Setting Out Herringbone Paving

All block paving for areas carrying vehicular traffic, such as driveways, car parks or access roads, should be laid in a fully interlocked pattern. The most popular such patterns are 45° or 90° Herringbone patterns. On this page, diagrams will be used to show how such patterns may be set-up.

90° Herringbone Pattern

This is the simpler of the herringbone patterns to set up. Decide on a "base-line" that will be the start of the pattern. This is usually taken to be a line along the main direction of travel or one that is parallel or at right angles to the house or other building. If there is a right-angle corner, the setting out can be based on the two lines, as shown in the diagram below.

A neat trick for setting-out a 45° herringbone

Setting out a perpendicular, ie a line at exactly 90° to the base line, is described on the setting-out page.

On a square or rectangular area, a 90° herringbone pattern can be used to keep cutting to a minimum. Only one block width in 4 need be cut to fit, and judicious positioning of edge courses can ensure that the pavement is a given number of full bricks wide. It is best to start laying tight against a fixed edge, such as against an edging course, but if this is not possible, then a taut string line can be established as the base-line.

how to - click for animation — Sequence of laying to establish a 90° pattern

45° Herringbone Pattern

A downloadable 45° herringbone 2:1 pattern for printing out

This pattern is identical to the pattern above, except that it has been rotated through 45°. It can be set out exactly as shown above, by establishing the base-line at 45° and laying the blocks square to this line. Alternatively, a base-line can be set up square to the work, and the blocks laid at 45° to this line. This second method may at first seem complicated, but is particularly valuable for ensuring that the alignment is not drifting out of true with subsequent courses of blocks.

When establishing this pattern, the best visual effect is achieved by laying the blocks in such a manner that the "chevrons" run along the principal direction of traffic or along the length of the driveway (longitudinal), rather than across (transverse).

longitudinal herringbone — Chevrons running in direction of travel (Longitudinal)

transverse herringbone — Chevrons running across direction of travel (Transverse)

With this pattern, most of the blocks at the edge of the work will need to be cut at an angle to fit in. It is usual to lay all the full bricks first, then once these have been checked for alignment, the edge pieces can be cut in. Leaving out the edge pieces allows the body of the paving to be accurately aligned BEFORE fastening in the work. In the following diagrams, the bricks are the standard 200x100mm plan size blocks most commonly used for domestic paving.

starter course — Setting up the first line of blocks

postioning — By using this spacing of 215mm, the amount of wastage on cut blocks is minimised.

Continue to lay as many full blocks as possible and then check the alignment, using a pinch-bar or pavior's mall to 'nudge' blocks into line. Once the alignment is complete, the edge blocks can be cut to shape and fitted in prior to final sealing.

complete starter course — Complete the double starter course as shown. This starter course should be as long as possible, to ensure accuracy

check with line — Use taut string line to check for accuracy every few courses, and prevent the pattern from 'drifting'. The corners of each block should be just touching the line, as shown.

A clever variation of this method is shown on a separate page

See Cutting page for details on cutting blocks.

Other Herringbone Patterns

Herringbone patterns can be created using any rectangular pavior or any combining any 2 paving units. With flagstones, this is sometimes referred to as a Dutch Pattern .

This combination allows distinctive patterning to be achieved by mixing paviors of your choice. You can mix concrete blocks with small concrete flags/slabs, or clay paviors with the smaller clay cobbles. Even the traditional "3 by 2's" can be laid in a herringbone pattern. The possibilities are endless, the diagrams below show a few patterns to set you thinking.