# Dog safety, refinishing wood floors



## Hankscorpio (May 15, 2012)

Has anyone refinished hardwood floors? I need to refinish my hardwood floors in my living and dining room. (DIY or professional) I'm concerned about fumes in the house, cutting the dog off from the majority of his living space and how to deal with repair men in the house with the dog.
Would it be best to kennel Indy for this job? 

It seems wasteful but if I'm kenneling the dog due to toxic fumes and invading repairmen, it would be cheaper for me to rip out the old and install new pre finished hardwood, I did it to the ruined kitchen floor...


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Does he have a crate or a back bedroom he could stay in? If so, just put him there and you don't have to worry about the workmen. I don't think the fumes will be any more toxic for him than for you , so whatever you can handle he should be OK with too. I think you can ask them to use low-VOC finish. He can handle being cut off from the majority of his living space for a few days.


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## Kibasdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Hankscorpio said:


> Has anyone refinished hardwood floors? I need to refinish my hardwood floors in my living and dining room. (DIY or professional) I'm concerned about fumes in the house, cutting the dog off from the majority of his living space and how to deal with repair men in the house with the dog.
> Would it be best to kennel Indy for this job?
> 
> It seems wasteful but if I'm kenneling the dog due to toxic fumes and invading repairmen, it would be cheaper for me to rip out the old and install new pre finished hardwood, I did it to the ruined kitchen floor...


This is what I do for a living. Well not so much the refinishing part anymore. I install the floors and the other guys do the finishing. Did my time sanding and finishing years ago. 
If they are using a water base or polyurethane finish then there isn't really any problem with the fumes. If they are using Glitsa (which is what we use on 95% of jobs) then both you and the dog will want to vacate the house while the finishing is being done. The fumes will burn your eyes and throat.
In terms of finish quality Glitsa > polyurethane > water base

Why kennel ? No family or doggie buddies he could stay with for a few days ?


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## aussiegirl6 (Mar 16, 2013)

Hankscorpio said:


> Has anyone refinished hardwood floors? I need to refinish my hardwood floors in my living and dining room. (DIY or professional) I'm concerned about fumes in the house, cutting the dog off from the majority of his living space and how to deal with repair men in the house with the dog.
> Would it be best to kennel Indy for this job?
> 
> It seems wasteful but if I'm kenneling the dog due to toxic fumes and invading repairmen, it would be cheaper for me to rip out the old and install new pre finished hardwood, I did it to the ruined kitchen floor...


I did my 70 y/0 oak floors and I waited until the fall when I could open the windows with a fan drawing in air one side and one drawing air out for a cross breeze. Also for you all to baby gate the pup off that area for a good week as they will want to sniff the floor a lot, I fortunately had a back door so the barricade was easy for me. 
Also, I rented a sander from a place that has rental equipment, generators, pressure cleaners, etc, for 75 dollars on a Friday, with a Monday holiday so I had it for 4 days, consider renting on an early Saturday and you will have Sunday as well if they are closed. Most times these guys work with you. They gave me sanding paper and what I did not use, they credited back to me on return. I used a little black and decker for the cornner and along the base boarding, Rolled out the satin stain with a roller on a stick after cutting in the edges with a brush.
Best of luck to you, you will be proud!


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## Greater Swiss (Jun 7, 2011)

I haven't done the hardwood floor refinishing, though we've explored the option in the past. What my plan was, was to take Caeda to doggy daycare during the days (when we're working) and home at nighttime (fans blowing fumes out). We kind of passed on the whole idea because of the logistics though.....the only way to get upstairs to our bedroom (or even to the one bedroom/den on the main floor) is through the room that we were considering refinishing. It would have been just as much of a pain for us as for the dog....unless we all just stayed in a hotel for the duration. Either way, my vote is for doggy daycare during the days that the work is being done, and if at all possible have the dog with you at night when it isn't being done (whether you do it or not!), just keep fans blowing the fumes out during those times.


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## Hankscorpio (May 15, 2012)

Kibasdad and Aussiegirl6, you both have experience here, do you recommend this as a DIY project?
I'm fairly handy but this is a bit out of my experience. 
FYI no family in the area but I guess he does have doggie buddies we could impose on.


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## Hector4 (Sep 16, 2013)

I recently restored 100yr+ old fir floors and I have 3 dogs. We did it ourselves and eventually had to hire a handyman because we got sick of it. We did 350 sqft. The type of sander you use will depend on the condition of your floors. Refinishing also depends how thick your floors are. Some floors have been refinished so many times that's it's not refinishable (too thin). For example 3/4 in thick floors can be refinished I think about 6 times (I'd have to double check on websites) If you use a water base poly - it still gets fumey - enough that you have to have open windows. If you use an oil base poly, you should evacuate the house and it takes about 7 days to cure which really sucks. I used a water base poly (bona brand) and that takes 3 days to fully cure. If I was going to use the oil base, I would have camped in my yard. It is best to have someone watch your dogs or kennel them outside. Keeping the floor fur free for the poly was the hardest part and we did not succeed lol. If you don't mind spending the money and hiring a professional, then go for it. Refinishing is not nearly as bad as restoring like I did.


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## Kibasdad (Jan 1, 2009)

Honestly, this is not something I would recommend a homeowner to do themselves. I can spot a homeowner job a mile away. Most look bad although I have seen a few acceptable ones. But the few good ones I've seen the owners have spent alot more time and just as much money as if they had just had pros do it.
A couple pics of my work
[url=https://flic.kr/p/josVM7]20140115_144250 by bladerunnr40, on Flickr[/URL] 

[url=https://flic.kr/p/i78wpr]20131205_150531 by bladerunnr40, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/oDTLrC]20140509_152659 by bladerunnr40, on Flickr[/URL]


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## aussiegirl6 (Mar 16, 2013)

If money is not an issue, get a professional. Might cost about $3000.00 for 600 square feet, $50.00 per sq. ft.,and yes, take a vacation for 3 days. 
Depends on your area and condition of the floor. 
My girlfriend and her husband did their own also and it looked beautiful with a satin finish. I just had to have someone carry that heavy sander up my front steps once inside, I sanded, no problem. 
Consider like the previous poster, you want to be fur free or it will stick to the sealing process. do you want to do all that work? Word of mouth is your best reference. Ask for previous references and see how long it took the other people.


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## Hector4 (Sep 16, 2013)

Actually I was wrong about cure time for oil based poly. I can't remember exactly but I think in 1 day or more you can walk on it, but it doesn't fully cure until 30 days and you can't lay rugs on it till 21 days otherwise it will leave tan lines. Also, not to mention all the sanding in between and tacking. It's a process depending on the condition and type of poly you go with. Even though I did not use the oil based poly, I did stain a section of my floors and the fumes did not dissipate until 5 days later and I'm talking about fumes that burned the throat, that alone steered me away from staining and even considering the oil based poly.


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## DaySleepers (Apr 9, 2011)

I don't have a ton of first-hand experience, but when I was a kid and we refinished the floors in this house (the previous owners had covered up gorgeous hardwood with lots of gaudy-colored shag carpet, if you can believe it), the humans went to stay with my grandparents, and the cats went to a kennel. I don't remember how long, maybe a week? Five days? I've got a really sensitive respiratory system myself, so my instinct is to keep the animals as far away from the finish as possible until it cures, no matter what kind you use.


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