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apt complex refinishing floors--uh
Last night I received a call at 5:30 pm that the contractors would begin refinishing the floors in the office of our apt. complex. Our apartment is directly next to the office. i was under the assumption that "begining to refinish" , that they were starting at 6 pm simply meant that they were going to be snading the floors.
Well at 8pm we started to smell a stench of chemicals in our apartment. They had started lying down either the first coat of stain or the poly. Our entire apartment stunk.
We weren't notifiied in advance other than the call at 5:30 I received on my way home from work (stuck in traffic, cutting across 195...you know how I must have been 1/2 listening anyway)... and we were foreced to leave our apartment by 9 pm.
I called the leasing agent and she said there wasn't anything we could do, that at this point they couldn't comp us for a hotel stay or anything. The best they could do if it was "really that bad..." was to move us up to an apartment upstairs that was "open and ready"... so upstairs we went. The apartment is actually partially furnished with a couch, TV with basic stations and a bed frame and matress. But there was someone else's sheets and comforter on the bed! I called back and she said ya someone had a corporate account staying there and they didin't get a chance to c hange the sheets yet, so if I wanted to strip the bed and remake it with our own bedding that was fine. Just what I wanted to do...at this point it was liek 9:30 at night, I was supposed to be online with my China vendors doing work, the dog was going insane etc.
So I am just annoyed and venting because we should have been forewarned about this and not running up and down the stairs last night.
We didn't end up sleeping in the other apartment. The heat wasn't on and we couldn't figure out how to work it and didn't know where the thermostat was, and i wasn't in the mood to strip the bed. So I ended up having to open our bedroom window close the door and sleep in there. I got probably 2 hours of sleep because I kept waking up paranoid that the dog (she is only 7 lbs) was going to be sick from the fumes!! so angry today!!
Re: apt complex refinishing floors--uh
Ugh, I'm sorry. That stench is awful. We had the floors redone on our 2nd floor a couple of years ago and had to stay out of the house because even the first floor was so stinky despite the windows on the 2nd being open to vent.
I'd keep bothering your leasing agent about it, because it will likely be 2-3 more days of this at best. They have to wait something like a day between coats and it takes 3 coats (of just poly, no stain) to do it right... :-/
"It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." - Alex & Ani bracelet
My blog: Dodging Acorns
update: The leasing agent got back to me this afternoon. She said they didn't realize that "smell" was going to be an issue that the company doing the resoration was an "international;" company that "does this all the time". I told her that those chemicals are really harmful especially to my husband who as respitory issues and to our small dog. That is was really horrible that no one contacted us earlier about this situation, and I wanted to say "who starts lying down poly at 730 PM anyway"
she said they aren't going to do another coat now until next week now that they realized it was an inconvience to their resident. She kept repeating a phrase I am sure she was coached on (you can't pull a spin on a PR girl) "our residents come first and we don't want to inconvience you so we are delaying our renovations for your safety"...
so now they are going to do the next coat at "some point next week" and do it at 7 am instead of after 7 pm!! so that the place has all day to air out. My husband has been home and said they opened windows from the inside of the office to air it out, and set up industrial fans to try to push the air outside... plus they put up a big zipper and tarp between the office and our apt to try to avoid the draft reaching our place. He said it still smells but its def liveable at our place--which is great!
I still can not believe I wasn't forewarned about this!! Who starts doing that kind of work during dinner time, and in the evening--especially on a weekday no-less?!
Plus, they still haven't told me what day next week, she said she'd let me know as soon as she heard.
I can't believe an "international" company that is "well versed" in doing these kinds of renovations wouldn't think that putting poly on a huge office wouldn't stink up the apartment of the people next door!! i mean, that seems like common sense.
Hopefully we can sleep with windows closed tonight! At least I don't have to deal with this again until next week. Hopefully, by then the sheets on the bed upstairs will be stripped. I'm not willing to do someone else's laundry! lol
Really glad they're trying to minimize the fumes and change their timing for the next coat! The company should absolutely have known how bad the smell is. Although the complex letting you know about the work makes it seem like they knew it was going to stink...
Glad you have a week to figure out a plan for the next coat! And fingers crossed the heating bill isn't too bad.