I am looking to install 3 3/4" bamboo through my new house but I am not sure the best place to start. This is an old house so I am doubting most of the rooms are square which will make this pretty interesting. I am afraid if I just start at one far wall by the time I get to the hallway to continue it will become obvious how unsquare the rooms are. I have done a crude drawing of the layout to give you an idea. I would like to start upstairs since most of the work is done up there and the floors are more level. The stairway will be bamboo treads and risers so I do need to transition into that when I get to the stairs. The X's mark tiled rooms which I will not be laying hardwood in.

Side question the treads I have are about 1" thick but the flooring is 5/8" do I have the wrong treads? The top stair where the flooring meets the stairway won't be the same height.

No opinions?

You'll need a stair nosing for the top step. For floors that run off a stairway I always try to start there it is as the most visual part of the layout and you want it to look right. You need to see how square all the rooms are from the top step before you start. Don't confuse this with how square each individual room is.

Depending on the direction, the best way to find the squareness is by using control lines. In my drawing addition I measured out from both sides of the top of the stair. By doing so you create points of reference (blue) by using a chalk line. For bedroom #1 transfer the points through the doorway and snap another chalk line. Using the control lines measure against each wall looking for differences. A minor adjustment may have to be made with the starting stair nosing for everything to fall into place.



If the floor is running perpendicular to the top step....let us know.

By the way, the control lines are kept when the installation begins. You may want to check the differences after every six boards or so for squareness against the lines.

First, remember to lay your wood perpendicular to the floor joists. Laying it parallel can cause a waving effect, which is unpleasant. Another option is to start at the bottom of the living room.

I actually pulled the trigger on this Saturday and have been working on it the last three days to finish the upstairs. I came to the same conclusion as you and started at the stairs measuring from the outside walls to get a line to start with then adjusting the stair nosing 1/2" to be parallel with the outside walls and worked out from there. I am going to tackle the downstairs next and start on the far right wall then work my way over. Here are some pictures of the upstairs to show you how it turned out.


http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/109/20120319183715442.jpg

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/856/20120319183705667.jpg