I hope I can explain this clear enough so you can understand my question. I'm installing a continuous floor starting in our living room, passing through an archway and continuing into the dining room. The living room is the larger of the two and has the longest outside wall that I want to use as my starting point. Standing in the room looking at the first row, the right hand end of the first 10' or so of rows will end at an exposed landing. I plan to use stairnose to trim that end of those rows (at a right angle) but the stair nose has a groove and so does that end of each row, (the tongue is on the left end of the rows). So do I just use a spline to join that groove-to-groove connection? Or do I reverse my install and start on the shorter dining room wall so that the tongue end of all the boards are towards my stairnose?
Is a spline is the best solution? And if so can you buy them pre-made or do I need to make my own? Do I pre-glue a spline into the stairnose and then nail through it to fasten the stairnose?

Thanks for any help!

I use the spline, glue the spline in and fasten down the nose with PL Premium and some 18 ga or guage of your choice finish nails.

Thanks! Should I also shoot nails though the glued in spline to help hold the nose down? Do you buy splines or make you own?

I top nail the nose as horrifing as that sounds. lol Some go to the length of screwing them down and plugging the screw holes but thats usually just on a site finished floor. But thats why I like 18 gauge and adhesive, small holes to fill. Haven't killed anyone yet.

I buy my spline and pay a fortune for it I am told, mostly because I hate trying to make it myself. I like it perfect.

Nail the spline, we make our own

My flooring supplier doesn't stock spline and he has to order 48 pieces so it sounds like I'll have to make my own. I'm installing Brazilian Cherry but I don't want to cut up pieces of that to make splines. Can I use oak, birch or maybe even plywood? Is the preferred method just to rip it to size on a tablesaw? Any other tips or trick would be appreaciated.

Rip it out of any hardwood. But why not what your working with now from scraps? Then bevel the edge a tad.

Also, I nail and glue the spline if I am going off long sides of the wood. But end joints should not matter if its just glued in.

When installing spline in a nosing or flooring..... Cut yourself a couple scraps of the flooring. Use the scraps to aline the spline, before and during nailing. This will assure the spline is set straight into the groove, for the adjoining flooring, (If a spline is set, at even the slighest angle...this causes problems for the adjoining flooring).