Wood flooring, herringbone or straight boards?

[imamearcat]

We are just in the process of buying a new build. The flooring provided by them is v v expensive so we are putting our own in. We are used to a more traditional / country feel but obviously don't want it to look daft.

We are thinking of putting engineered wood all down stairs. Do you think herringbone or straight planks? I've attached a couple of examples but won't be these exact products so don't focus on colour etc but will be this kind of thing.

House is quite large, downstairs is approx 80 sq. meters. In a small rural village.

If I could afford it I'd have herringbone but it's usually more expensive. If you're putting your own in just make sure your subfloors are properly dried out. It often takes a few months for the screed to properly dry out.

Herringbone if you can afford it.

Thanks. We've had a quote 5.5k for straight (£40 a sq. meter) or 8.5k for the herringbone (£65 a sq meter). Both still substantially cheaper than the stuff David Wilson were going to put down!

We can afford it but.. I guess just depends if it's 'worth it'. I love it, DH less so.

Well you will be looking at it for a long time, so go with what you love..

Herringbone 100%

I choose straight every time

Depends what you want to do with the rest of the room. I love herringbone but IMO you need to keep the rest of the decor fairly restrained with it as it’s such a strong feature.

Also if you want a modern style kitchen (gloss/handleless etc) I think planks will go better, in that room at least.

I prefer straight. If DH prefers straight you need to really love the herringbone to pay that much more for it 😬

I love herringbone, but it’s a big difference in cost. The biggest issue for me would be whether or not the builder’s own installation would cover any warping related to subfloor issues. That alone would be worth the excess cost (having had to replace a new floor in an extension before for these reasons)

I'd go with herringbone if you can afford it.

I think herringbone will go out of fashion quite quickly. So I’d go planks except for a small space maybe herringbone.

Thanks. I'm thinking maybe stay safe/cheep with the planks. I think they will still look beautiful. For 3k We could have a nice holiday!

Herringbone has been around for 100 years or more in public buildings. I think it's more interesting than planks.

I wanted herringbone so badly but a) thousands more wasn't justifiable, and b) flooring guy came to our house and basically said 'I'm not being funny, but your style isn't exactly minimalist- it's just going to look too busy'. I think he was right!

Herringbone.

House we have currently has character coming out of its earholes so not sure we are 'minimalist' but also not sure how I'm gonna dress a new build! I thought it might add a bit of interest/character.

Herringbone floors make me feel a bit queasy.

Herringbone style parquet Flooring has been around forever. Modern laminate and large format wood herringbone is a recent trend, and is pretty loud compared to the original parquet.

I had Herringbone flooring in the whole downstairs of my last house. When we bought it about 18 years ago Herringbone wasn’t very fashionable and I wanted to replace it, however we never go round to replacing and by the time we sold about 5 years ago everyone loved the Herringbone floor.
I think it will fall out of fashion again, not yet but in the next 10 years, it’s quite visually busy to live with, I would choose straight planks, as wide as possible.

I prefer straight.

We are definitely just going to stick with the straight. I don't want it to put people off when we come to sell it. Thanks everyone.👍