Refinishing Wood Floor Advice Needed!

[chezron]

I am getting the wood floor in my master bedroom refinished. This will entail 3 coats of oil-based polyurethane spread over three days. I live in San Diego where the highs are 70ish and the lows are around 53-55. I live in a isolated cul de sac at the end of a long driveway. People cannot easily come down unnoticed, if not by me, but also by my two neighbors. My floor guy says he will apply early in the morning and the house will be habitable (for humans) in 6 hours. I am not familiar with how badly polyurethane volitilizes and affects air quality. Here are my choices:

1) Move the parrot cages into the garage and open both garage doors during the day, and closing the doors at night, and leaving them in the garage. I worry about someone taking an interest in them while visible in the garage. I guess i could get some locks for the cages.

2) Moving the cages out onto the deck all day (we have hawks) and rolling them in at night. I will be out there with them most of the time.

3) Moving the cages onto a balcony deck outside the living room where they will be more isolated from possible human interest, but still there is the hawks, and rolling them in at night.

4) Taking them for several days to a boarding facility. I hate this option as I will be subjecting them to an unfamiliar place with possible disease.

 

Any suggestions?

Edited January 21, 2014 by chezron

[SRSeedBurners]

With temps like that, I see no reason why you can't block them off in a room with the door sealed (with a towel - nothing extreme) and the ventilation (central air?) blocked. Windows open and birds secured in their cages so no escapees. We had the same thing done, only it was 3/4 of our house with only two usable rooms, one being the bird room. See my thread about it.

 

I ended up staying in the room with my birds and the smell never really got in the room as I had done as mentioned above with the exception of the open windows - it was too cold here for that. My nuclear option was to move them into our RV but I never had to go that route.

[chezron]

I read the thread and feel even more queasy about having the guys around. I hope to see more posts! I think i will call the vet tomorrow for his opinion.

 

Another question:

Would the fumes be as bad on the second floor?

Edited January 22, 2014 by chezron

[katana600]

I am so glad you posted this. I have been considering having my hardwoods refinished too. I was thinking of staying a floor below the work area and we have water based polyurethane.

[chezron]

I was hesitant to go with water-based polyurethane as i didn't think it would match the existing oak floors since they used an oil-based polyurethane on the old floors that gave an amber hue to the wood. Talked to the floor guys today, and they think they can get a pretty good match with water-based polyurethane. I said, "great!" let's do water-based instead of oil-based. It dries much quicker and doesn't off-gas nearly as much. Each day I will just roll the guys out onto the deck for a few hours until the odor dissipates. I can totally open up the bedroom getting treated and it is on the opposite side of the house, and it should dry in a couple of hours. If I even think it is too smelly to bring them in, I won't. I have a gazebo with curtains, where i can roll them under and cover them with additional sheets if they must spend the night. I will let you know how it goes.

[Ray P]

Have you ever though about a water base finish.

I was a head custodian for 31 years and we stop using oil based finish in our gyms 20 years ago and went to water base because of health reasons and the water base holds up just as well.

 

P.S. No smell.

[Talon]

I owned a dance studio with a hard wood floor for 30 years. Due to the tap shoes, I had to have it re-finished every summer. We used polyurethane and the adjacent restaurant next door would have to throw their prepared food away as the fumes got into the food and made it taste horrible. Even tho we aired it out for days, it took weeks until the smell left, I always suffered from headaches and eyes watering. Finally we switched to water based and was able to air ir out much quicker and the restaurant next door finally stopped complaining.

 

 

I personally would never use oil based urethane in my house after seeing how long it took to get the fumes to dissipate.

[chezron]

SOOO glad you guys posted! This makes my decision iron clad! I will definitely use water-based polyurethane. Oil-based is just TOO TOXIC with off-gassing.

[Lupine]

Please make sure that the bird is OUT OF THE HOUSE during the sanding portion as well as during thorough dust cleanup. I just heard from some friends who lost their birds due to the floors being sanded. Even though the parrots were kept in a separate room with a towel in the door crack, the suspended particles containing toxic stuff killed them.

[chezron]

Update: Moved the birds out onto the deck when they sanded and put down a coat of oil-based sealer. They took the door off its hinges and completely taped off the opening with plastic. I don't know how they did it but there was NO DUST! I trained a running fan into the room to help keep fumes from moving to other parts of the house. I have no idea if this helped, but it made ME feel better. By evening, the smell was almost non-detectable and I moved them inside with all the windows open. They had to use an oil-based sealer to match the color of the existing floor.

 

This morning they put down a coat of water-based polyurethane and the birds were outside for this. Within an hour and a half the smell was not even detectable on the side of the house where the birds live. I brought them in the afternoon, but kept all the windows open. I also have an IQ Air air cleaner that runs continuously.

 

This seems to be less of an issue than I thought. They are putting down two more coats of WBP and then they will be finished. Really once the water-based polyurethane is dry (and it dries fast!) it does not smell. Also, since the birds are on the other end of the house with multiple windows, two french doors, and a huge patio door there is an abundance of fresh air. I am glad this forum exists! Your comments and advice helped me decide to use water-based polyurethane. I am grateful.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I am waiting for the summer, as I have to redo the stairs. I will do it when birds are at " summer camp". Meaning... boarded for one week. Haven't boarded them in years, but will send them to my trimmer. He knows them well, but I stopped boarding them years ago when my expectation was for them to be in general public jungle gym.They were there alright. They LOVE people! I was offered money for my birds and was offended as my trimmer knew I would be! Now...I am a smart mama. NO public gym, I will bring my toaster oven to make toast daily. I will request exposure to a few select workers, and I am still concerned if this is a good decision. Any ideas guys? I feel " damned if I dont, damned if I do!" I'm the person that avoids the waiting room at the vet as this is where animals get sick! Nancy

[SRSeedBurners]

Speaking of boarding...I saw someone recently lost their Grey at the boarder - they let it fly out the door. I can't imagine.