Finally got the hang of that tricky herringbone pattern in a big living room

I did a 400 square foot job in Springfield last month with a 6 inch wide engineered oak, and the first few rows were a real fight. After watching a quick video on using a laser level for the starter line, the whole thing just clicked and went smooth. Anyone have a go-to trick for keeping the pattern tight when you hit a doorway?

4 comments

4 Comments

anthony_rivera2mo ago

That laser level trick is overkill, I just snap a chalk line and it works fine every time.

nelson.wren2mo ago

Watch you say that until you're trying to line up cabinets in a long, dim hallway and your chalk line looks like a toddler drew it. Lasers are for when "close enough" isn't actually close enough, you know?

singh.elizabeth2mo ago

Oh man, @nelson.wren gets it. A chalk line is fine for rough stuff, but light it wrong and the string wobbles. Try that on a thirty foot wall and you'll see a curve. Lasers just take the guesswork out. They're the right tool for a straight line, no debate.

logan_wood1mo ago

Come on, it's just a line on a wall. I mean, if you're building a house maybe go for the laser, but for most jobs a chalk line is totally fine. Anthony_rivera has a point, it works. Feels like people are making this way more serious than it needs to be. Idk, maybe it's just me but I've never had a chalk line fail so bad it ruined a project. Seems like extra money and fuss for no real reason most of the time.