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New to BB - Lots of Questions
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IWearTheScarletBB
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Joined: Dec '07
Posts: 20
Posted 1 year ago
Sat Dec 15 2007 10:04:16
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I am relatively new to BB and have tons of questions. Here is a little background before I start asking. We live in a single family residence (likely brought them home from a two day funeral trip to Niagara Falls over the summer). We have three bedrooms all on second floor (master, baby's, and office). PCO only found evidence of BB in master BR and treated entire floor with steam and pesticides, concentrating on the master. We then encased the mattresses. Baby's crib is encased and glue traps are under each leg and it is away from the wall. First floor...living room furniture was steamed and some pesticides were used. Living in the home (or what used to be a home before BB...it now feels like a prison) are me, my husband, baby, and dog.
1. We are finding BB on the walls and ceiling of the master BR since treatment (guess they may have been there before, but who was looking for them?!). There doesn't seem to be any cracks or anything for them to have crawled from nearby and this room has no trim along the ceiling. Is this normal?
2. If my husband continues to sleep in the bed in the master BR, how likely is it that the BB will follow me to the basement (where I have an airmattress set up...I am completely bug-phobic)? I'm sure this is hard to say, but do they make their migration in one night?
2a. The dog used to sleep in the master BR, but his bed was thrown away when the room was treated. He now sleeps on the first floor at night instead of upstairs in the master BR because I am afraid that he will carry one pregnant female to another part of the house and start another thriving city of the blood sucking beasts. But, I am also worried that he is baiting them out of the bedroom. Any experience with how much of a bait will he be to draw them out of the bedroom?...he is a chocolate lab, so I am guessing his CO2 production is greater than that of a teacup poodle.
3. I understand that they are drawn to heat and CO2 and virtually unbaitable by other than my apparently tasty self, but are they be drawn to heat alone? Wondering about putting a space heater in the middle of a completely treated area...or cranking the heat in our tiny master bath (has a separate heat control) and treating the entrances and inside well.
4. Of course we have to have an intricate, wooden bedframe...whatever...saved and saved for the thing and now this. Anyway, I want to do the legs in bowls of mineral oil, but of course the legs are wooden and huge. It may get to a point where I just don't care, but right now, I'd rather not ruin it. I was thinking of putting the bed on risers and then putting that into the bowls so that the wood won't get ruined, but all of the risers that I find are way, way too small (the legs are over 6" in diameter). Has anyone found a way to do the oil, but protect your frame? The bed is heavy, so any advice on what to use for the "bowls" is welcome too. Also, wondering why you should use the mineral oil instead of a bowl of alcohol if alcohol is supposed to kill them?
5. I am completely freaked out by my vacuum. It is bagless...I am afraid that, even if I rinse the cup, bugs and eggs will be hiding throughout. Do they get stuck in the brushes or the hoses, etc. that lead to the cup? I am dumping the dirt and throwing away immediately...and also storing the vacuum outside on the back screen porch after use. If only I could get a disposable vacuum every time!
6. What happens if you go away from your house for a few days? If we can manage to decontaminate ourselves, we would like to visit family for the holiday. I have actually already stayed at my parents' house with the baby and dog so that they wouldn't be in the house while PCO was spraying. Our luggage is now the XL ziplocs and I showered right before leaving with our freshly laundered clothes. But, I am wondering what happens when we leave if nobody is sleeping in the bed. I guess this kind of refers back to my other question...how long does a migration take? There has to be at least one really starving one coming out that must eat that night (I know, I'm niave...there are probably more like a million starving ones are coming out each night!). Do they up and move out of the room instantly...or hang in there knowing that their tasty morsels will be back?
7. Has anyone in a single family residence ever had the ThermaPureHeat treatment or Structural Fumigation? I have read a little about both...both say expensive, but can't find out how expensive. I would like to know ballpark amounts just to see if it is a possiblity or not.
I guess I will leave it at that for now...and go back to my life...swatting at phantom BB on me that don't exist, examining every dot anywhere, etc. etc. etc. I am sure I will be back for more help as more of my psychotic questions arise...I now think of nothing but those BB all day! I don't think I have ever analyzed my every move so thoroughly in my life! Thanks in advance for any help!!!
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pleasehelp
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Joined: Oct '07
Posts: 301
Posted 1 year ago
Sat Dec 15 2007 11:46:55
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Hi iwear - we're all so sorry for your plight. You've come to the right place for support and info. Re isolating your beautiful bed, I'd use stainless steel bowls. I'm sure alcohol would work fine, but my guess is it's not usually used is because it evaporates faster than water (& oil). Vikane house treatment prices vary with location. I think they're more reasonable in FL & CA. But from what I've read, my guestimate would be $7K to $20K. They can't be done in cold weather. Those are the only answers I feel qualified to give you, but I'm sure others will have comments on the rest of your questions. Good luck & keep us posted.
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I think vikane prices can be a lot lower than that now. I'd call all the local companies.
Sleeping in the basement might mean you spread them. Dogs are not usually the bed bugs first choice, but can be bitten.
Look at the FAQs below. We especially have extensive directions on how to avoid spreading them to others when you travel (clcik FAQs button below, then "travel".)
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parakeets
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Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 866
Posted 1 year ago
Sat Dec 15 2007 16:01:41
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Lots of good questions. You've done your homework!
1) Seeing bedbugs on the ceiling is normal if your infestation is at the point where you are seeing bedbugs. Do you have any ceiling light fixtures? Mine were inside the ceiling light fixture. Bedbugs often like to crawl "up" to find harbourages.
2) If the infestation is heavy enough that the bedbugs are looking for another host besides your husband, they will definitely follow you to the basement, and yes, they can do it as quickly as in one night. If your ceilings are 10 feet high, the basement's only 20 feet away "as the bedbug crawls."
