Herringbone walls ! The definitive answer?

[macten]

I've committed to my first 450 herringbone job - will be 3 walls of a shower enclosure with little 2x6 inch tiles.
Lots of advice out there tells you to find the midpoint of the wall and keep the tile points to this plumb line:

From all the google images of jobs where this has been done I noticed that it gives unequal cuts at the sides which I don't want.
After searching for ages I found this gem of a post:

Dont start with tile points on centre line or you'll get different size cuts either side

Theres 2 ways set out herringbone on a 45
First is to draw a line down the centre of a tile at 45 degree's and line that up on your centre line. Cuts will be equal sizes but opposite way around.

Second way to get the cuts the same way so they are like wings ( best way imo) is a bit more complicated to explain easy to show. Set two tiles herringboned and measure the distance between the points of each tiles but parallel. Then quater it and measure that distance off your centre line and thats you new line to start from off the points. If that makes sense

For example I use alot of 3x9 inch parquet tiles so id be starting 26mm off my centre line to get equal cuts on each side going the same way

So I'm just after some clarification that I've got this right in my head:




If @Spacey360 or any other guru can confirm that's right then please post!!

 

[Albert]

Theres also a very simple way of working out perfect centres doing herringbone so you get equal cuts,

Is it a secret

 

[Simon Dale]

I actually had this with me and still messed up

 

[Lairdy1]

Not at all albert.was gonna wait till i was at work so i could take a few pics to explain it.once you know how its done,its so simple.works for any size tile also.plus your cuts are the same direction so you get a pair of wings.try and post an explanation when im home from work

Is it a secret

 

[Old Mod]

Looks really smart Nick, another crisp looking piece of work mate.

 

[macten]

Not at all albert.was gonna wait till i was at work so i could take a few pics to explain it.once you know how its done,its so simple.works for any size tile also.plus your cuts are the same direction so you get a pair of wings.try and post an explanation when im home from work

It's already explained at the beginning of the thread mate

 

[Lairdy1]

It's already explained at the beginning of the thread mate[/QUOTE

. Not the way i do it. And its far simpler.

 

[macten]

Measure 2 points and halve it?
Lee macs advice couldn’t be much simpler could it?

 

[Unused Account 1]

I centred the wall and left with small cuts ,but just say covered it on the return wall,think better starting off centre or one corner

 

[LM]

There’s a way to centre herringbone properly. There is a thread about it on here, I’ll see if I can find it rather than trying to explain it all again lol.
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@Dan why won’t my search bar let me type anything into it 🧐

 

[Dumbo]

There’s a way to centre herringbone properly. There is a thread about it on here, I’ll see if I can find it rather than trying to explain it all again lol.
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@Dan why won’t my search bar let me type anything into it 🧐

Isn't it earlier in this thread ,

 

[Unused Account 1]

What would be good if there was a measurement system ,how far from centre or centre ,cheers

 

[Dan]

There’s a way to centre herringbone properly. There is a thread about it on here, I’ll see if I can find it rather than trying to explain it all again lol.
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@Dan why won’t my search bar let me type anything into it 🧐

It's working on mine mate.

You got an ad-blocker running?

Can anybody else confirm the search bar is working, and threads are coming up?

Seems alright to me.

 

[LM]

Isn't it earlier in this thread ,

For some strange reason I didn’t see that Jerry, it is indeed 👍🏻

 

[Dan]

For some strange reason I didn’t see that Jerry, it is indeed 👍🏻

Replied to PM mate. I'll take the advice for search bar over to there. Just letting other people know we are on it.

 

[LM]

What would be good if there was a measurement system ,how far from centre or centre ,cheers

So having read this thread through what part are you struggling with? Maybe I can explain it better.

 

[Unused Account 1]

I now know what to do ,i centred the wall and left was ok but right was nearly a ten mm cut ,there is a calculation ,better to start from one corner sometimes

 

[Dumbo]

I now know what to do ,i centred the wall and left was ok but right was nearly a ten mm cut ,there is a calculation ,better to start from one corner sometimes

No calc just understanding what the middle of a herringbone layout is . You probably put one of your tile corners on the centre line whereas you should put the middle of the end of the tile on the centre line

 

[H573]

Hi all,
Following this with interest. Please see sketch( sorry for the blue peter offering, technology not my strong point).
I was taught to setout and start herringbone like figure 1. ( it wasn’t a full wall mind, it was a small panel of a four panelled display piece.)

Is it best to setout start as in figure 2?

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Hi all,
Following this with interest. Please see sketch( sorry for the blue peter offering, technology not my strong point).
I was taught to setout and start herringbone like figure 1. ( it wasn’t a full wall mind, it was a small panel of a four panelled display piece.)

Is it best to setout start as in figure 2?

Sorry it’s upside down

 

[J Sid]

Looks OK to me as long as all sides of your square are equal

 

[H573]

Looks OK to me as long as all sides of your square are equal

Thanks Julian, really helpful as always mate 👍🏼

 

[H573]

Obv

Thanks Julian, really helpful as always mate 👍🏼

Obviously it’s not always possible to have an equally sided square.
So is this how you would start in that instance? I’ve looked through the thread but found it confusing

 

[J Sid]

Whatever the size of wall, if you find the centre of bottom row and draw a square box with the box centre on that point and make that box equal sides you can use your method.
Saying that, now you have found your centre line you can now follow @LEE MAC instructions

 

[Joshjupp]

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Here’s what I use to set out herringbone

 

[Gabor Nagyhazi]

Re-clad the sill and side reveal of alcove to give me nicer cuts.
Toyed with the idea of building out the right-hand side reveal to totally equalise it all, but I've already shrunk it down and that would have meant losing a really big chunk of it.
Success with the most worrying part - going either side of alcove and meeting up again above it.

View attachment 100726

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Did you pull out any 45° lines on the wall prior to laying the herringbone or just 90's? Thanks👍

 

[Dave]

Bumping an old thread and showing a simple way of a starting point when setting out.
View: https://youtu.be/e_GHbYhy4ms

 

[CJ]

When measuring up for herringbone, what % do you add for cuts/wastage. I’m just measuring up and was going to add 15% 🤔

 

[Dave]

When measuring up for herringbone, what % do you add for cuts/wastage. I’m just measuring up and was going to add 15% 🤔

Depends on area. 15 to 20 %.

 

[Weston]

View attachment 100108
To get it centre you line up in the middle of the two red circles, somewhere like the yellow line that I’ve tried to draw on my phone.

This is the right way to do it