Salvaging 2nd-floor hardwood to patch holes in 1st floor — realistic DIY or am I kidding myself?
Closed on a 1910 American Foursquare in Chicago last month. Prior owner was an investor who started a gut renovation in 2022 and walked away — drywall is up, electrical/plumbing partially upgraded, but lots of finish work left for us.
The flooring situation:
- 1st floor: Original hardwood, but significant sections were ripped out during the partial reno. Lots of gaps and holes I need to fill before refinishing. Roughly 900–1,100 sqft total.
- 2nd floor: Hardwood throughout, will be getting carpet eventually (kids' rooms + temporary master).
My plan: Pull the 2nd floor hardwood and use it to patch the holes in the 1st floor, then refinish the whole 1st floor as one continuous surface. Engineered hardwood over the top is my fallback if this doesn't work.
What I'm trying to figure out:
- How realistic is this for a DIYer with patience but not specialized tools? I have 16 days of PTO + weekends to work with before our August move-in.
- Foursquares of this era — am I likely to find the same species/cut on both floors, or did they often use a cheaper species (fir, pine) on the upper floor than the main floor (oak)?
- What's the realistic salvage rate when pulling face-nailed tongue-and-groove from this era? Half? A quarter?
- If species/widths don't match, is there a way to make it work cosmetically, or is that a non-starter and I should just go engineered?
- Tools I'm missing that would make this go faster?
Photos: https://imgur.com/a/gITWJW9 — current 1st floor condition, 2nd floor condition, close-ups of board widths and nail patterns. I noticed that the finish on the second floor is different from the first. It's hard to tell but the second floor looks to have really long boards.
Happy to provide more detail. Thanks in advance.
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