2a) I don't have a dog so I'm not up on this one.
3) To feed, bedbugs are drawn to a mammal by the heat of the blood coursing through the veins and the CO2 exhaled. (There may be other factors too). But in preference for harbourages, I find that bedbugs--for living, not for eating--prefer the same temperatures humans do. So when it got very cold, and the lower floors of my apartment building were much colder than the top floor, I suddenly had a large increase in the number of bites I got per night as the bedbugs moved up to our floor for the warmth, even though there were hosts on the colder, lower floors. You might be more likely to find bedbug harbourages in temperate rooms in the house rather than cold rooms, though the heat does not draw them to feed. I don't think a space heater, as you describe, would draw them per se.
4) Can you use steel mixing bowls? They are big. I put vaseline on my wooden bed legs. That moisturizes the wood and you can wipe it off anytime you want.
5) I would assume eggs and bedbugs could be anywhere inside any type of vacuum at some point. I don't know if they'd stay there permanently.
6) Bedbugs can go for months without eating so if you go away for a few days and you do not live in an attached house, they will just wait. When you first come back, they will be extra hungry and you might see them during the daytime. I think they can detect a warm, breathing human from quite a few feet away and would not go around the house looking for you while you were gone since they wouldn't detect that a meal was there. As for migrating--they can go 100 feet or more for a meal and then back to their original harbourage. That covers most of a single family house. But they prefer to stay close to the meal and will move if the meal moves.
7) I heard a ThermaPure treatment could be several thousand dollars for a single family home, but I am not an expert. It must be somewhat cost effective as compared to PCOs (who can charge $200-400 per room) or people wouldn't consider ThermaPure. ThermaPure doesn't have to be repeated (kills the eggs!) and the company does all the prep that is necessary (protecting electronics, etc.) It doesn't use pesticides if that is concern with the baby. Hotels are using it because the treated rooms can be ready for someone to move back into right away. That is an advantage with a family, too. When you have a pesticide treatment you have to launder everything; bag, bag, bag; and take things out of all closets and drawers and pull furniture away from the walls (not with ThermaPure), and you might have to stay away from the house overnight depending on the chemicals used...all that work each time for three successive treatments. I read some ThermaPure treatments are guaranteed. PCOs can't guarantee their work. ThermaPure will also kill mold and other insects. I have no connection to ThermaPure in anyway and am just telling you what I have read as a lay person. I haven't read about structural fumigation but when I was in Hawaii they used it a lot on homes and buildings. It's quite a big job and very costly. -
pleasehelp
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Joined: Oct '07
Posts: 301
Posted 1 year ago
Sat Dec 15 2007 17:42:13
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Nobugs - that's good news on vikane pricing - what would you estimate the range to be? 'keets - I wasn't aware of ThermaPure - it sounds like a great option... Do you know if it's available in most areas?
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I just want to say that in order for bed isolation to succeed, the bed frame itself must be free of bugs and eggs.
This is often hard to accomplish with simpler metal frames, let alone an intricate wood bed. So, before you do anything that might ruin your bed, consider whether you have actually de-bugged it first, otherwise it may not actually serve your purpose.
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IWearTheScarletBB
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Joined: Dec '07
Posts: 20
Posted 1 year ago
Sat Dec 15 2007 21:12:46
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Thanks for all of the info! I have actually felt a little better since actually being able to talk about this.
We have carefully gone over the bed with the PCO spraying the cracks, so hopefully it is BB free...four nights of my husband sleeping there and no blood stains...but I'm guessing the stains don't come back that soon...so, I'm not holding my breath on the BB free part...but, at least we will have some info to provide to PCO if it ends up not being free.
Bought small buckets to hold the legs of the bed. Bought both 91% alcohol and a gallon of mineral oil (luckily when I asked the person at Walmart where the mineral oil was at, she told me that you can buy it in gallons at any place that deals with horses...so, off to Tractor Supply we went...wonder what she thought we needed the large amount of oil for! :) Anyway, I would rather do the alcohol since it will kill them, but am now wondering if the strong smell of the alcohol will repel them...anybody tried this before? I am also guessing that the mineral oil doesn't kill them, but makes it too slick to climb...but, please let me know if I am wrong on this too.
This will be my first night sleeping in the bed...I'm taking the plunge and moving out of my basement refuge. I know I ignorantly slept with the BB for months, but now that I know, this is going to be tough. I think I may bundle up and not use blankets...afraid that I will create a ladder if a corner were to drop off the edge.
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pleasehelp,
I can't give a range, and I am sure it would vary based on location. But I have seen wildly different numbers mentioned here. And the highest prices I think came from someone who had priced it more than a year ago. It's becoming more common. Anyone getting a quote should shop around carefully. Our FAQ on Vikane (FAQs link below) links to Dow's info on the treatment, and they might be a source of people licensed to do this in a particular area.
It must be done professionally and perfectly. It does not appear to be foolproof (at least due to human error) so I would want not only a guarantee in writing, but an explanation of what would constitute proof if the customer claims they are back.
We have seen with traditional treatments that some PCOs will want to see a bed bug. If the same is required of someone going through vikane, then the guarantee must last long enough for one to be sighted. Since they can build up for months and months before being seen, and since the company can always argue the person was reinfested from outside (which is always possible and hard to disprove), I am skeptical about Vikane at this time.
It does not seem to be available anywhere. It also is not generally a good solution for apartment dwellers. Few landlords would do a whole building, and individual units can't, apparently, be done.
The exception is that some companies are combining traditional pesticide work in the home with the vikaning of belongings (I have heard Bed Bugs and Beyond is doing this, but I have not heard any feedback and have no connection with them).
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