I'm already itchy just typing this.
May 17, 2011 8:45 AM
My downstairs neighbor just told me he's been finding itchy bites on his legs, which he and his doctor believe are from bedbugs. What now?
We live in an old shared house that the previous owner split into a few apartments. The walls and wiring are more shared than would be the case in a real apartment building, there are places where I can see light from the floor below coming up through wiring or floor gaps. Our house is also attached to the house next door. There are no indoor/outdoor pets in either house, so it seems unlikely the bites are from fleas. The neighbor in question has a lot of parties and visitors, so there are certainly lots of ways bugs could have gotten into the house, not to mention public vectors like transit vehicles, movie seats, etc.
My apartment is directly above his and we share a laundry room and some hallway space.
So far, I've asked him to look for bedbug stains or actual bugs in his bed, but at this point if his doctor's convinced, I'm inclined to believe that's the issue.
What should I do next?
If his apartment gets fumigated, how much will those chemicals travel? I'd rather not live in a toxic space, plus I have a cat who I worry about poisoning.
If his apartment needs fumigation, do we need to do the whole house anyway? Will the bugs just walk up through the walls and find my apartment if we don't bomb the whole house?
Advise me, please! I'm already getting itchy.
We live in an old shared house that the previous owner split into a few apartments. The walls and wiring are more shared than would be the case in a real apartment building, there are places where I can see light from the floor below coming up through wiring or floor gaps. Our house is also attached to the house next door. There are no indoor/outdoor pets in either house, so it seems unlikely the bites are from fleas. The neighbor in question has a lot of parties and visitors, so there are certainly lots of ways bugs could have gotten into the house, not to mention public vectors like transit vehicles, movie seats, etc.
My apartment is directly above his and we share a laundry room and some hallway space.
So far, I've asked him to look for bedbug stains or actual bugs in his bed, but at this point if his doctor's convinced, I'm inclined to believe that's the issue.
What should I do next?
If his apartment gets fumigated, how much will those chemicals travel? I'd rather not live in a toxic space, plus I have a cat who I worry about poisoning.
If his apartment needs fumigation, do we need to do the whole house anyway? Will the bugs just walk up through the walls and find my apartment if we don't bomb the whole house?
Advise me, please! I'm already getting itchy.
Bedbug news is never good - if he has bedbugs then you have bedbugs and you'll need to do the whole house. Your stuff may not be full of bedbugs yet, but they do travel and to get the house cleared your stuff will need to be treated too.
Don't "bomb" the house. Bedbugs are hard to get rid of and need to be treated in really specific ways by someone who knows what they're doing, not someone with no bedbug experience or an amateur. The forums will help.
But first - find your bugs! Don't start treating without knowing what you're dealing with. Bedbug bites can't usually be identified just by looking, even by doctors- I had a lot of 'bedbug' bites last summer which were (thank god) fleas from a housemate's animals, and there are lots of other bedbug mimics. Again, the forums linked above will help with ideas for finding the bugs.
If you do have bedbugs, read up on treating your possessions - people tend (as far as I can tell from last summer's desperate reading and pest-control-guy visits) either to keep stuff they should toss and reinfect themselves or toss stuff that they care about that is easy to treat.
Good luck!
posted by Frowner at 9:08 AM on May 17, 2011
Don't "bomb" the house. Bedbugs are hard to get rid of and need to be treated in really specific ways by someone who knows what they're doing, not someone with no bedbug experience or an amateur. The forums will help.
But first - find your bugs! Don't start treating without knowing what you're dealing with. Bedbug bites can't usually be identified just by looking, even by doctors- I had a lot of 'bedbug' bites last summer which were (thank god) fleas from a housemate's animals, and there are lots of other bedbug mimics. Again, the forums linked above will help with ideas for finding the bugs.
If you do have bedbugs, read up on treating your possessions - people tend (as far as I can tell from last summer's desperate reading and pest-control-guy visits) either to keep stuff they should toss and reinfect themselves or toss stuff that they care about that is easy to treat.
Good luck!
posted by Frowner at 9:08 AM on May 17, 2011
In a way you're lucky, as your roommate is acting as a host for the bedbugs - as long as he's there, they shouldn't stray far from his room. However, you probably do not want to share laundry space with him anymore.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:11 AM on May 17, 2011
posted by KokuRyu at 9:11 AM on May 17, 2011
Oh, leg bites suggest fleas to me - bedbugs certainly do bite your legs, but they tend to bite exposed skin when you're lying down, so the bites are often spread out more. Fleas often live on the floor and hop up to bite you.
posted by Frowner at 9:12 AM on May 17, 2011
posted by Frowner at 9:12 AM on May 17, 2011
Nthing that its fleas, no bedbugs. If there are no pets or rats, there are mice, which are guaranteed to be living in any old house.
posted by beagle at 9:29 AM on May 17, 2011
posted by beagle at 9:29 AM on May 17, 2011
Actually, I'm going to disagree with those above, and say that bites only on legs can, unfortunately, be bedbugs. We discovered we had bedbugs in January. I only got a single bite on my arms, but several on my ankles and calves, while my partner got no bites at all. (Or rather, he probably got bitten, but just didn't react to them.) We had visual confirmation of bedbugs; they're quite distinctive once you know what they look like. Thank God, our first round of spraying seemed to cure the problem, though our landlord insisted on two more, just to be on the safe side.
