We're nailing down bamboo planks in our townhouse. The floor has to wrap around a central wall and shaft that contains a half-bath and the sink (basically an eight foot island of varying width). When we started, I asked the guys who are helping me, "how do we make sure things line up on the other side," and the answer was, "you have to make sure every board is seated perfectly before you nail it".



Well, that strategy didn't work out. I know that there are things that we should have done to avoid this, but the truth is we didn't. As you can see from the picture, I have a gap that is about 3/4" on one side of the hallway and 1 1/4" on the other side.

The simplest fix I could come up with was cutting a tapered piece and planing and sanding it until it fit perfectly, gluing it in place to avoid splitting it, and forging ahead. We made a rough attempt that was not quite satisfactory, and I decided I wanted to do some research and get some advice before I spent a whole lot of time trying to perfect it. I figure if I choose the right board, the color will match closely enough, but I worry that the fact that it's tapered will draw every eye that enters my house.

The other idea was to lay one perpendicular board from the end of the wall to the beginning of the wall that separates the front hall from the dining room. We would then continue the two runs separately out from that board. That would solve the problem of having to cut and shape the perfect board to fill the gap, but the two runs aren't quite parallel so it might not really solve anything at all.

Is either of those ideas insane? Has anyone tried either of them? Is there a third option that I haven't thought of?
Thanks in advance for your kind responses that ignore my obvious ineptitude.

Ouch, something got outa whack on one side or both. You shoulda snapped control lines on both sides. I'd pull it up and start over.

Like Stephen said, you really have to mark your starting point and snap out chalk lines off of it to each part of the install. When you snap your first two lines, you can then use the result to see if you are straight when you get into your next area.IF it doesn't look straight, then you adjust your starting row if needed.

IF you don't think you want to rip out and start over, then making rip cuts is about the only solution and like you said, face nailing a narrow rip will usually split it.So adhesive is good .

That's about all you can do....Pull it up to the field section, before you started the "wrap". Chalk lines, and keep it true to the lines.

Otherwise your living with an aweful eyesore.

Thanks for the kind suggestions. Budget, time, and supply constraints really rule out starting over, but now I know for the next floor I do. I think I'm going to go with option 1: slowly and carefully shaping the board I need and gluing it down once it is perfect. We had planned to get a runner to save wear on the hallway anyway. I'll post a picture here to serve as a cautionary tale for those who come after.

IF you ever need to take installed boards back up, you can carefully use a bar to pull them up from the tongue side.They will come out undamaged if you are careful. Then you can either use end cut pliers to cut the protruding staples / cleats or if you're crazy like me, you can tap the nails back out .Then the board is ready to be used again.

I pulled up about a dozen boards, and with a few mildly ugly joins, I was able to make things match up. Thanks again, all.

Great! It doesn't take much to throw off a wrap around.

It would be a big pain and setback but if I were in this case, i would pull it up and start over. You use take note though that you have to put a snap control line on both sides just to be sure with the next application and prevent such problems. Do not use a face nail for the narrow rip as that would just damage and split it. Using a good adhesive would work though not that sturdy.