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IS thermal the best option for my house?
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victimized
new username: help_me
Joined: Nov '10
Posts: 305offline
Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jan 21 2011 1:10:35
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Let me cut to the chase. This is starting to feel like a hopeless situation in which there is little I can really do. Last night I did a thorough inspection of one of the two chairs we have that went with our former sofa. I checked because my other half spends many hours sitting in it watching tv and falling asleep while he waits for me to finish up and go to bed. Get rid of them? Yeah, but then what will we sit on to watch tv, the floor? They used rapid freeze but I am highly skeptical of how effective that could have been.
Found what I am certain to be two small fecal stains next to one another along the piping on the bottom of the chair, sort of on the back of it. I do not know if that has been there and I overlooked it but being that the worst case scenarios seem to reign true these days, I bet it's from a new and active presence in it that wasn't already there.
I also decided to take a mirror and flashlight and inspect the under sides of my nightstand which I have never been able to see before after inspecting the monitor. Almost certain I found evidence of staining under there. Plan to wait until tomorrow when the PCO ppl are here to turn it over and look while they are standing there. They will try to tell me it isn't, I bet. The new branch of Terminix is supposed to come tomorrow and not really excited at this point as so far they have not been able to treat my home properly or thoroughly and the problem persists, hopefully not worsening but likely considering the crap incomplete service I've been getting since Nov. Why am I paying $600 for two additional rooms... 5 rooms total if they will only really treat the bedroom?? There's absolutely no chemical down in the 3 rooms downstairs, one in which the problem originated. They keep doubting my fear that there could be bugs hiding in/under the cabinets! There is no wall behind them, just an open space from what I saw with the flashlight. You can actually feel cold air blowing out from under them.Last night it came to me... do we pretty much toss anything that has or could have bugs in it? I have a wicker vanity in my dressing room which I never sit at. I also have a resin wicker cafe set in my laundry room that no one uses. My bed could very well be a great harborage given that it's dark paneled wood. My one night stand is wood. This could mean getting rid of everything I own and in the end having a house full of nothing. Then what? Go out and buy all new furniture and risk that stuff having bugs??? What the hell is the point of even fighting a battle against these bugs to make our homes livable once more if after all is said and done we won't be able to return our normal lives and homes? No more plush bedding with throw pillows and shams to lounge on and nightstands to store our bed time stuff? No more sofas and rugs and electronics to play music or movies? No more bringing guests over with their jackets and such? May as well be dead because that is no way to live in one's home.
I have been plugging away at all the bagged shit that never got washed before treatment and can only do one load at a time. Prefer using the hot water (140 upon coming out of tap) so after one load I have to wait for the water heater to make more. It's never ending! Have probably spent hundreds on water usage. Just when I start getting things done I have to stop and do the bedding or the regular clothes.
I love the packtite, don't get me wrong, but it's really slow. Can only do one good batch of stuff per night. Cannot leave it out to run when not here as the cats will climb on it or try sharpening their nails on it. It also isn't terribly useful for quick treatment of shoes which has made it difficult for my other half who likes to come and go at will throughout the day. I can't keep stopping to packtite his boots for 3+ hours to run to the store.It seems endless all the stuff that has yet to be treated and frankly... I am running out of room for all the bags! It's real cause for concern how I can treat, store, and eventually use some of this stuff again the future. I might never want to open the bags with pest strips again. Am tempted to throw away my thousands of dollars in antique Victorian clothing and accessories and reenacting shoes and hats etc. I am going to try throwing some of the heartier pieces into my dryer. The cottons and wools should be ok? Thank God these aren't museum couture pieces but still costly. Have considered temporarily storing the cleaned stuff in our unused attic on a wire shelf rack but I fear even with care a straggler or two could get up there on the stuff which I do not want.
No idea where to start in even safeguarding my home and not even sure I could ever completely do so without gutting and redoing everything because of how our walls are. Have a neighbour on either side. If someone COULD come do an effective thermal treatment of my house where I live, and I could afford it, so as to not have to throw away my stuff... would it even be worth it since the house is attached? I already know they would NOT be getting treatment done as well.
Burn the house down? Suffer? Live in an empty house naked? Wait and one day move into a (hopefully clean) house and start over or isolate stuff for two years first?
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HelpinDC
junior member
Joined: Dec '10
Posts: 107offline
Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jan 21 2011 11:30:11
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So sorry, Victimized, I totally feel for you. I have the same questions myself. It's really hard to see the end of all this, but I really hope that there is an end for both of us, and that it's coming soon!
When we first learned of our infestation, I only had one day to prepare everything before our chemical treatment. Since we have a lot of clothes, linens, etc., I bagged everything up from our closets and dressers, etc. into trash bags and took them to a laundromat. I spent an entire day there and over $60 in quarters, but it was much faster than trying to do this all at home. After washing and drying everything (I just dried a lot of the stuff that was already clean), I transferred them into clean ziploc bags or new trash bags. I think that the laundromat attendent thought I was crazy - I was there so long!
What has been nice for us is that we have a storage unit close by, which is where most of our dried and bagged clothes are stored. I have a pest strip hanging in there just in case a stray bug could have wandered in.
