Skunks and Sanding Floors

We sanded our floor over the weekend because of a skunk!

A skunk?  Yes, you heard that right.  While getting ready for the Duxbury Show, Poppy, our lovely dog, got sprayed in the face by a skunk!  It was around 7pm at night and it was the most horrible, gut wrenching, a million times worse than road kill skunk smell.  I wasn’t expecting it to be so strong.

Poppy

At first we couldn’t tell if she’d been sprayed because all around our house smelled so intense, almost like a burning smell.  It burned our mouths and eyes and our poor dog was traumatized rubbing her whole body on the sunroom rug.  She also was bleeding from her mouth as I think it irritated it so much.

I ran around the house closing doors thinking this would stop the smell getting to bedrooms etc.  I was wrong!

It was everywhere even in our closet.

We washed our dog down with a mixture of bicarbonate of soda,  peroxide and a few drops of liquid soap.  But you have to be really careful of their eyes.  So her head (even now) still smells a bit skunky.

We opened all the windows in the house and put bowls of vinegar in every room.  This neutralizes the odor.  That worked everywhere except the sunroom.

The rug was just ruined – between the smell and the blood from her mouth.  So we ripped it up. Thankfully, it wasn’t glued down.  It was just nailed in place. We pulled the smelly rug up and then carefully removed the wooden nail strips and pulled up the underlay.  I went around getting rid of all the nails and staples.

removing_carpet_title

Good bye, skunky rug!

Under the carpet was fir planks.  We knew this from the previous owner and had been planning on doing this at some point, just not right now, but things happen for reasons I guess. Under that green paint and water stains the floor is in good shape.

wood_floors_before

We decided to rent a sander from Taylor Rental.  After talking to them on the phone, we thought the Clarke E-Z Sander would be a our best bet.  This sander is able to get closer to the edge and doesn’t need to go with the grain of the wood, a bonus because the wood grain goes the short way in our room, and you can hook it to a shop vac so it is dustless.

Before we started sanding we removed this molding (we’re going to do nice molding in the whole room). We also made sure all the nails were hammererd down and nothing was sticking up.

removed_molding

Look at those sanding pads:

sanding_discs

Then we got going.  I actually really really loved using this:

sanding

Luke did too!  We took turns.

luke_sanding

We started with the lowest number – 20, then 36, then 60 and finished with 100 grit sand paper.

And here’s how the floors are looking now:

floors_after_sanding

You can see there is a little paint on the edges so we need to go back over these areas with a palm sander before refinishing the floors.

The best part is this room doesn’t smell like skunk anymore, but wood!

Sanding_Floors_collage

I have really big and exciting plans for this room.  Can’t wait to share them soon!

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Bliss
9 years ago

Well…. anyone who has ever had this happen to their dog knows exactly what you are talking about, but not everyone has to redo the floor. Lets just call that a perk for what you went through.

Paige
9 years ago

ooohhhhh!!!! Can’t wait to see what you do with those lovely floors. Hope your sweet little dog is all better!

Judi
Judi
9 years ago

Hi Danielle,
Thank you for sharing about the sander. I know you mentioned that it was dustless, did you put up any plastic as a precaution?
Thank you…and glad your home and poor poppy are back to normal!
Judi

Cynthia
9 years ago

Oh your poor baby, I feel so bad and I can see how that would traumatize her. I hope she is back to her old self soon. The floors turned out great and I can’t wait to see the whole project finished.

Cynthia

Jennifer@The Chronicles of Home

Looks like a happy accident in the end! Can’t wait to see it all come together!

JaneEllen
JaneEllen
9 years ago

Oh my isn’t that the way happy things get done? Anybody that’s ever had a dog/or themselves sprayed by a skunk knows how suffocating it can be. It’s kinda funny but not. Bless your hearts for tackling it as might as well. You wanted that room/floor cleaned up anyway? Love your cute drop leaf table. The floor is quite gorgeous underneath, wonder why people wanted floors covered so much, sure glad for you it wasn’t glued down, that can be real night mare. How’s dear Poppy, is she still traumatized? Might want to call vet about her mouth bleeding. Looking… Read more »

Audrey
Audrey
9 years ago

Thank you for sharing! I can’t help but think of the saying, ” a silver lining in every cloud.” silver lining – silver pennies!
You’re going to make the room look amazing. The floor is extra pretty already. Timing wasn’t wonderful & your poor dog, but it’s all going to be good…

Robyn @ simply fresh dinners

Oh gosh, Danielle. I had a skunk when I was a kid that got sprayed at least twice every summer and it was a nightmare. I hope Poppy is feeling better soon.
The floors look fabulous – I love fir, so hardy. Will be excited to see what you do with the room.
Happy Easter! ox

Sarah
9 years ago

Aw! Poppy is so cute! Poor little thing. Hope she is finally starting to feel better! This looks like a lot of work, but there’s nothing like a kick in the pants to get things done;) Can’t wait to see what you do with the floors!! And the rest of the room:) Owe you an email.

Patty Soriano
Patty Soriano
9 years ago

Is Poppy okay now ? Our Beagle was also a rescue and this happened to her not long after we brought her home. It was also in the evening (nothing like staying up late trying to get skunk stink out of your house!) Sofie was outside for the last potty break of the night and we went to let her in when she rushed in, ran around the living room, rubbing on everything she could. I was gagging from the horrible smell. Like you…who knew it was so bad firsthand?! We started washing her down and noticed that her tongue… Read more »