If your neighbor has them, you DO want the exterminator to visit you as well. Only an exterminator can really be sure that it's bedbugs that are your problem -- and, unlike with roaches and mice etc., only an exterminator has the weapons to stop these plagues.
Consider the fact that you can catch these critters from trying on clothes at Macy's or going to the movie theater. You certainly stand a great chance of catching them from using the same laundry machine or sharing a wall with an infested apartment. They will get into your place no matter how good a housekeeper you are. Normal dryers don't get hot enough to kill them. Your clothing needs to be sanitized in an industrial, laundromat-style dryer for 60 minutes at the highest-heat setting. (Then you'll then want to put all your clothes inside air-tight plastic (think zip-lock like) bags to make sure the clothing remains sterile during the treatment period.)
The poison used for bedbugs is toxic to small animals. You'll probably want to kennel your pets for a few days after treatment to be on the safe side. Also, the other bad news: the exterminator usually needs multiple visits for bedbugs -- three times is apparently the norm.
Sorry to hear you've got these in your house. It's a pain in the arse to get rid of them. (But so nice once you do!) (Um, knock on wood again...)
posted by artemisia at 9:57 AM on May 17, 2011
If your neighbor has them, you DO want the exterminator to visit you as well. Only an exterminator can really be sure that it's bedbugs that are your problem -- and, unlike with roaches and mice etc., only an exterminator has the weapons to stop these plagues.
Consider the fact that you can catch these critters from trying on clothes at Macy's or going to the movie theater. You certainly stand a great chance of catching them from using the same laundry machine or sharing a wall with an infested apartment. They will get into your place no matter how good a housekeeper you are. Normal dryers don't get hot enough to kill them. Your clothing needs to be sanitized in an industrial, laundromat-style dryer for 60 minutes at the highest-heat setting. (Then you'll then want to put all your clothes inside air-tight plastic (think zip-lock like) bags to make sure the clothing remains sterile during the treatment period.)
The poison used for bedbugs is toxic to small animals. You'll probably want to kennel your pets for a few days after treatment to be on the safe side. Also, the other bad news: the exterminator usually needs multiple visits for bedbugs -- three times is apparently the norm.
Sorry to hear you've got these in your house. It's a pain in the arse to get rid of them. (But so nice once you do!) (Um, knock on wood again...)
posted by artemisia at 9:57 AM on May 17, 2011
It's hard to be sure that you have a bed bug infestation just from looking at the bites - different people have very different reactions to bed bug bites - some can't tell they've been bitten at all, others have dramatic skin reactions at each bite site.
Aside from looking from the telltale stains on sheets/mattresses, you can also build a do-it-yourself bedbug trap (PDF) to confirm if they're present in your neighbor's apartment.
posted by de void at 10:41 AM on May 17, 2011
Aside from looking from the telltale stains on sheets/mattresses, you can also build a do-it-yourself bedbug trap (PDF) to confirm if they're present in your neighbor's apartment.
posted by de void at 10:41 AM on May 17, 2011
(Normal dryers don't get hot enough to kill them. Your clothing needs to be sanitized in an industrial, laundromat-style dryer for 60 minutes at the highest-heat setting)
Just a point of clarification - home dryers, at least in the US, do generally get hot enough to kill bedbugs, as you can see here. I actually checked my dryer with a cooking thermometer to make sure it got up to at least 120 degrees, which it did. You can "dry" clothes that are already dry if you need to sanitize them. You can also buy a suitcase-sized device called a Packtite which will heat things like books, shoes and other items that can't go in the dryer.)
posted by Frowner at 11:11 AM on May 17, 2011
Just a point of clarification - home dryers, at least in the US, do generally get hot enough to kill bedbugs, as you can see here. I actually checked my dryer with a cooking thermometer to make sure it got up to at least 120 degrees, which it did. You can "dry" clothes that are already dry if you need to sanitize them. You can also buy a suitcase-sized device called a Packtite which will heat things like books, shoes and other items that can't go in the dryer.)
posted by Frowner at 11:11 AM on May 17, 2011
Just a point of clarification - home dryers, at least in the US, do generally get hot enough to kill bedbugs, as you can see here.
I got all that info about home dryers vs laundromat dryers from the exterminator. I guess it just depends on which source you choose to credit!
posted by artemisia at 12:15 PM on May 17, 2011
I got all that info about home dryers vs laundromat dryers from the exterminator. I guess it just depends on which source you choose to credit!
posted by artemisia at 12:15 PM on May 17, 2011
Just a point of clarification - home dryers, at least in the US, do generally get hot enough to kill bedbugs, as you can see here.
