Chevron Parquet Flooring Installation and Adhesion

At first glance the two patterns look alike. The difference is in the ends of the blocks. In herringbone the blocks have square ends and are laid at right angles with an offset, so the line where they meet is stepped and zigzagged. In chevron the ends are cut at an angle, usually 45° or 60°, and the blocks meet exactly at one point. The result is a clean arrow line with no steps.

Chevron parquet is normally bought ready cut from the factory, in two versions: left-hand and right-hand blocks. The fitter alternates them according to a plan. Cutting on site is mostly limited to the edges along the walls, transitions to other rooms and fitting around door frames.

With an arrow pattern the subfloor matters even more than with straight laying, because any unevenness shows up as a point that does not meet properly. The screed has to be flat, sound, free of cracks and dry.

• Flatness: a common guideline is a deviation of roughly 2 mm under a 2-metre straightedge. If the subfloor is worse, the fitter primes it and levels it with a self-levelling compound.
• Moisture: this is measured with an instrument, most often the carbide (CM) method. For cement screed the usual requirement is roughly up to 2 CM %, for anhydrite (calcium sulphate) screed considerably less, and stricter values apply with underfloor heating. The figures given by the adhesive and parquet manufacturers are what counts.
• Strength and cleanliness: if the surface has a weak top layer, it is ground off, and the floor is vacuumed thoroughly. Dust under the adhesive is one of the common reasons blocks come loose.

Before laying, the parquet should rest for several days, usually at least two, in the room where it will be fitted, so it can adjust to the temperature and humidity there. By then the wet trades, such as plastering and screeding, should be finished and the room should be at normal room temperature.

1. Measure the room, check whether the walls are square and decide on the main axis of the pattern, usually in the direction of the incoming light or along the longest line of the space.
2. Mark the axis on the subfloor with a laser or chalk line and plan how the pattern will connect to neighbouring rooms.
3. Dry-lay the first row so the edges along the walls come out symmetrical and no narrow slivers are left.
4. Spread adhesive with a notched trowel over a small area that can be covered within the adhesive's open time.
5. Lay the left and right blocks so the points sit exactly on the axis, and press each one down firmly.
6. After every row, check the direction of the arrow, the tightness of the joints and the flatness, because a small deviation grows with each further row.
7. Trim the edges with a mitre saw and leave an expansion gap at the walls as recommended by the manufacturer.
8. Let the adhesive cure, sand the floor if needed and finish it with lacquer or oil, unless the blocks come factory finished.
9. Fit the skirting boards and transition profiles.

Chevron is almost always fully bonded to the subfloor. Fitters use flexible, water-free adhesives, most often silane-modified (MS polymer) or polyurethane. A water-based adhesive can make the wood swell and twist. Flexible silane adhesives cope well with the natural movement of wood and are a common choice over underfloor heating too. Two-component polyurethanes give a very strong bond but need accurate mixing. The manufacturer states how much adhesive is needed, depending on the trowel notch size and the flatness of the subfloor.

There are also chevron floors with click joints for floating installation. In this pattern, though, they are less stable and move more over larger areas, so fitters generally prefer bonding.

• Species: oak is the usual choice, as it is hard and fairly stable in size. Ash, walnut or tropical species are possible but need a more careful assessment.
• Solid or engineered: solid parquet can be sanded many times but reacts more to changes in humidity. Engineered parquet is more stable and better suited to underfloor heating. How many times it can be renovated depends on the thickness of the wear layer.
• Lacquer or oil: lacquer is more hard-wearing and easier to clean. Oil looks more natural and can be repaired in patches, but it needs regular maintenance.

With underfloor heating, the screed has to be heated up and dried before laying, following a heating-up protocol prepared by the heating installer. After laying, the heating is brought back up gradually.

The condition of the subfloor matters most. A flat, dry screed in a single rectangular room is the simplest case for a fitter. Work and time increase with:

• Uneven, cracked or damp screed that has to be levelled or left to dry
• Complicated layouts with alcoves, columns and many door frames
• A continuous pattern through several rooms without thresholds
• Walls that are not square, so the edges have to be cut irregularly
• Sanding and finishing on site instead of a factory-finished surface

Angled cuts produce more offcuts than straight laying, so allow for extra material when ordering. In a block of flats, check with the building management or owners' association beforehand when noisy work is allowed and whether the house rules set requirements for impact sound insulation.

This is a hard job for a DIYer. Without a mitre saw, a laser and experience with angled laying, the risk of a pattern drifting off line is high, and fixing it usually means lifting part of the floor.

• Badly set-out axis: the arrows gradually drift away from the wall or do not sit on the centre of the room.
• Bonding to a damp or uneven subfloor: voids form, the blocks sound hollow and eventually come loose.
• Wrong adhesive: a water-based or overly rigid adhesive cannot cope with the movement of the wood.
• No expansion gap: the floor can lift at walls and fixed obstacles.
• No acclimatisation: the wood changes size after fitting and gaps open in the joints.
• Exceeding the open time: a block placed on adhesive that has skinned over does not bond across its whole surface.

At handover, walk the floor in daylight and also look at it from a distance, for example from the doorway. Check that:

• The arrows run straight in the agreed direction and the points sit on one line
• The joints at the points are tight, with no visible gaps or height differences
• The blocks do not sound hollow when tapped, which would mean a void underneath
• The edges along the walls are symmetrical, with no narrow slivers
• The expansion gap is covered by skirting and the skirting is fixed to the wall, not to the floor
• Transitions to other floor coverings are level and the profiles are firm
• The finish has no stains, no dust trapped in the lacquer and no missed areas
• You have received a record of the subfloor moisture reading, the type of adhesive used and care instructions