Counting a herringbone floor
Luxury vinyl in herringbone is where the flooring calculator starts here, on 28 × 7 in boards, the size of Karndean’s Van Gogh herringbone. Type your own board size from the product page, each room as an area, and the box coverage from the label. The calculator lays the pattern over every area at that size, with the middle of the band where the boards interlock on the room’s centre line, and counts every board it touches. Where the pattern starts also moves the count, so it tries three more start positions and shows the range; with A and B in separate boxes, each hand is boxed for its worst case. The drawing shows the first area: whole boards dark, cut boards pale, and the parts of cut boards beyond the wall faint.
Offcuts and the extra on top
When a wall cuts a board, the piece beyond it is exactly the shape a board of the same hand needs at the opposite wall, as long as the two cuts add up to less than one board. With the reuse box ticked, the calculator pairs those pieces wall to wall and orders one board for each pair; untick it to see the count if every cut needs a fresh board. Boards cut by two walls, in corners and narrow halls, always take a new one. Both figures are shown, which tells you what rides on the fitter reusing offcuts. The Extra on top field starts at 0: use it for mistakes and damaged boards, not for the cutting, which is already counted.
Left, right and boxes
A and B boards aren’t interchangeable, so each hand gets its own count, and the boxes follow the way the boards are packed: both hands in one box, as Quick-Step’s Disegno does with 6 A and 6 B, each hand in its own boxes, or one board for both. Further down, six makers’ board sizes are counted in four rooms to show how far the waste swings.
Chevron
Chevron boards have angled ends and meet in points instead of butting end to side. The last column of the table is the 45° cut; for 60° and 62.5° chevron, and makers’ angles side by side, use the chevron calculator.
Herringbone waste by board and room
Makers' board sizes laid in herringbone along each room's length, set out from the centre line (other start positions move these by a few points), and counted by the calculator: extra boards over a floor with no cuts, first if every cut board is a new board, then with offcuts reused at the opposite wall. The last column is 45° chevron in the 12 × 15 ft room.
| Board | 3 × 12 ft | 10 × 10 ft | 12 × 15 ft | 16 × 20 ft | 45° chevron, 12 × 15 ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Havwoods, 280 × 70 mm | +36% · +31% | +11% · +5% | +15% · +10% | +10% · +6% | +17% · +10% |
| Junckers, 516.6 × 129 mm | +71% · +67% | +34% · +23% | +28% · +25% | +13% · +7% | +32% · +24% |
| Quick-Step Disegno, 580 × 145 mm | +94% · +94% | +23% · +12% | +25% · +17% | +25% · +4% | +29% · +17% |
| Havwoods, 600 × 120 mm | +102% · +102% | +26% · +15% | +26% · +17% | +12% · +6% | +28% · +18% |
| Quick-Step, 655 × 131 mm | +116% · +31% | +41% · +27% | +38% · +8% | +22% · +15% | +15% · +6% |
| Karndean, 711 × 178 mm (28 × 7 in) | +138% · +48% | +48% · +43% | +26% · +17% | +15% · +8% | +21% · +17% |
The spread is the point: where the walls fall against the pattern changes the waste as much as the board size does, and a narrow hall in long boards can double the order. Compare Havwoods' rule of 15% for patterned floors under 100 m².
Sources, checked September 2026: Havwoods, everything you need to know about wastage, FAQs, and board sizes HW601 and HW692; Quick-Step, Disegno technical sheet and Impressive Design herringbone; Pergo, how to install laminate flooring (Unizip); Junckers, Twin Herringbone laying instructions; Karndean, Van Gogh herringbone; Topps Tiles, how to tile a wall; Ted Todd, chevron; BOEN, Exquisite.