Doves are more attracted to dark-colored dove houses than light-colored dove houses. We experiemented with this many times before making the choice to stain our dove houses.

Stained cedar will last many times longer in the elements than unstained cedar.

If left unstained, dove excrement itself would stain the cedar in such a way that the wood could not be cleaned and would appear very unattractive. By staining our dove houses, bird excrement cannot seep into the wood. This allows our dove houses to be cleaned with soap and water to bring them back to their original state.

The reason we do not use water sealant is because water sealant would allow the cedar to turn gray and age much quicker, while also not protecting against UV rays nearly as well as the stain we use. For a better understanding of the differences between Sealant vs Wood Stain, check out this video from Olympic: (Olympic Video)

Water is a chemical. All stains are composed of chemicals. The stain we use is composed of environmentally-friendly chemicals. The odor should dissipate within a week or so of being outside in fresh air.

As far as the smell bothering your doves, you have nothing to be concerned about! There has been a great and long debate in the birding world as to if birds even possess a sense of smell. A few birds that have been proven to possess smell are vultures, seabirds, kiwis, and parrots. Backyard birds, like doves, have not been proven to possess a sense of smell. And even if they’re able to smell the wood stain on our dove houses, the entire purpose of choosing Environmentally-Friendly Wood Stain is so that it is not damaging to animals, the environment, or humans; hence, the smell will not harm them.

To reiterate, the smell will dissipate within a week or so of being outside in fresh air.

Interior/Exterior Formula

99% ultraviolet Protection

Brazilian Rosewood Oil

No Petroleum Distillates

Environmentally Sound

VOC less than 1 g/liter

Safe for Use Around Children and Animals

We care about animals, the environment, and our own brains.

We stain all of our dove houses indoors, so we wanted something that smells far less intense than regular stains.

We also chose it to avoid the inevitable brain damage that would ensue, should we use a regular stain with a higher VOC content.