question on oil-based staining fumes during pregnancy
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Anonymous
| I'm 36 weeks pregnant and we're supposed to have a banister stained and finished this week with oil-based stain. I know oil-based stains are supposed to be terrible for pregnant women. If you've had this work done during pregnancy, how long did you stay out of the house? This shouldn't be as bad as refinishing floors since it's such a small area but I'm trying to figure out if I need to leave and for how long. Thanks for any info. |
Anonymous
| 36 weeks? can't you wait and have it done while you're gone to have the baby? you'll be out of the house for 2-3 days anyway... |
Anonymous
| That sounds like a good idea except that for scheduling purposes I have no clue when the baby will actually arrive and don't anticipate wanting/being able to schedule someone to come out once I'm in labor. |
Anonymous
| You can always put someone in charge of it like your mom or MIL, your DH or a neighbor... |
Anonymous
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can you use a low voc stain instead of an oil based one? I know they do that all the time on the YHL blog.
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Anonymous
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Unfortunately, the low-voc stains are water-based, which works well if the wood has previously been treated with an oil-based stain, but isn't great to use for first-time stains. The carpenter told us only to use oil-based. We were planning to use the low-voc water-based finish. I can't find a concrete answer on how long to stay away anywhere on the internet, so I think we're just going to wait to stain until after the baby arrives and we can get him out of the house.
Thanks for the suggestions. |
Anonymous
| i had a neighbor call the cleaning crew when I went into labor. get a friend to call the carpenter for you... it's not rocket science... |
Anonymous
Yeah, I’m not really sure what bug crawled up your @ss since there was no need for the attitude, but I really wasn’t looking for suggestions as to what other plans I could make or how many ways I could inconvenience my loved ones/acquaintances. Nor was I asking for snark. I politely asked if anyone had this type of work completed while pregnant and if so, if they had any insight on how long I should stay away from the fumes. Not that it’s any of your business, but since you seem to be stuck in your narcissistic bubble I can only impress on you the following: just because one solution worked for your specific circumstances, doesn't necessarily mean it will work for everyone. For us, we don’t have any family in the area, we are new to our neighborhood, have already asked friends to take care of our dog (who shouldn’t be sitting around in paint fumes, either), and overall as a philosophy, I’m not one who believes the sun rises and sets on my @ss just b/c I’m pregnant (gasp) and that I should therefore impose on my friends/neighbors to drop everything and schedule MY home maintenance projects when they have their own family/work priorities to juggle. But that’s just me. Additionally, I’m not really sure when you last scheduled a painter, but it appears to be a lengthier process than say… scheduling your cleaning crew. For me, the 3 painters I contacted were scheduling 3 weeks out for the project I have them working on now. Since we don't know when the baby will arrive, it's not exactly conducive to friends calling on the day of labor to have work completed in the next day or so. Anyway, thanks again for your nugget of wisdom cloaked in condescension. It’s people like you that help make DCUM such a supportive environment for expectant parents. I feel better now! |
Anonymous
I wonder what's your excuse for being a jerk when you're not pregnant 
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Anonymous
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Yikes! All the negativity. I've read that prolonged exposure is harmful but that with limited exposure there is minimal risk. I painted /remodeled my house with oil and latex paint before I found out I was pregnant and then in mid pregnancy we painted using a low voc paint and left all the windows open..my husband doing most of the work and myself the touch ups. Doc didn't seem too worried. Just have plenty of ventilation after painting is done.
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/paintexposure.html |
Anonymous
| OP, you can consider water-based stains too---we used them in our house and the woodwork came out beautifully even if old-school carpenters frown on them. Oil-based paint and stains are being banned in many areas for indoor use already, so the alternatives are improving dramatically. |
Anonymous
| Thanks so much, 18:48, I'm glad to hear the water-based worked out well for you. I was worried about ruining the beautiful woodwork since he made a point of telling us not to use it. Did you use it on untreated wood in your house or on wood that had been previously treated? I would definitely feel better about using the water-based if it works as well. What kind did you end up using? Do you know if the Benwood (Benjamin Moore) stain line is any good? Thanks, again, for your input. |
Anonymous
It smells strongly for about two days. Schedule it and then schedule two nights away somewhere close with your DH for some rest and relaxation before the baby comes. Win win! 
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Anonymous
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We had the wood floors on our stairs and entire second floor refinished last year and they used several coats of regular old high-VOC polyurethane. It was about 900 sq ft total, so much less than you're probably doing. The smell was terrible the two days they were actively applying it, but dramatically improved by the morning after the last coat.
Personally, I think it would be much easier to get out of the house for a couple of days now than wait until baby is here or try to have it done while you're in the hospital. I'm not paranoid about this stuff, but I wouldn't really want to bring a newborn home if there were much residual VOC in the air and it'll be that much harder to not go home--it's not like you can go back to the hospital and you'll not want to go to a hotel. Worst case, do it now, plan two nights in a hotel, and you can check in for a third night if you need it. |
Anonymous
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im staining the baby room now. everyone is going to be fine
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