Risks vs benefits of steamcleaning new condo « Got Bed Bugs? Bedbugger Forums

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Risks vs benefits of steamcleaning new condo

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bedwarrior

junior member
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 56

Posted 3 months ago
Mon Nov 23 2009 19:13:17
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My wife and I are about to move into a new condo amidst recovery from BB eradication in our present apartment and the standard, extreme measures to avoid transporting any survivors to the new place. There is no evidence that the condo we bought ever had any bedbug or other pest issue, but the remote possibility has caused us to arrange for a professional steamcleaning of the parts of the new, still unoccupied condo that have w/w carpet, and we plan to use Murphy's oil on the hardwood floors. Is the risk that the professional steamcleaning people, and their equipment, could deposit BB's or eggs greater than the risk of not doing such a precautionary treatment?

(This dilemma would also apply to car treatment, which we are also planning them to do on the same day.)
cilecto

oldtimer
Joined: Aug '08
Posts: 895

Posted 3 months ago
Tue Nov 24 2009 7:54:04
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Is it furnished? What are you planning to steam?

As you've noted, there's a risk of people and equipment being in your home (I'm no expert as to how serious this is), but you've had this going on for months (carpenters, painters, plumbers, etc.) so the additional risk is incremental (IMHO).

Perhaps you can vacuum, purchase a pro steamer and do it yourself (and caulk to boot)?
parakeets

oldtimer
Joined: Mar '07
Posts: 913

Posted 3 months ago
Tue Nov 24 2009 10:05:20
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If you haven't moved in yet, it might be good to get a bedbug sniffing dog to inspect to make sure there are no bedbugs before you move in and then after you move your things in. Then you have a paper trail that you did not get bedbugs from your unit or bring them in.

I'm not sure what steaming would do preventively. If there are no bedbugs in the condo building, steaming is not necessary. If there are bedbugs, steaming won't be enough. Caulking is a great idea no matter what.

As for your concern that workers coming into your unit to do work might bring in bedbugs....I'd be more concerned that neighbors in the building might already have them and don't know it or haven't dealt with it, or that neighbors are indulging in higher risk behaviors (such as dumpster diving, buying used furniture, renting furniture, staying at motels without taking precautions, working at a job where they are exposed to bedbugs).... I may be wrong, but having lived with bedbugs for years in a building that keeps getting re-infested, I think the risk might be greater from how other people who live in your condo building deal with bedbugs and are aware and preventive and proactive than from people who occasionally come in to work in your unit.

Hopefully you will feel safe and comfortable when you move in. That's a bad thing about bedbugs--we don't even feel safe in our own homes anymore.
bedwarrior

junior member
Joined: Oct '09
Posts: 56

Posted 3 months ago
Tue Nov 24 2009 12:19:21
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Good ideas... I think I may just have them steam clean our cars. We do have a Whitewing steamer so it kind of sounds as if we should just steam our own carpet. I don't see how we will be able to reach our remotely parked cars though, with the whitewing, so that may require the steamers portable unit.