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bbs in large house--moving in 2.5 months! What to do?
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bugsbedamned
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 9
Posted 5 months ago
Tue May 26 2009 16:25:45
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Hi, I am so sad to join this unfortunate group! Something MUST be done about this and I hope the bug scientists are getting sufficient $ to come up with a solution!
So, I live in a 4 bedroom, 4000 sq. foot, 3 story house (that is also historical although not very historically important). I've been getting bitten for 4 weeks. A week ago, I pulled covers back and discovered 3 live bugs. 3 days later, pest control person came and applied pesticides. I believe he did a thorough job. He has a lot of experience and even took my bed apart! He did not find any, nada, "evidence" of bugs including excrement and eggs. I was feeling pretty good . . . But then, this morning, I found 2 live nymphs in my guest bedroom on top of the sheets (where I had slept the previous night) and then 2 live nymphs on the encasement of the mattress in the master bedroom (no one has slept there for 6 nights). What does this mean that I am finding more now? Is it ominous that they were not killed? How long does it take for the pesticide to work? The pest control guy said I could start sleeping on the mattress again and wouldn't have any prob. He also said I could bring my stuff out of the bags right away. Well I did that and now I'm seeing live bugs! So they will have to be laundered and heated all over again! Any thoughts?
Also, I have no where to sleep. I've been sleeping on the couch (bedrooms are upstairs and couch is downstairs) but am petrified that they will )or have already) followed me there. Where do you guys sleep until they are gone?
And lastly, we are moving at the end of the summer. We will be listing our house for sale and putting in a renter, since we don't expect it to sell fast in this market. We would not want them to get bed bugs. In addition, we absolutely do not, do not, do not want to bring them with us to our new house. We are fortunate to have the resources to do whatever is necessary to fix this. Dh has a big moving allowance. Our things will fill up a whole 18 wheeler type truck. Does any vikane these? Who?
We are also considering tenting the house. The catch here is we really don't want our neighbors to know what's going on since we will be putting the house on the market and renting it. Obviously, this will be the best treatment and almost certainly will put an end to it, but lord knows what it would do to the marketability of our house if everyone knew about it.
Finally, we realized my dh brought these home in his suitcase--he stays in the same Boston hotel every week. Checked trip advisor and lo and behold, someone had complained about bed bugs there. This is a 4 star hotel! Very nice!
Thanks so much to everyone and let's all pray for a solution!
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Hi,
Long post so I am going to focus on a few things and I am sure others will chip in with more specifics as things develop.
One of the first things you need to do is to make sure you read the FAQ's here. The first lesson to get down pat is how to avoid bringing them home again, i.e. how to inspect a hotel room or bed away from home. Whatever control steps you take to get you out of this situation avoidance is the best lesson of all.
Secondly chat with your pest controller about what you are seeing and what they expect you should be seeing. I would personally as unpleasant as it may sound not recommend that you stay in any other rooms other than the ones that are infected. It is an essential part of helping to ensure the problem is contained and because of the nature of these pests treatment without occupation is not very effective.
Thirdly keep accurate records of what you see around the home, it is important so you can see how things are developing and have an accurate record.
I am going to cut short there and leave some others to pick up but bed bugs can be a complex problem to deal with and simple one treatment solutions although ideal are far from reality in most cases.
Good luck.
David Cain
Bed Bugs Limited -
Adele
senior member
Joined: May '08
Posts: 556
Posted 5 months ago
Tue May 26 2009 22:07:23
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you may want to consider thermal treatments - although your house is enormous but a competent thermal heat provider can tell you the details
you can call Thermapure and they can tell you who provides that service in your area
personally I prefer heat over vikane and if the thermal provider can come in - they would treat the house in one shot
there may be a big generator in front of your house and tubing going into your house but at least they are not tenting it
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itchyitchy
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 17
Posted 5 months ago
Tue May 26 2009 22:21:56
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Honestly, I think I'd be happy to hear a house I was buying or renting had just been fumigated. Check with your Realtor and ask them whether they think tenting would bother potential buyers/renters. I bet they deal with this kind of stuff pretty often.
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Adele
senior member
Joined: May '08
Posts: 556
Posted 5 months ago
Tue May 26 2009 22:46:54
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After my experiences, I would not be happy at all to find out a house that I am renting or buying had been either fumigated or heat treated
but itchy raises a point - you should check with you real estate agent because you may have to disclose the infestation anyway
by the way - neither heat treatment nor vikane fumigation are foolproof - they need to be done properly in order to work - so you really need to do your homework before hiring someone with any process you use to treat
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bugsbedamned
newbite
Joined: May '09
Posts: 9
Posted 5 months ago
Wed May 27 2009 11:20:03
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Thanks itchy, Adele and David. I had not seriously considered heat before and just checked out Thermapure online. That looks like a promising option as I do think it will be less obtrusive in our neighborhood. My husband thinks tenting our house would be the kiss of death for resale of our home. I realize that neither is 100% effective. But, heat and/or vikane are more effective than the usual treatment with pesticides, launder everything at high heat and wait approach right? I'm concerned that we have our second treatment in about 10 days. Then, it seems that we are likely to still have them but to a lesser extent right? Then, we must start all over again. Pretty soon, we are in July which is when I will be packing everything up in boxes---something BB's love. I'm not sure I have a choice other than a "nuclear" one like vikane or heat. But please feel free to correct any misconceptions I may have.
I am in Chicago and evidently there is a local company that does heat treatment---Excelsis Detections. I called but could not get an answer. Can anyone recommend a good company?
Thanks so much.
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2babiesplusbugs
newbite
Joined: Oct '08
Posts: 4
Posted 4 months ago
Mon Jun 29 2009 20:35:39
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I just want to say that thermal is not "less obtrusive". maybe to the neighbors. But EVERYTHING you own needs to be separated and heated (think: books on a shelf). It's great if it works, but 2 thermals later I am still getting bit. And this is in a 500 sq foot apartment. Sorry, for the reality check, but whatever you do you make sure you are as thorough as possible to insure the bugs are gone for good!
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buggyinsocal
oldtimer
Joined: Jun '08
Posts: 1,129
Posted 4 months ago
Mon Jun 29 2009 21:01:30
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Thermal is less obvious to someone who is putting a house on the market than is Vikane, which is not an option in a multi-unit building.
For someone putting a house on the market and being worried about appearance, thermal providers can come in and set up in such a way that it won't be completely obvious to everyone in the neighborhood for days on end that you're either treating for termites or bed bugs because you won't have the tell-tale, multi-colored tent around the house.
When my PCO came out and treated my place, none of my books needed to be removed from the shelves. My "prep" was pretty much getting myself and my cat out of the apartment, removing my DVDs CDs and VHS tapes along with any meltable items like some make up and all candles, and unplugging electronic devices. I live in a pretty small apartment, and I have a lot of books (i.e. IO have five bookshelves in my living room--all of which are packed to the gills and some of which are double stacked, and despite that, I still have piles of books all over the place in addition to the ones in the car and the office).
I don't think I've ever heard of any thermal provider asking people to remove books from shelves.
Would you mind letting us know which PCO who provided your thermal treatment asked for that kind of prep?
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