For the most part, you're in luck because today's paints & flooring laminates are available in both low-VOC and zero-VOC versions. If your painting project is going to be a whole-house endeavor, you might be wise to find & do some advanced discussions/negotiations with a painting contractor now, well in advance of your move.....get him/her in to look at the condo/townhouse ASAP or even take some good pics of each wall in each room, start in the upstairs back & work out the front door, before the move-in. Time and costs will be less.....same goes for self-painting projects. As long as your flooring will be true hardwood laminates, you should be good there, as those products are interlock or nail down or a combination of both. If any adhesives are to be used, obtain a MSDS (material safety data sheet) before anything is opened. Not sure about Canadian requirements, but those are usually available from the manufacturer's websites, for downloading. The trend has been movement towards water-based adhesive products, so you're probably safe with those type adhesives. The only problem area I can see is if you are installing wall-to-wall carpeting.....make sure that the vendor can & will roll out carpet, in their warehouse facility before it is delivered to your home, otherwise plan on your birds being out of the house for 30-45 days. New carpeting offgasses chemicals, as does some backings/paddings. If you get an agreement about pre-installation layout, be sure it is in writing and drop by the layout facility during the layout period. Normally, small vendors do not have the facilities to rollout carpet & leave it out to breathe & offgas for a week or two. Similarly, anyone purchasing a new stove/range/oven should have it operated/burned in for 24-48 hours at the vendor, outside on their back porch or garage before installed in the home, so that any oils, coatings, cleaners are burned off before installation.....many of these products are used in the assembly of new appliances and are dangerous to birds.
