1. With the first row you don't have to worry about it being that straight. With all the banging it's going to move around considerably also the other boards will help straighten it out. Plus it's hard to tell exactly because the seams are so tight together.

2. It's HARD to keep the end seams tight, especially with the longer runs. I have a problem with this and now have 1/16"-1/32" gaps at the ends in some prominent places. My wife took 2 steps in the front door after a day of installing and said, what are these gaps about. But I'm told it does with the territory with engineered click lock flooring.

3. The whole floor moves when you are hammering it together no matter how many boards you have laid.

4. I can see why some people say it's spongy. I haven't had too much of that yet but I can see that if you don't get it completely engaged it will not lay flat.

This was a huge learning experience for me. I love the floor and the way the bamboo looks I couldn't be happier. the color the grain are WAY better than I thought it would turn out.

If I had to do it over again I would do nail down solid T&G without question. The only challenge I can see with doing that is keeping the first row completely straight. If you are off just a little the whole floor could get racked and you could have an ugly install. Also with a beveled edge the seams would be a lot more apparent.

I'll be posting pics soon. Thanks for all the help from the people here.

Jeff

Not that it matters now...

but I jammed a boatload of little wedges (my flooring came with a bunch per box) all along the first wall so I had something to bang against.

I found the flatness of the floor made a big difference. Places where there was a tiny bit of hump or valley seemed to pull apart in the cracks... after about a week so it was too late to want to go back to fix it.

I know what you mean about the "next time"... I'm planning a nailed T&G for the upper floor after the click-lock on the bottom. But the engineered floor is just so hard to damage and also so inexpensive per SF that I wouldn't choose anything else for 4 kids a dog and a cat to live on for a few years!

Just don't get ANY water on it... pulling it back up is a PITA - you have to start off in the corner and pull up each row to work your way in. Then the second time you click them together they're a little looser.

As for the waterm, to clean it we got a swiffer and are going to use the wet swiffer pads. Also I didn't put it in the kitchen so water shouldn't be a big deal. What if I spill soda or something on it if I wipe it up quickly will I be ok?

That kind of stuff is okay, we use a swiffer wet jet and it doesn't seem to cause any problems and the kids are always spilling water etc.

The problems come from things where the water can sit for a bit before you notice it, like the pet dish, plants, leaky doors or windows, leaky fishtank, those are the killers.

Strangely... I left one of the scrap pieces in the yard and the sprinklers watered it for weeks.. no damage. But we had a dishwasher leak and man it puckered up every seam for a 5 foot radius. Same thing with a potted plant that had a little leak in the saucer. Didn't even see it was leaking until we noticed the seams pulling apart.