This is a scenario home-owners dread, and renters dread even more. Bed bugs are hard to get rid of, and harder to get rid of in apartments. This is because apartments are adjoining buildings that bed bugs can crawl freely throughout.
Cracks in between walls allow bed bugs to wander from apartment to apartment, and infestations can be difficult to combat unless the entire apartment complex is treated. Here’s what to do if you find bed bugs in your rental, as well as some ways to prevent them from coming back to bite you in the future.
Contact Your Landlord
Contact your landlord and do this right away. The longer you wait to inform the property owners, the longer you will be stuck with bed bugs in your residence. It is easier to fight infestations right away. Nip the problem in the bud and you will save both time and money. Your landlord is required by law to hire a licensed pest controller to examine and exterminate the bed bug infested apartment.Inform Other Tenants about Bed Bugs
If you live in an apartment, you should tell the other tenants about bed bugs and take action immediately. Once bed bugs is in a apartment, they can go to the other rooms through the walls. So, your other tenants might have bed bugs too.Tell them to take steps to prevent and kill bed bugs. It’s no use if you are the only one washing the cloths and cleaning your mattress. Bed bugs can come back to you from the other rooms. As long are there human in the apartment, bed bugs can easily feed themselves and multiply. You, the landlord and other tenants must take action at the same time, otherwise the whole apartment will be infested with bed bugs in a very short time.
Cooperate with Your Exterminator to Fight Bed Bugs
This is probably the most important advice that can be given about dealing with bed bugs in your rental home. There are some things you can do around the rental to prepare for the arrival of the exterminator, as well as some ways to get the best results when having your home treated:- Remove all Clutter from the Floor
One thing that you must do while waiting for the exterminator to arrive is to first remove all clutter from the floor, and all items from underneath the bed, as these are places where bed bugs like to hide.
Then proceed to launder all clothing and bed linens on a high heat setting, and seal them in plastic bags until the home has been rid of the bed bugs entirely.
- Disassemble Your Bed Frame
Disassemble your bed frame. Take drawers out of dressers and night stands, and flip all of your furniture upside down. This will make for a quicker and easier inspection by the exterminator.
- Vacuum Thoroughly
Vacuum the entirety of your rental home as you normally would, then use the suction wand attached to your vacuum to deep clean cracks and crevices where bed bugs may reside.
Pay attention to areas such as your mattress and its underside, fabric curtains, linens, sofas and sofa cushions, cracks in the walls or floors, behind baseboards and molding, and the wall behind the headboard of your bed.
After Pest Control Has Left, What You Should Do
- Once the home has been treated by a pest controller, do not attempt to vacuum or clean the home in any way again. This could disturb chemicals and interfere with their ability to fight off the bed bugs.
- Do not attempt to use your own pesticides. This is another way that the effects of treatments already applied could be weakened, resulting in a prolonged effort to get rid of the bed bugs.
- Do not attempt to use a bug bomb. These do not work for the treatment of bed bugs, and actually spread them.
Bed Bug Rental Prevention Tips:
- Caulk and seal any spaces around plumbing and holes for electrical wiring, as well as cracks in crown molding and baseboards where bed bugs could potentially hide.
- Avoid purchasing used furniture or accepting hand me down furniture or personal items.
- Immediately launder used clothing and dry it on a medium high to high heat setting.
- Vacuum regularly and wash bedding on a high heat cycle regularly.
- When traveling, keep luggage elevated and off of the floor.
The information about bed bugs that I have researched, collected is to help the growing numbers of bed bug sufferers.