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NWR: anyone have experience with bed bugs?

We live in a 3-unit multi-family house, and one of our downstairs neighbors has a confirmed bed bug infestation. Fortunately they haven't gotten into our unit, or the third unit in the house yet - we have had no bites and the pest management people came and did a thorough inspection and did not find any. Because the bugs CAN travel between units, especially when the affected unit is treated, the recommendation is to treat the whole building (which makes sense). They are proposing a "preventative spray" of all the baseboards in our apartment, and then my neighbors get three treatments including a "fogging" followed by two "spraying" treatments over subsequent weeks.

Anyway, my H has done a lot of research and has a TON of doubts about the strategy being proposed by the pest management company. He's asked our landlord to get a second opinion from another company. We have cats AND we've been actively TTC, which makes me doubly concerned about bringing toxic chemicals into our apartment without evidence that it will be beneficial.

So I was wondering if any of you have had bed bug problems, and if so, do you recall the protocol did the pest management people use? Did it work? Any other advice?

Re: NWR: anyone have experience with bed bugs?

  • lyndausvilyndausvi mod
    First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited August 2015
    @ohmrs2014 just had them at her place.






    What differentiates an average host and a great host is anticipating unexpressed needs and wants of their guests.  Just because the want/need is not expressed, doesn't mean it wouldn't be appreciated. 
  • I lived in an apartment building where the apt next to mine had an infestation...

    They came in and professionally treated that apartment only, and I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned my own.  Lots of vacuuming- especially along the wall joints, edges of carpets/furniture legs, etc.  I also used the highest potency rubbing alcohol (90% i believe?) and sprayed it everywhere- that's offered up as a treatment option a lot.

    I was spared- I hope the same for you- good luck
  • We had them... Rather, I think our apartment building did and they kept travelling into our apartment. I'm not sure where you live but it's usually the norm to spray not only the unit infected by all surrounding units -- So spraying yours DOES make sense. They did that once for us, and then we found bugs several more times. They only sprayed all the units the first time, then they just kept spraying ours. Those little shits kept coming back. We don't know exactly where they came from, but there was a unit next to ours being worked on, and we think the construction was driving them over to us.

    Long story short, we ended up breaking our lease and moving as the management company was became very unresponsive. It was an absolute nightmare - I got bit a lot and became very anxious and sleep-deprived. I'm not sure that I would decline the preventative spray, but if you do I recommend at least buying protective covers for your mattresses and pillows. Replacing mattresses sucks!

    Good luck! I really hope they don't get into your unit.. This literally happened to H and I's first apartment, it was truly a test of how well we dealt with a stressful situation!
  • Definitely invest in some mattress covers. They are specifically made for keeping those critters out of your mattress.

    I work in a position that encounters bed bugs daily. Thus far, I have been able to avoid them. If I come from somewhere that I know has a bed bug infestation, I will take my clothes off in the garage and take them immediately to the dryer and put it on the highest setting. Also, bagging stuffed animals, etc in black plastic air-tight bags. They have to sit in them for a long time though.

    Those suckers are pretty persistent. One of my clients got rid of theirs by getting sprayed, constant vacuuming, and wiping stuff down with ammonia.

  • I'm not against the spray... I'm all for it if it will keep the bugs out! However, I want to make sure they are using the correct procedures. My H's concerns are about the specific methods proposed (fogging, aerosols, etc). I wouldn't want them to keep coming back and re-treating the apartment over and over again, each time exposing us to another dose of pesticide. So, I was wondering if anyone had experience with something that either did or didn't work.
  • I have no first hand experience, but I thought high heat was the only way to kill them?
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