HELP!! OUR APARTMENT IS BED BUG INFESTED!!!! (2 Viewers)

[Tony Bensley]

My motive for posting this on HTF is twofold. Since being informed by a pest control consultant regarding our having a bedbug infestation earlier this month, I’m now living in fear of losing my video collection and electronics! Trust me when I say bedbugs are an absolute bane for Video collectors and Home Theater enthusiasts!! As it stands, I have already thrown out many of my books, which can also tie in with video collecting! While we've already had one fumigation treatment with another two expected in the coming weeks, what I've read about how extremely difficult it is to eradicate these blood sucking vampires of the insect kingdom's infestations isn't exactly encouraging!

Related places where bedbugs are known to hide include, but are not limited to the following:
- Cardboard (IE. Outer DVD casings; Digibook style casings; etc.)
- Books (IE. Between pages; Hardcover book bindings!)
- Electronics (IE. PC and Laptop vents, as bedbugs like the constant warm air; Also TVs, with the older CRT monitor style being a likelier target than the newer flat screen style TVs, as the former emits heat!)

An article about Bed Bugs In Electronics:

Can Bed Bugs Live in TVs & Other Electronics? How to get them out | Pestbugs

Some of the rare places that people forget to inspect when looking for bed bugs are in the electronic appliances. So many cases of bed bugs in electronics have been reported and that is why research is being done on effective ways of eliminating bed bugs from electronics. This article discusses...

pestbugs.org

Here is an example of what a Bed Bug looks like for those who might need to know!

Has anyone else on here ever had to deal with bed bug infestation? I seriously hope not, but if so, I'd really appreciate hearing about how others have dealt with (Or are dealing with) this horrid experience, especially in terms of saving their physical video collections and/or electronics! It also occurs to me that this could be an additional selling point for going the digital download route, especially as things like bed bug infestations have become increasingly common in the last couple of decades.

CHEERS!

 

[jayembee]

Sorry to hear about your issue, Tony. Fortunately (fingers crossed) my wife and I haven't had to deal with them. So far, our only vermin issue has been mice (for the record, we're in our own house, not an apartment).

 

[Tony Bensley]

Sorry to hear about your issue, Tony. Fortunately (fingers crossed) my wife and I haven't had to deal with them. So far, our only vermin issue has been mice (for the record, we're in our own house, not an apartment).

Mice are know to chew through wiring, so I'm hoping those were eradicated from your home!

Right now, my main concern is the recently installed bulkheads to allow for central air conditioning. While the pest control consultant told me our bedbugs didn't likely enter through our new vent system, I've read that they absolutely can and do spread in apartment buildings through vents, especially if they network throughout the building. Mind you, in the case of our building, each apartment has it's own contained air vent setup, so at worst, they would have entered from one of our two outside vents, if that was how they entered. The baseboards were cited as the most likely entry points.

CHEERS!

 

[Rodney]

This thread should probably be moved to After Hours Lounge, unless Tony is starring in a TV show.

 

[jayembee]

Mice are know to chew through wiring, so I'm hoping those were eradicated from your home!

We did manage to get rid of them. That was a couple of years ago. We're always on the lookout for signs that they've returned, but haven't found anything obvious.

 

[jayembee]

This thread should probably be moved to After Hours Lounge, unless Tony is starring in a TV show.

I confess that I never look to see what forum a thread is in.

 

[Tony Bensley]

This thread should probably be moved to After Hours Lounge, unless Tony is starring in a TV show.

Sorry, I could only remember the After Hours part. Never seen that show for it to even register to me, by the way!

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

We did manage to get rid of them. That was a couple of years ago. We're always on the lookout for signs that they've returned, but haven't found anything obvious.

That's great to hear! From what I've read, bed bugs typically reappear within 3 months or less if the treatments aren't successful. Hoping the series of fumigations does the same for us, plus our son is getting a specialized bed bug treatment through one of his jobs, that he'll be applying this Saturday, after which he'll be taking me and the Mrs out for the day while it sets. Here's hoping this 1-2 combo does the trick!

CHEERS!

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I don’t know if this will be helpful but about a decade ago, my mom’s home picked up some bedbugs - it probably came from the local theater, which we found out after the fact had an infestation - they probably traveled on our clothes from the auditorium seats to home.

After investigating several options, my mom chose an exterminator that used a heat treatment rather than chemicals. Apparently the little critters can’t survive in temperatures beyond 120 degrees or something like that, so the exterminator brought in a bunch of heaters and basically baked the house for a day. The advantage of this approach I’m told is that the heat gets to places bug spray doesn’t, and there’s no chemical residue to deal with. The exterminators gave a list of items that could be damaged from the heat but we didn’t have to remove very many things from the house. As far as I know, the single treatment did the trick, and there haven’t been any further issues in the following years.

 

[Todd Erwin]

We currently have an issue with Springtails in our master bedroom and the adjoining but not connected master bath. They look like book lice but are mostly harmless to humans and mammals. They are just annoying. We think they came in through the windows prior to the heatwave, as we used to shut off the A/C at night and opened the windows when it used to drop to the low 60s shortly after sunset. Lately, we are lucky if it drops below 70 by midnight.

