So I woke up today with three people in my Livingroom re-staining our hardwood flooring. The fumes are very strong. My birds are upstairs in my room with the window wide open and a towel under the door. Will they be safe from the hardwood stain downstairs and partially on the stairs?

Also, how long after they are done will I have to wait to bring them back out of my room?

Since to stain wood floors, one needs to first prep the floor by sanding it, commonly the day before. Normally, in todays World and especially in SOCAL the stains used are Water Based as is the Sealer, which is commonly applied the following day.

Commonly darker stains take a little longer than light color stains to dry. Normally, with mid to low Humidity levels they are fully dry and ready for a Poly Sealer. The Poly Sealer also takes about 24 hours to fully dry.

If there are other windows on the second floor, consider opening them and placing a fan blowing air out of the other windows.

Long Story Short, it looks like you're in place for three days.

__________________


In each Morning's early light; there is a promise, an Amazon makes!

Best advice above from Sailboat! I'm also in SoCal and repainted my home interior a few years ago with ultra low VOC paint. Painter stated the liquid is so "safe" you can practically drink it. Well, you get the point, far better than decades past. I kept the flock isolated for about 3 days and all is well.

__________________

okay but are the birds safe from the fumes? that is my main question.

To the point, 'Your' Contractor is doing the Work and has the specific knowledge of what is precisely being used and what safe guards are or are not required. This should have been discussed prior to 'your' signing a contract.

Or, is this your parent's house?

__________________


In each Morning's early light; there is a promise, an Amazon makes!

I'd be losing it if anyone in my family hired people to come in and do this while I had birds...I hope they will be okay.
If a family member made this decision, you need to have a VERY SERIOUS talk....Birds die or get long-term damage etc from stuff we can't smell. Then again, some survive stuff that should kill them and last for years, but this is deadly stuff you are talking about...If you made the call- you shouldn't have done so without researching and considering what they would use.
In addition to the fumes, strong drafts are also dangerous.. ideally, your birds would not be in the home during or for many days after (and only after you researched the VOCs in the stain). I'm not trying to scare you, but this is playing with fire. You cannot always see the damage right away, so please, figure out who is in charge and get them on the birds' side.

You needed to know the stain and VOC count etc before this started.


If you are the adult in your home and woke up to people in your living room...that is creepy...if you are not, you need to get your parents to understand...otherwise, you risk a lot.

Sailboats suggestion of the fan should help pull the fumes out. To the severity the fumes are you need to know what kind of stains are being used.

Make sure the fumes don’t come through the window you have open!

I ended up setting up some containment over my door and air vent (similar to what you would see if a mold outbreak occurred. on the inside of the door frame i also hung a large blanket and ran my air purifier inside. They finished about a a full day and a half ago. Is it safe for the birds to be in the house now?

Again, I would not...Not for a few weeks after...You need to safely air out the house and wait for some one the off-gassing to decrease.


Did you ever find the VOC content of the stain?