Home improvement (for humans) and how to go about it...

[chirpy]

We rent from my brother in law and he is trying to sel his house (on the market currently - 1 week!) and we need to fix some things.

We have cracked walls from the house settling in the kitchne which is the next room over from where the birds are.. my other brother in law is going to fix that - I guess some kind of putty?
I moved the birds to my master bedroom incase putty has some kind of yucky fumes. They are fine and happy there...

the room opposite the master bedroom needs new carpeting. it currently has no carpet as it had to be removed from his exwifes dog pee (2 foot circumference pee stain - yuck!)
When we get it professionally installed do they use "bad" stuff for the birds? Should I move them downstairs again?
also,
that room needs to be painted.. I know about bird safe paints but his brother isn't the type to care and won't listen to me its still nice here.. if I keep the door shut (towel at the gap) and that window open (No air so it doesn't circulate) do you think it will be ok? its a fair walk from that room to where the birds are... or do you think after the putty dries, bring the birds down again, and then paint and carpet that room so they are atleast NOT in the same floor? though only a flight of stairs sep the room and where the birds will be at.

any advice will be appreciated!!!

[Ginene]

chirpy
Truthfully...he should want to use low VOC paint for your daughters benefit anyway . Men can be so annoying...sad but true . I think putting the birds in another room with the door closed and a towel shoved under the door is a good idea. Maybe you can open the windows in the house too. The spackle isn't very smelly...just messy. It makes lots of dust when being sanded. My hubby "wet sands" spackle to reduce the dust mess. You just use a clean rag that has been wet and completely rung out. Tell him these things are best for your lil girl...don't even mention the birds.

[mayble]

I'd be more concerned about the new carpet - off-gassing is a nasty process for humans to endure, and I can't imagine what it does to little birds. You may want to do some research in that area.
You will probably want the birds and your little girl as far away from that area as possible, with plenty of ventilation.

[finchmix22]

BEWARE! My office had new carpet and installed and I was handfeeding a baby parrot finch, who immediately had breathing problems and died the next day. Carpet is very dangerous! The fumes, glue, chemicals, etc. Paints need to be Zero VOC and watch for dust due to wall repairs. Our finch babies and other birds' lungs can't take all that junk in their wee lungs. I'd move them out of the house while there is remodeling and not bring them back until the fumes etc. are totally absent. An air purifier would help once they're returned, as they can have problems even when we can't smell anything.

[chirpy]

Thank you everyone!!!
I don't have anyone that can take them in for a few days. No one likes bird and sadly no fund to have the vet keep them for me.
Do you think the laundry will be ok? That will be very very far from all the rooms. However hardly any natural light I can leave the door open so it does leak in there.


I will try and get them to get baby safe paint.ita not a room so maybe ill just buy it myself.... Unless he has his brother doing the home improvements to buy it then he doesn't care about things as well... Aghhhh!!!

I'm stressing out what to do with the birds now
I will have ALL windows open and doors closed and sealed as much as I can!
And of course no AC

[chirpy]

----- just to let you all know of what remodeling

A five foot long thin crack.
And one bedroom that's 8x8 that's needs carpeting and that is the room to be painted back white.

The bedroom is about 6 feet away from the master where I moved the birds to and 15 away from the door of the master.

It's not much to do but I also know it doesn't take much to harm birds
Maye if its nice I can have them outside on a nice non windy and warm day..
And bring them in at night to the laundry room as that's probably the best bet. And take out all chemical substances from that room before.

[Nerien]

Insist on low VOC paint because of your daughter, even if you have to buy it for them yourself. Paint fumes are unhealthy for anyone, but especially for a very young child. There are also lower-odor carpeting options, also.

Whatever healthy conditions are needed for birds, are also advisable for people. Just because it takes more exposure to kill a person than to kill a a bird, does not mean these substances are okay for people to be breathing in. So push for the better choices because of protecting your daughter's health and your own.

If all of the work/carpet is going to be in the same room, then keep the door to that room closed, but window open with a fan blowing OUT the window. That way, the pattern of air flow will be to draw from the rest of the house and out the window, instead of letting the fumes from the room seep back into the rest of the house. With a decent fan blowing out the window, you would not need to, or want to, block the crack at the bottom of the door to the room, you would actually want air to be able to flow under the door into the room, and then out the window via the fan.

[chirpy]

Nerien I appreciate it!

I will do just that. I have a little box fan to put in front of the door inside the room and a 18 inch tall fan. The little one will force air through the bottom crack as tw tall one will just do its job.

The room is next to my daughters so there's more reason why we should use that... Plus I have horrible asthma. If those still don't take account for anything... Idc I'm buying it myself.

Though I have heard that the white is not very good at covering color?
The walls are a light green...

[Nerien]

If you have asthma, they have to, for your sake, use safe paint and buy safer carpet.

I know that renting from a relative makes it touchy, but a landlord, related or not, cannot do something that will harm your health. It's your brother in law? Your husband needs to step up and insist, and then insure, that BIL uses the safest paint and gets the safest carpet that he can. This is the health of his wife and daughter!!! If you end up in the ER because this work inflames your asthma, who takes care of your daughter? Would he have to miss work? Miss school? Who will help him with his schoolwork if you are sick or in the hospital?

He needs to man up and protect his family. If it benefits the birds, so much the better. Remember why they used to bring canaries into the mines? So that when the canary dropped dead, the miners knew it was time to run for their lives. If they harm your birds, it's proof they're harming you and your daughter and your husband. It just takes longer to poison a person with fumes. And the littler ones go first, remind him as he snuggles with her....

[chirpy]

Nerien
I will let him know. He's been so crabby lately for god knows what reason and im just not in the mood to battle it out (if it even gets to that extent lol) with him about it when hes so crabby.
and yes, BIL.. this is WHY i want to leave so badly cause his now wife gets so spiteful because we live in the house... which he and his now exwife shared and told me i was wasting my life away cause i dont go to school or work.. and my daughter deserves better.

if she wasn't pregnant at the time words would of been said.. however i just filed it under "mad pregnant woman syndrome" as i had that too lol.

I am in such a bad place today,,, FForum has helped me out in the mere 5 minutes of being on here.

Thanks everyone.

[chirpy]

Thankfully my BIL did buy the non POV stuff ;)
He thought about us and the birds.. Oh and the cat. Great!!!