bamboo over old hardwood

[ryandebny]

Can I nail a bamboo floor over an old hardwood floor... Do I have to put anything under the floor first??? paint or paper or some membrane

[HayZee518]

why would you want to put bamboo over a hardwood floor?? oak and maple are difficult to nail into.

[pushkins]

I've done it before over a hardwood floor that the owner tried to sand himself, he ended up sanding back past the groove in way to many areas to fix economically, the solution was to lay a new floor over the top.
The owners chose bamboo (my personal favorite), but I can tell you nailing through the bamboo into old hardwood was a pain in the butt.

If the existing floor has a vapor barrier then you do not need to lay another one. Is this area over a crawlspace ?
I always add a layer of builders paper under new wood floors if there is already a vapor barrier.