Community Chat

[mima]

Please read the entire post before jumping in with "get an exterminator". If I for sure had them, I would get an exterminator.

We are buying a house that has not been lived in for a year even though it had all the furniture left from the previous owner.

The owner moved out and into a house with someone else and left everything. At the time he moved out he didn't have bedbugs. Well now the owner that lives in a different house DOES have bedbugs.

The owner at his current house is not getting an exterminator, but is fighting them himself. So that means to me he probably still has bedbugs.

This wouldn't be an issue, except the owner of the house we are buying has been in and out of the house we are buying and moving everything out before we take possession.

I'm thinking the house most likely does not have bedbugs currently, but I think I need to do precautionary things to prevent getting infested. I'm scared the bed bugs could drop off the guy why he is over there getting his stuff out. We are going to remove all carpets when we get the house.

Do you have any experience in this? What would you do? Any products (bug killers) you recommend?

[apple1964]

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[SuiGeneris]

Will bed bugs travel on people?

Bed bugs may hitch a ride on clothing that people wear, but they are not like lice and will not travel directly on a person.

The thing that makes bed bugs so challenging for detection and control is they have excellent abilities to squeeze into cracks and crevices and will often go unnoticed by the casual observer.

The majority of bugs will cluster around areas where people will rest, but a few of them will move off to hide in more remote areas. They shun light and if they are disturbed or if they suddenly feel exposed, they will attempt to move to quieter (and more remote) areas. It is this cryptic behavior that creates the challenge to dis-infesting articles that have been in areas of bed bug activity.

Link: http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/bed-bugs-and-traveling/

[KYToby]

Inspections can be done for bed bugs. A lot of hotels use these services.

Your best bet is to actually call an exterminator (maybe call several) and ask about getting an inspection. A couple of hundred dollars now to inspect and treat (if needed) would save you stress and expense in the end.

[CatsyCline]

you really cannot know if there are no bedbugs there. the owner could bring suitcases over to pack stuff up on. bedbugs hide in all sorts of crevices and they can be carried on clothing items, handbags, suitcases. They can hide in small electric appliances like coffeemakers and blenders. they can go for months without biting a host

ask the owner pay for a heat treatment, as a precaution, after the carpeting is removed. Heat treatments can kill most infestations and it is simpler to do this when a home is empty.

[Hooty]

Ever since this became a problem, I have "bed bug" phobia!

I will not go anywhere where I have to stay in a hotel/motel, and I have also thought about this in regard to buying a house!

[SuiGeneris]

On 4/8/2015 ashleigh dupray said:

you really cannot know if there are no bedbugs there. the owner could bring suitcases over to pack stuff up on. bedbugs hide in all sorts of crevices and they can be carried on clothing items, handbags, suitcases. They can hide in small electric appliances like coffeemakers and blenders. they can go for months without biting a host

ask the owner pay for a heat treatment, as a precaution, after the carpeting is removed. Heat treatments can kill most infestations and it is simpler to do this when a home is empty.

According to most websites I visited, "bed bugs can go without feeding for 20 to 400 days, depending on temperature and humidity. Older stages of nymphs can survive longer without feeding than younger ones, and adults have survived without food [blood] for more than 400 days in the laboratory at low temperatures. Adults may live up to one year or more, and there can be up to four successive generations per year."

[KLevineFan]

I speak from experience, get an exterminator to look at the place. No OTC spray really kills them, the commercials lie. I had them for months, have no idea how I got them (had lived in my apt 40 yrs at that time, now 46+) & I slept on a cot in the middle of the living room for months afterwards before I could bring myself to sleep in my bed again (had to get all new bed, bedding). It even gave me gray hair. It was a hellish 6 mo. & I examine hotel rooms w/a magnifying glass now, just in case. It cost me about $150 incl a spray he did recommend for the few days following his visit. Never saw them again after that.

[mima]

Thank you so much for replying. I think an inspection by an exterminator after everything is out is a good idea. My DH helped the owner yesterday clean some stuff out. He is disabled and if he doesn't help him, we most likely will have to clean it out ourselves after buying. Truly, most of it is garbage. The owner is paying for one of those huge dumpsters to put stuff in to be hauled off.

I made DH take ALL his clothes off before entering the house last night. We do live in the country where no one would see him. LOL

[jewelfool]

We just recently had them in a room at one of our fire stations and after a couple of months of treatment from a professional, we actually had to demolish the room. They were in the woodwork and walls. There is no easy fix.