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Need advice with situation

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amishbr

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Posted 1 year ago
Fri Apr 27 2012 21:40:12
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Hi

So I recently had my landlord's exterminator come in and told me that I definetly had bed bugs. Now I am changing apartments and the new one has a move in date of august 13th while my current one (infested one) has a move out date of august 15th. My original plan was to keep my stuff in the current apartment till the 13th or 14th and move it across to my new apartment.

The exterminator did tell me that my problem was very mild and I asked him how many treatments it would take to fix my problem. He said that he guesses between 1-3 treatments.

Now here is where it gets tricky. I have two options:

1. Keep my box spring and mattress in my current apartment and move according to my original plan. (This helps because I wouldn't have to ask my aunt for her van"

2. Take my box spring and mattress home and put it in the sun. My house already has a mild case of bed bugs in my grandpa's room so I intend on keeping my box spring and mattress in the garage.

The exterminator checked my box spring and found feces and some live ones in there so I am assuming that's the source but one can never be sure. I will definetly launder and dry my clothes on high heat setting.
KillerQueen

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Apr 28 2012 1:55:21
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You have enough time to win the war against the bugs. Putting your mattress in the sun will not do anything in terms of killing the bug.

Stick to plan A, treat the apartment and continue to monitor the problem months after the treatment. Be sure the surrounding apartments are inspected and cleared as well. Plan A can fall apart if adjoining units have problems or continue to have problems even after your successful eradication. Meaning a bug can walk into your apartment days before your move and that will spell trouble.

Good Luck!
amishbr

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Apr 28 2012 10:58:37
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Thanks for the reply KillerQueen. I have heard a lot of good things about your service so I will go with your suggestion.

I am going out of country on may 16th and I will be back in july which will give the exterminator enough time for his treatments and some more time. The adjacent townhouses have no problem with BB's either.

Now if I won't be sleeping in the same bed will a visual inspection be enough to check for BB's? What if one or two survive and go dormant due to the lack of food and I transport them to my new apartment? Will it be ok if I call the exterminator (hired by the landlord) to do a visual inspection before I move apartments.
JMJimmy

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Apr 28 2012 14:43:15
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An option my cousins used with an infected mattress was to wrap it in saran wrap. Cheap, if a bit time consuming to do, but lets you move/use it without infecting the new location. It's only a temporary solution as it won't do anything to kill the bugs/eggs, it merely contains them. I'm unsure if you leave it on long enough whether it will eventually starve out what's in there?
ShelaghDB

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Apr 28 2012 17:34:57
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JMJimmy - 2 hours ago »
An option my cousins used with an infected mattress was to wrap it in saran wrap. Cheap, if a bit time consuming to do, but lets you move/use it without infecting the new location. It's only a temporary solution as it won't do anything to kill the bugs/eggs, it merely contains them. I'm unsure if you leave it on long enough whether it will eventually starve out what's in there?

Wouldn't it just be better to spend a few dollars and get a zippered cover for it?
I have a pillow to bed, so I wrapped my mattress in one which is a weird material. No sure what i is but it isn't cotton, nor is it plastic.
Then I wrapped my box spring in one designed for it but is more plastic.

Personally I don't know if i could sleep well knowing there were live bugs in there for I believe you would have to keep it covered for about 2 years in order for any in there to finally starve to death and die.

Warning though. I wrapped my bed up 4-5 years ago when I had the first run-in with them.
Just last week I was toying with taking it off thinking i would look better to see the actual mattress again and today I am glad i didn't, having discovered a new dead one this week, so the start of a second problem ( not related to the first )
amishbr

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Posted 1 year ago
Sat Apr 28 2012 17:49:18
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Ok, so it seems that a cover is an ideal option. My exterminator told me that the ones from walmart are just fine. Now I read reviews on here about a cover that was prevented any bb's from exiting even with the zipper open a few inches but it is 70 bucks and I can't afford that.

I will now be looking to buy a box spring and mattress cover and put it on as soon as I get back from my trip. If there are any other things I should consider please let me know.

P.s: The trip is to India in the summer, where it gets to over a 100 degrees Fahrenheit currently and it isn't even full fledged summer yet.
JMJimmy

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Apr 29 2012 14:30:28
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ShelaghDB - 20 hours ago »

JMJimmy - 2 hours ago »
An option my cousins used with an infected mattress was to wrap it in saran wrap. Cheap, if a bit time consuming to do, but lets you move/use it without infecting the new location. It's only a temporary solution as it won't do anything to kill the bugs/eggs, it merely contains them. I'm unsure if you leave it on long enough whether it will eventually starve out what's in there?

Wouldn't it just be better to spend a few dollars and get a zippered cover for it?
I have a pillow to bed, so I wrapped my mattress in one which is a weird material. No sure what i is but it isn't cotton, nor is it plastic.
Then I wrapped my box spring in one designed for it but is more plastic.
Personally I don't know if i could sleep well knowing there were live bugs in there for I believe you would have to keep it covered for about 2 years in order for any in there to finally starve to death and die.
Warning though. I wrapped my bed up 4-5 years ago when I had the first run-in with them.
Just last week I was toying with taking it off thinking i would look better to see the actual mattress again and today I am glad i didn't, having discovered a new dead one this week, so the start of a second problem ( not related to the first )

Cheapest containment product for a bed I could find: $50 for box spring, $50 for mattress, $20 for each pillow.
Cost of a giant roll of saran wrap: $17.99
amishbr

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Posted 1 year ago
Sun Apr 29 2012 17:26:34
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Thanks for the advice on the encasements but I feel that I should go with whatever my exterminator recommends so that if I still have the problem I can tell him that and I would have followed his instructions precisely.