Smell from floor finish

[Babytoolman]

Hi all,
I am getting my floors sanded and finished and i was told that we have to vacate the house for 21 days due to the vapour that comes off the finish. I must say my wife is pregnanat and we knew that this was going to be an issue but i didnt think it would be 21 days. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks Roger

[Gumby]

21 days !! What BS.

Ours were done last year. 24 hours is about right. Slight fumes after that.

We were able to put towels under the door to the affected rooms and use the rest of the house without any problem at all. It was a kitchen and family room so we ate at the local pub for the night, had breaky in the lounge room and by the next night, all was back to normal. It dries very quickly but the fumes are extremely powerful.

[Master Splinter]

Check with the manufacturer of the floor finish and see what they recommend - especially if your wife is pregnant. There will be an MSDS for the product.

But 21 days sounds more like the withholding period for pesticides on fruit, not for a floor finish. 7 days, tops, if its the middle of winter and it cures by solvent evaporation.

You could use a finish like the Organoil floor finish. Its a satin finish, but it smells nice enough that you might not want to leave the room!

[Wood Butcher]

What Gumby said. When I did the floors at my old house with Feast Watson Floorproof, we stayed in the house but closed all the doors to the loungeroom with towels stuffed under them, and left the windows in the lounge room open. The next morning there was not much fumes left.

[Dusty]

Tell the floor sander that you will be taking the cost of staying at a local motel for as many days as he recomends off his quoted price.

See how many days he suggests then.


Seriously, give it one clear day after the final coat is laid with the windows and doors open to push the last of the fumes out and you'll be fine.

Clint

[elphingirl]

It sounds like maybe he's trying to keep you off the floor until the finish is really really hard, so you don't accidentally scrape furniture over it. I am pregnant too, but I would be guided by her reaction to the fumes. If she can't smell any then it's probably not going to hurt to be around the floor - but I wouldn't lock yourself up in the room for hours on end.
Master Splinter's right - check with the MSDS, and the doctor too.
Cheers, Justine

[johnc]

When we had ours done we moved in with my mother for a couple of nights for tea (handy that) but only because the kitchen was part of the area being done. Otherwise slept in the house and kept the door shut to the effected area. With a pregnant wife I would probably move out for a couple of days but after that the worst of the stench will be gone. Sounds like BS to me as well, it's not much worse than the smell if using oil based paints inside.

John

[Gumby]

It sounds like maybe he's trying to keep you off the floor until the finish is really really hard,

Probably correct and thinking about ours a bit I remember it being a few days before i moved the fridge and furniture back in. But as for staying out of the rest of the house, no, just block the drafts.

[Gaza]

use a water based poly almost no fumes, able to take traffic next day. cost maybe 6 m2 more.

[Babytoolman]

Thanks for rhe advice all. I am more comfortable not going to my In-laws for 21 days.

Roger