I know that going to the laundromat and having a storage unit are extra expenses, but it at least gives me peace of mind that many of our clothes are safely tucked away off-site. (If they were here, I would constantly be worried about my husband opening the bag and leaving it open! )
Best of luck to you - I am rooting for you! I had thermal in my apartment and it didn't work, or it did work, but then bugs migrated back in from another apartment. I don't know what the answer is, but it better come soon, because I can't take this anymore!
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victimized
new username: help_me
Joined: Nov '10
Posts: 305offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jan 22 2011 3:44:07
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Believe it or not, just before all this started, and I mean JUST before this all started, I was going to rent a public storage unit and move my stuff into it (my sofa especially) and move out. What a disaster that would have been to have all that stuff and not know!
The good thing about the storage unit for you is that the stuff is in sealed bags. I would never store stuff like furniture in one, not now with all the bugs running around. If I can manage to get all my credit card debt down, once the weather breaks and it gets warm I want to put a cheap shed in that way I can do isolation treatment for stuff I do not want to get rid of. Will just wrap it up with a strip and leave it for 2 yrs lol.
Wow, you only had a day and you were able to get it all done?? I am thinking of doing as you have done, just go to the laundromat. Originally planned on doing that but then it turned into a matter of putting bags in our buggy car and coming home with them, During our very first treatment we took what of our clothes I could gather together, plus the bedding, to the local one. I was putting everything in bags and the ppl in there were asking why we didn't just get a laundry basket?
It would probably be must faster trying to knock out the rest of the bagged and unwashed stuff. Tonight I went into my back bedroom and vacuumed for the first time since the day of my second "first treatment". Yes, they actually came back to redo it and I don't think they were thorough the second time either. It feels like my bags are reproducing while left alone by themselves! Have been running the washer and dryer constantly, or as often as possible, and there are still about 6-8 bags. One bag has just one dress in it though that I wore and put immediately in there after.
When I ordered my steamer (which still hasn't arrived yet, they say because is back ordered) I also ordered an active monitor for the car and my free gift, maybe for both, was 6 XL hefty bags. I thought these were going to be garbage bags. After much anxiety about my other half not being able to the bags on his own, my mum and I had been saying... how come they can't make them with the zipper seal? He couldn't mess those up. Low and behold, that is what these bags are!! And they are so big and there are enough of them that I can just put all his clothes in these. He will still have to learn how to not take stuff out and lay it aside while looking for other things only to put them back in, etc.
Maybe you could get some of those for yours! Just remembered my packtite has been running since 7pm. It's now 2:43 am. Woops! lol. Guess I'll find out now how my test record handled the run. Sorry Eddie Kendricks!
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HelpinDC
junior member
Joined: Dec '10
Posts: 107offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jan 22 2011 15:05:37
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Haha, I do have the ones with the zipper seal and he still didn't get it right! The zipper seal only works if you take the time to close them! lol. We had to take everything out of bags before the heat treatment, after which he proclaimed that he was offiically done with the plastic bags and would not be using them anymore! I didn't put up a fight, because I thought this would all be over with after the heat treatment. But of course, it wasn't, so now we are in this weird limbo status of no longer having our stuff in the bags but still have bugs. I've considered rewashing and/or drying all my stuff and putting them back in the bags, but if he doesn't, I'm not sure there's a point! Hmm. I'm not TOO worried about our closet and dresser because we've never had bugs in the bedroom. The good news is that I may have finally succeeded him in buying a packtite, though!
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victimized
new username: help_me
Joined: Nov '10
Posts: 305offline
Posted 2 years ago
Sat Jan 22 2011 17:35:40
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Geez, if you can't get your guy to actually close the bags, albeit as easy as it may be with the zipper seal, is there any hope for me? What I can't get him to do through common sense I do through scaring the crap out of him with my angry. That doesn't always work either but it helps lol.
It sounds weird that they asked you to unbag everything!? Wouldnt the heat treatment still penetrate the stuff?? Maybe I am wrong, but if the heat can penetrate the walls and plushness of a sofa than perhaps it can penetrate a plastic bag that is only about 2ft thick.
I restled with my conscience and pocket book before finally just 'what the hell!", crumbling, and buying one. To me it seemed like one of those simple little inventions a person concocted, simple as can be, costs only a few bucks to make, patented it, and is now exploited the desperately desperate bed bug suffers by charging way too much for a product they know people really need.
I bought one though and while it isn't particularly useful for doing shoes (takes too long) I am not really sure what I would have done with all the stuff that has been treated in it since had I not gotten one!? My only beef(s) with is are as follows:
1: Takes too long to get items up to temp. The thing, itself, gets up to 120 pretty damn fast when empty.
2. Is not real safe way to store it to prevent bugs from getting onto or into it.
3. I don't like the way the cords just sort of hang out the zipper. Seems for $300 they could have concocted a better method?
4. I can only operate it on a couple surfaces because it buckled the flooring in the two rooms I used it in. Both floors were vinyl so do not use it on a vinyl surface.
5. It is a prime magnet for my cats. They will try to climb on it to sleep or sharpen their claws so I cannot use it when I am not in the room.I'm not TOO worried about our closet and dresser because we've never had bugs in the bedroom.
That's what I thought, too. For some reason I was assuming we didn' have any in there until the week we discovered the problem but I am beginning to suspect otherwise. We spent so much time on the sofa yet I never saw anything so...
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