Parquet is wood laid in a geometric pattern rather than in long straight boards. Herringbone, chevron, basket weave and the big square Versailles panels are all parquet — different patterns of the same idea. So if you have been looking at herringbone, you have been looking at parquet.

We supply and fit parquet across South East and South London from our showroom in Forest Hill. 46 parquet floors are in stock below, from £25.99 per m² excluding VAT.

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The Four Patterns, and What Each One Does to a Room

The pattern matters more than the wood. The same oak reads completely differently depending on how it is set, and each pattern has a practical consequence as well as a visual one.

Natural oak herringbone parquet, rectangular blocks meeting at ninety degrees
PatternWhat it looks likeEffect in a roomCost to fit
HerringboneRectangular blocks set at 90° to each other, staggered like a zipDraws the eye along the room; the classic London choice for a hallway or through-roomHigher than plank — every block is set individually
ChevronBlocks cut at an angle so the ends meet in a continuous VSharper and more formal; the V points somewhere, so the direction is a decisionHighest — the angled cuts waste more material
Versailles panelLarge square panels with a woven lattice inside a borderPeriod grandeur; needs a big room or it looks crampedHigh, but laid as panels rather than block by block
Basket weavePairs of blocks alternating direction, like woven stripsQuieter than herringbone, reads almost as a textureSimilar to herringbone

A practical note on size: the smaller the block, the busier the floor. In a small London sitting room a fine herringbone can feel restless, while the same pattern in wider blocks reads calm. We keep both in the showroom for exactly this reason — it is not a decision to make from a photograph.

Should I choose engineered or solid parquet?

Almost all the parquet we sell is engineered: a real oak wear layer bonded to a cross-grained plywood core. It is not a compromise version of solid parquet — for most London houses it is the better material.

The reason is movement. Parquet has far more joints per square metre than a plank floor, and in herringbone half the blocks have their grain running across the other half. Solid blocks swell and shrink against each other every season; an engineered core barely moves at all. That also makes engineered the only sensible choice over underfloor heating, which most new kitchen extensions now have.

Solid parquet still has its place — restoring a period floor, or a Versailles panel in a house that deserves one. It can be sanded many more times, and if you have original blocks worth saving, that is usually the right route. Our guide to looking after parquet covers what to do with an old floor before deciding to replace it.

Parquet Is Always Glued Down

This is the one rule with no exceptions. A parquet floor is bonded to the subfloor, never floated on an underlay. A floating herringbone behaves like one loose sheet: it creeps, the pattern opens along the joints, and there is no way to repair it afterwards.

Which means the base decides everything. The subfloor has to be flat to roughly 2 mm over 2 m, clean and dry, with a moisture reading taken before anything is ordered. Herringbone is unforgiving about flatness: every block is short and set at an angle, so a dip that a long plank would bridge shows up as a shadow line running across the pattern. On most of our jobs the preparation takes as long as the laying.

You can see what that looks like in practice on a whole ground floor of smoked oak herringbone we laid in Norwood, and the full technical sequence is in our fitting guide.

What Parquet Costs

Engineered herringbone in our range runs from £25.99 to £59.27 per m² excluding VAT, with a median of £44.99. Chevron is quoted on request because the angled cutting makes the price depend on the run. The solid oak Versailles panel is £117.75 per m², which is what a genuine period panel costs.

Two things to allow for beyond the price per square metre. Parquet needs more material than a plank floor — the cutting at walls and around the border generates more waste, and 10–15% extra is normal rather than the 5–7% you would allow for planks. And fitting costs more per square metre, because every block is placed individually.

Send us the room sizes and we will work out the real figure including waste and fitting, rather than a rate that turns into a different number later.

Shop Parquet Flooring

Herringbone, chevron and panel parquet — 46 floors in stock.

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Parquet in London Houses

Parquet is not a trend here; it is what a great many Victorian, Edwardian and interwar houses were built with. Plenty of them still have their original blocks under a carpet fitted in the 1970s, and a floor like that is almost always worth saving. Sanding and refinishing costs a fraction of replacing it and keeps something original to the building — there are before-and-after photographs from a restoration in Lewisham on our recent work page.

If there is nothing worth keeping, or the floor is going into a new extension, engineered parquet gives the same look on a base that copes with modern heating. We work across Dulwich, Norwood, Forest Hill, Sydenham, Herne Hill, Crystal Palace, Lewisham, Greenwich and the rest of South East London — see Dulwich and Norwood for two recent jobs, or the installation page for how we work.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between parquet and herringbone?

None, really — herringbone is one pattern of parquet. Parquet is the general term for wood laid in a geometric pattern; herringbone, chevron, basket weave and Versailles panels are all types of it.

Is herringbone the same as chevron?

No. In herringbone the blocks are rectangular and meet at right angles, so the ends step past each other. In chevron the blocks are cut at an angle and meet point to point, forming a continuous V. Chevron costs more because of the angled cutting.

Can parquet go over underfloor heating?

Engineered parquet can, glued down, and brought up to temperature gradually over the first week. Solid parquet should not — it moves too much with the heat cycles.

How much extra parquet should I order for waste?

10–15% for parquet, against 5–7% for a plank floor. The border cuts and the angles at walls generate more offcuts.

Can an old parquet floor be sanded and restored?

Usually yes, and the result is often remarkable. It is a different job from sanding planks: the grain runs in several directions, so the floor is worked diagonally and in stages. Check the block thickness first — old solid blocks are 15–22 mm and take several sandings.

Do you fit parquet floors in London, or only supply them?

Both. Most customers buy and have us fit, which keeps one company answerable for the result. We also supply to trade and to customers with their own fitter — but with parquet we would want to know who is laying it, because the pattern shows every mistake.

What Our Customers Say

★★★★★

“We had some herringbone flooring fitted recently. It was a great experience from start to finish and we couldn't be more happy with the result. Ruslan is a…”

— Dave Thompson

★★★★★

“Beautiful job, I’m so pleased. Ruslan is very knowledgable, flagged any potential issues early and advised me on what I could preserve from the existing f…”

— Rosa O'Mara

★★★★★

“I went to visit Wood4Floors to see some samples, and had a super helpful man show me some things and gave me a few full sized samples of herringbone flooring.…”

— Drew Theunissen

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How do I get a price for a parquet floor?

Send your room sizes for a price including waste and fitting, or order samples and see the blocks in your own light before deciding on a pattern.

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