Country dream living - but for one catch. Cast your vote. Take it or not?

[Attached Mama]

Needing crunchy opinions....

Currently, my daughter and I and two dogs live on a main road in a suburb. We have found a country place that is pretty near perfect.

2 BR cottage on 1.5 acres

New roof, 1 yr old furnace, new windows

Rent slightly less than where I am now.

We can have chickens again.

Landlord offered to till up the large garden area.

Large perennial flower bed.

Mature Northern Spy apple tree.

Backs up to woods and trails.

Daughter can have her dreamed for tipi and swing and room to roam

Landlord does the lawn mowing and snow removal.

Possibility of eventually purchasing the place.

Landlord offered to put in an invisible fence for my two dogs.

Here's the catch: all of the woodwork - floors, window trim, stairs, bannister - was refinished in Jan with a high VOC oil based finish :(    It still smelled. The landlord was going to air the place out this week. He said he hadn't opened the windows yet b/c it was winter. We will go back and see how it smells. I am pretty chemically sensitive.

My thought is that we wouldn't move until April or May; we can turn up the heat to bake/cure the finish which speeds off gassing before we move in; we can spread activated charcoal around to absorb VOC's; we will have windows open til about October; plants; also looking into therapeutic grade essential oils which clean the air.

Thoughts? Opinions?

Thanks :)

[greenmamato2]

I would definitely do it unless the smell simply does not improve and your body can't handle the chemicals.  It sounds like you have a good plan for making it work though. :) 

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by greenmamato2 

I would definitely do it unless the smell simply does not improve and your body can't handle the chemicals.  It sounds like you have a good plan for making it work though. :) 

It sounds amazing.

[OceansEve]

Can you make it clear that you are extremely sensitive and see if he will let you try living there for a couple months to see if you react to it? That way you're not breaching any contract if you decide it's too much for you? It sounds wonderful to me!

[Adaline'sMama]

Sounds awesome. Air it out a bit first, but dont let that place slip away!

[lifeguard]

I'd do it. Especially coming into summer where we wouldn't be inside so much. By fall things most definitely should be settled down when the windows have to start being closed regularly. Everyone has their own comfort levels with this stuff though.

[lava]

It sounds weird but slice onions in half and leave them around the house on plates.  I cannot tell you why chemically but they absorb or counteract paint, stain, and other decorative chemicals.

[Attached Mama]

Well, we have been here for about 2 months now. We love it!! Feels like we are living in paradise! My daughter has her dreamed of tipi in the woods which friends helped to errect and paint Native inspired artwork on and she has her 3 sisters garden and an herbal/medicine woman garden. We have flowers galore and a big veggie patch and the landlord just tilled up another patch for melons! They are the *nicest* people ever! Even drove me 4 hrs roundtrip to help pick up the chicken coop!!

As for the smell, I found a great off brand air purifier that has carbon filters and another technology that removes VOC's. At first the smell was awful and we used the purifier and left windows open and snuggled under lots of blankets. I left the purifier running for the first 6 weeks straight! Now it is barely noticeable. Fortunately, the downstairs floors were not redone, although the window woodwork in the LR was.

Anyway, we LOVE the place :) Just had to post an update :)

[segolilymama]

Yay! So glad your paradise worked out!
 

[akcowgirl]

Sounds like a dream home. So glad it worked out.