I second what glennsfc said about no plywood. I would even be leary of using laminate. We used vinyl tiles on our floor (self-stick) 26 years ago. Then put an inexpensive area rug where the kids played (in front of the tv). That was so easy and bullet-proof with whatever the kids spilled. Arts, crafts, glue, it took so much abuse. Easy to change out the area rug every so often. When we laid the tile, we used a waterproofing film over the cement floor first before laying the tiles. Ours is a walkout basement. No water issues and I have only occasionally had to run a dehumidifier. (i.e. this summer only once) 26 yrs later the tiles are still down and I'm looking to replace them only because I'm tired of them but they are still stuck tight and will require some work to get them up. Tile is in the laundry room and bathroom down there also. We do have carpeting in a bedroom down there - just regular padding and carpeting. We have never had a mold or mildew issue. Never. You don't say if your HVAC system runs thru the basement? And do you ever need to use a dehumidifier down there?

I emphatically second everything hollysprings said. Where do you start? By deciding that YOU are going to do some work on your house. None of the things that you've listed are difficult DIY projects. Then you need to decide the sequence you'll do things. We remodeled (in a much more major way than you outlined) a 4000 sf house over 5 years and we had a major rule that helped us immensely: one room had to be completely done before starting the next one. That keeps you from having to live in a perpetually undone house, and also gives you a sense of accomplishment when you can say an entire room is done. So take your list above, and figure out the order. In your case, I'd probably do something like this: 1. Finish bathroom tile, then repair bathroom drywall (if applicable, paint bathroom walls and ceiling, replace bath door trim. For each item in the above, do some research on how, come here and ask questions, watch youtube videos, etc. and then do it. 2. Pick the next room, do drywall repair, paint, replace door trim. Consider doing a couple easy rooms first to get the hang of it, and build confidence, and then tackling the one with the really bad drywall. 3. When all the walls and trim are done, rip out the carpet and put down laminate. This is a big job, so you might want to go room by room, ripping out the carpet just before you lay the laminate there so that you're not walking on subfloor forever (been there done that). 4. Finish up with the stairs as your final project.

For round steps using hardwood, Oak boards would have to be joined (using dowels or biscuits) and glued wider and longer than what needed, then layout the stair radius on the board and cut the tread as one piece usually using a band saw or a template and a router and after a curved nosing is made for, after that it's installed as one piece... In early 2000 they attempted doing stair threads using Oak veneered plywood, that didn't go well on stairs because you cannot refinish them so they stoped doing that. No matter what is being used it's a process and it has to be done the right way to make it look right and to make it look right it will cost you no matter what you do because anything round or curved cost money even if it's shop made. Like Sophie said tile or something else that it can be done from a template and installed as one piece thread with the edges done, etc. this way it will look really good when it's finished. Good luck

In theory you can do so. The floor must be smooth (ahem...not gravelly), flat (no humps, bumps or valleys) and preferably level. The aggregate finish is a higher end finish than laminate. Care should be taken to maintain the aggregate. Your home's inherent value (part of what you paid for) is tied up in the aggregate flooring. To damage it while putting in a lower value floor will cause the value in the home to drop. Besides, laminate should not be installed in kitchens.