Wood stain and carpet and birds

[emkiwi]

Hi, My landlord used Minwax Polyshades wood stain + polyurethane to stain the front door, banisters and tables in the hallway outside my studio apartment. My cockatiel was out of the house because the landlord had told me she was planning to recarpet (no glue or treatment) the stairs. She didn't tell me about the stain. It's been a week, and it still smells some in the hallway (probably a mixture of carpet and stain).

My apartment itself only sometimes smells near the front door. I've been leaving my window open and don't notice it. I need to bring my bird back home tomorrow, but am scared about putting him at risk. The information I've gotten is inconsistent. How long does one need to wait before it's safe? I can't board him forever and it could take weeks for the smell to completely dissipate. I called an avian vet tech who said it should be ok to bring him back tomorrow as long as I leave my window open, but some people online say that you need to wait a month until in completely gasses out. I'm supposed to pick him up tomorrow and would love some advice from fellow bird owners. Is the gassing out part really dangerous still? It's outside my apartment, so it would only come in when I quickly open and close the door to leave for work and came home.

Thanks,
Emily

 

[Birdiemarie]

Thank you for watching out for the health of your fid. I'm not an expert but my experience is if you can isolate the room your bird will be in by covering air vents (taping plastic over it securely), leaving a screened window open for ventilation (being mindful of cold drafts), putting a towel securely at the bottom of the door as well as entering/exiting the door quickly, your bird should be fine till all smells are gone.

 

[LovieLuvr]

I agree with birdiemarie. When I was living with my parents my mom decided that it would be a "great" idea to stain wooden doors in the basement since it was raining outside. When I came home from work all I could smell was wood stain. I freaked out because Stitch was in the bedroom directly above where she was staining! I frantically opened all of the windows, covered all the air vents with plastic and placed towels in front of all door cracks. I ended kept the windows cracked for several weeks until I could no longer smell any of the stain. Luckily the weather was perfect to keep the windows open.


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[emkiwi]

Thanks for the advice. I don't want to risk my bird's health, but it's hard to know where the danger line is. It's good to hear that it might be possible to bring him home. If anyone else has had a similar experience, I'd love to hear about it.

 

[KatherinesBirds]

WAIT!!!!! At least a couple of weeks. I am extremely sensitive to that type of thing and when I had my front door stained it smelled awful right near the door but also there was a faint smell all over the house. It gets circulated. This smell is absorbed into the body, human or bird. I ended up going to the ER and being told to stay out of the house for a few days and to flush my system by drinking lots of water and take a shower to get anything off of my skin. My birds were at my neighbors for two weeks or until I could not smell anything standing right in front of the door on the inside. This is what my vet recommended. This is very toxic stuff. To some humans it is no problem but birds are very, very sensitive.

 

[emkiwi]

WAIT!!!!! At least a couple of weeks. I am extremely sensitive to that type of thing and when I had my front door stained it smelled awful right near the door but also there was a faint smell all over the house. It gets circulated. This smell is absorbed into the body, human or bird. I ended up going to the ER and being told to stay out of the house for a few days and to flush my system by drinking lots of water and take a shower to get anything off of my skin. My birds were at my neighbors for two weeks or until I could not smell anything standing right in front of the door on the inside. This is what my vet recommended. This is very toxic stuff. To some humans it is no problem but birds are very, very sensitive.

Can you clarify, did your vet recommend two weeks for birds to be out or just to wait until you couldn't smell it in your apartment? I can't really smell it inside my actual apartment, just in the hallway outside my door. She painted the door to the building and the banisters, not the front door to my apt. Thanks.