Similar to bed bugs and book lice, the easiest way to get rid of them when they have infested books or similar materials is to place those items in a ziploc bag, squeeze out any air, and place them in the freezer for a few days. After removing them, open the bag and vacuum the items really good. Supposedly, a UV light will also kill them, so we have one on order and that should arrive this week. The only downside is that we will have to keep the door closed during the day when the UV lamp is on to keep the cats out.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Buy some Harris Bed Bug Spray. Spray your entire mattress and box spring and maybe go on a 1 day trip or sleep on the floor to let it set in. Also you might want to try some bed bug dust to make sure they don't come back. Anyway after they're sprayed, buy a cheap vinyl cover for your box spring and zip it tight. Don't bother dumping the mattress unless its really far gone. It won't help and they'll just come right back.

 

[Tony Bensley]

We currently have an issue with Springtails in our master bedroom and the adjoining but not connected master bath. They look like book lice but are mostly harmless to humans and mammals. They are just annoying. We think they came in through the windows prior to the heatwave, as we used to shut off the A/C at night and opened the windows when it used to drop to the low 60s shortly after sunset. Lately, we are lucky if it drops below 70 by midnight.

Similar to bed bugs and book lice, the easiest way to get rid of them when they have infested books or similar materials is to place those items in a ziploc bag, squeeze out any air, and place them in the freezer for a few days. After removing them, open the bag and vacuum the items really good. Supposedly, a UV light will also kill them, so we have one on order and that should arrive this week. The only downside is that we will have to keep the door closed during the day when the UV lamp is on to keep the cats out.

The main unfortunate difference with bedbugs is they can survive in a sealed environment for over a year, which makes their infestations that much harder to kill off. I've read that placing Nuvan Prostrips inside sealed bags with bedbug contaminated items will kill them, and they're apparently also good at killing bedbugs and bedbug eggs that get inside electronic items that can't be sprayed with traditional insecticides and may be destroyed by heat treatments. They work by using controlled release technology to slowly diffuse a deep penetrating vapor into many hard to treat areas.

The main downside to Nuvan Prostrips is they're not cheap:

Nuvan Prostrips - Google Search

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

As of this morning, I'm still seeing the occasional bedbug on my bed, so obviously we will be in need of at least one follow up treatment! I will be following up on this come Monday, if we don't hear anything from the pest control company or property management before then. Far as I know, our son will also be using a specialized bedbug treatment this Saturday, but from what I've read regarding bedbugs, if you think you're doing too much, you're not doing enough!

CHEERS!

 

[Malcolm R]

If that doesn't work, I'd seek out the heat treatment option Josh described above. I've also heard of that being used before.

 

[Tony Bensley]

If that doesn't work, I'd seek out the heat treatment option Josh described above. I've also heard of that being used before.

I'm not sure if that would be viable for an apartment building, and property management would have to be willing to spring for the expense! It's definitely a treatment option I'd lean heavily towards if price point and/or circumstance weren't an issue!

Worst case scenario, we may have to consider periodic steam cleaning EVERYWHERE in the apartment as a viable long term option to keep any bedbug population under control! I really hope we don't have to go there!!

Also, the longer this issue drags on, the more pressure I'll be getting to throw out stuff from the Mrs, which was something I was counting on getting some relief from with our Apartment reno finally winding down after 14 months, but nooooo!!!!

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Far as I know, our son will also be using a specialized bedbug treatment this Saturday, but from what I've read regarding bedbugs, if you think you're doing too much, you're not doing enough!

As it turns out, the bedbug stuff he ordered only works when spraying bedbugs directly, so the followup pest control appointments remain it for now. On that end, I'll be making inquiries come Monday if we haven't heard anything by then regarding that!

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

We're scheduled to get our 2nd of three fumigation treatments this Friday at 9 AM.

The pest control guy assured us the bed bugs WILL be gone when they're done! I hope he's right!! He did also confirm the bed bug issue isn't widespread in our building.

Nothing like feeling singled out! We've been reduced to bagging and sealing clean bath towels, FFS!!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Found this tidbit on Google:

Can bed bugs survive on animal blood?

Bed bugs are known to actively and directly suck blood from their hosts' bodies. Bed bugs are well-known to eat human blood, thus the notorious bed bug bites. However, bed bugs also feed on other warm-blooded animals such as cats, dogs, rodents, birds, and even bats. Oct 12, 2022

In short, if heaven forbid, you ever get slammed with bed bug infestation, your pets can also be targets, and/or bed bugs could be feeding off of other unwanted guests in your home!

 

[Tony Bensley]

UPDATE: With 6 days to go before our scheduled 3rd and final bed bug treatment, the last bed bug sighting on my bed was 2 weeks ago today, which was the day after our 2nd treatment!

When I spoke with a pest control person yesterday about setting up our final treatment, he confirmed the numbers were way down from before the first treatment. Barring any further sightings, we should be able to resume "normal" living 3 weeks following the last treatment, which will be September 8.

Our summer has been a bit of a write off, what with the Mrs also STILL waiting for a medical diagnosis, and final touch up reno work for our apartment being on pause with our bed bug issue!

This week, I've been paring down on the contents of our PLASTIC totes that have been in our storage locker since months before our infestation; thus I don't have to wait until our September 8 all clear to get rid of them! Only 2 of the 5 totes still contain items, one of them being some Christmas decorations. It also has our son's area rug, and two bags of clothes I plan to take down to a Value Village and Canadian Diabetes donation bin soon as I can get a ride! Space is at a premium and at some point, new flooring still needs to be installed in our building, including the storage rooms, during which any remaining contents in our storage locker will have to be temporarily moved to our apartment; hopefully not BEFORE September 8!

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Sadly, our son is STILL getting bit! I thought that had stopped, UGH!!

I left a message with pest control to let them know!