Schoolboy Error

Finally had my loft built after waiting a year, after gradually acquiring the wood from here and there and from the occasional building site back door.
It looks great and im well pleased.
Ive stained it all with brown wood preserver inside and out.

The schoolboy error ive made is that ive also stained the perches nextboxes and floor.
the problem is that when a bird does its business on raw wood the wood dry's it out from underneath and the dropping goes hard.

Where ive stained everything the droppings are staying wet on top of the stain and not drying out. Total nightmare especially in this damp weather.

I'm going to get some builders lime and give the perches a light dusting with a paintbrush after ive scraped out.

harkers sale a powder for the perches and floor but I would get some easibed and put that down on the floor (deep litter) and use the powder on the perches or get plenty of sand paper and elbow grease lol I don't like the idea of lime in the loft on a regular basis it may irritate the birds respiratory system don't quote me on that but lime burns as we know atb m8

your right there Darren, I remember using lime years ago before this floor whitener became available......burns the back of your throat, horrible stuff...........

I suggest you apply another layer of wood on the floor, ply it all over the top, because without a dry floor your going to get problems, forget dust its ok as a layer on top of a dry floor but not a solution to the problem, its a disaster other wise.
I put cat litter on the floor of my lofts its magic.

Kitty litter, DE works excellent.

cat litter is good will keep the loft bone dry but it also contains a lot of silica which can cause lung diseases even cancer so anyone using it read the label and beware ...if you do use it wear a good mask at all times I took mine out of the loft to be on the safe side because my boy goes in the lofts and would never forgive myself atb

good advise Darren, I think pigeon fanciers are prone to breathing and lung problems anyway, so removing anything which would make this worse is a good idea.........I have scars on both lungs, and have been told once your lungs are damaged they do not repair, so its wise to prevent things like this if possible.......

Rudderfett wrote:

I suggest you apply another layer of wood on the floor, ply it all over the top, because without a dry floor your going to get problems, forget dust its ok as a layer on top of a dry floor but not a solution to the problem, its a disaster other wise.
I put cat litter on the floor of my lofts its magic.

Sounds an OK idea to me Rudd      in what you say etc. Thou !!!!. 2/3 inches of dry sand & then build up the deep litter, could be another option.

nothing worse for causing dust than CAT LITTER EASYBED is much better.as for staining the floors and every where else , give it a couple of weeks, and it will be the same as any other loft, CHECK your VENTILATION ?

Ventilation is rwally good Edgie, because it took so long to aquire sll the materials I had plenty of time to resesrch loft design and ventilation.
Im going to give a chalk based product a try called Belgium White its quite cheap.
Im just going to dust the purch with a paint brush after ive scraped for a while until the staining wares off a bit. Theyve only been in the new loft a few daysBecause of waiting so flipping long for it to be built, I just wanted it to be purfect. Just annoyed with myself for doing it just so it would look nice.

for me the dropings will do the job over time, but please feel free to experiment ?

can you not just paint over the perch where they sit/stand in matt emulsion...?