Agreed. You need to get only to 120 or 130F; home dryers get there.
OP, do confirm that your neighbor actually has bedbugs. He can do simple DIY things like putting cups under the legs of his bed (just google detecting bedbugs).
If there are bedbugs in his place, then the whole house should be exterminated. However, I'm not sure you personally would have to go the whole nine yards with the bagging up stuff for a year, or whatever. We got rid of bedbugs in one apartment of a four-family building, with no further problems (it's been a couple years now). Bedbugs are a huge PITA, but they are not indestructible.
posted by torticat at 3:36 PM on May 17, 2011
Agreed. You need to get only to 120 or 130F; home dryers get there.
OP, do confirm that your neighbor actually has bedbugs. He can do simple DIY things like putting cups under the legs of his bed (just google detecting bedbugs).
If there are bedbugs in his place, then the whole house should be exterminated. However, I'm not sure you personally would have to go the whole nine yards with the bagging up stuff for a year, or whatever. We got rid of bedbugs in one apartment of a four-family building, with no further problems (it's been a couple years now). Bedbugs are a huge PITA, but they are not indestructible.
posted by torticat at 3:36 PM on May 17, 2011
If bedbugs are in your walls, bug bombing them is the last thing you want to do. It will drive them into deeper hiding and make them harder to get rid of. You definitely should wait for a professional on this.
My pest control company (Terminix) would not treat without signs of bedbugs found during inspection. They were extremely professional and I'm not sure if all companies would demand proof, but that is something you may want to be aware of. If signs of bedbugs are not visible around the apartment (as mine were not because my infestation was in its early stages) but you really think you have them, it helps to work hard to find one, kill it, and have a dead bug to show in order to get the treatment you need. One is good enough to start treatment.
People are right to say that you can't diagnose bedbugs from the bites. I've had allergic reactions that looked like my bedbug bites. My friend had a row of three mosquito bites that looked exactly like the pattern of bedbug bites and she freaked out, knowing my experience. She had a pest control company come to her house, they found nothing, she got no more bites and turned out to be fine. Do not assume anything by the pattern of itchy spots on the skin.
I have a cat who was rather small when I got treatment for bedbugs in my apartment. FWIW, the treatment was applied spray to the baseboards and mattress, powder in my wall cracks and electrical sockets. This was done to my entire apartment. My pest control professionals asked me to remove my cat while treatment was happening and for a few hours after, but that he would be fine to live there normally over time.
posted by houndsoflove at 7:02 PM on May 17, 2011
My pest control company (Terminix) would not treat without signs of bedbugs found during inspection. They were extremely professional and I'm not sure if all companies would demand proof, but that is something you may want to be aware of. If signs of bedbugs are not visible around the apartment (as mine were not because my infestation was in its early stages) but you really think you have them, it helps to work hard to find one, kill it, and have a dead bug to show in order to get the treatment you need. One is good enough to start treatment.
People are right to say that you can't diagnose bedbugs from the bites. I've had allergic reactions that looked like my bedbug bites. My friend had a row of three mosquito bites that looked exactly like the pattern of bedbug bites and she freaked out, knowing my experience. She had a pest control company come to her house, they found nothing, she got no more bites and turned out to be fine. Do not assume anything by the pattern of itchy spots on the skin.
I have a cat who was rather small when I got treatment for bedbugs in my apartment. FWIW, the treatment was applied spray to the baseboards and mattress, powder in my wall cracks and electrical sockets. This was done to my entire apartment. My pest control professionals asked me to remove my cat while treatment was happening and for a few hours after, but that he would be fine to live there normally over time.
posted by houndsoflove at 7:02 PM on May 17, 2011
Also: I want to echo that bedbugs are hyped up as being horrible because they are, but you can beat them. I promise. Hopefully this is not something you will have to seriously worry about though!
posted by houndsoflove at 7:04 PM on May 17, 2011
posted by houndsoflove at 7:04 PM on May 17, 2011
From the OP:
Hey everyone,posted by jessamyn at 4:43 PM on May 18, 2011
Turns out it probably IS fleas. An exterminator took a peek today and said he saw no bedbugs, and, even better, the neighbor's boss' cat is 100% confirmed as having fleas, and neighbour said he killed a flea on his sock today on his way home from work. Thank goodness, and thank AskMeFi for suggesting fleas- I had no idea he had regular contact with any animals so it didn't even occur to me.
But wait... are fleas worse? From a quick glance at Wikipedia, fleas are equally tricky to eradicate, PLUS they appear to spread more diseases. Any advice?
One thing I could do is put a flea treatment on my indoor cat and let him loose in the building- wiki said something about the pet "mopping up" fleas that way... does that work? Or is it just cruel to the cat?
Basically, is there any nontoxic way to combat a flea infestation, assuming we might have one?
Thanks!
This thread is closed to new comments.
Don't ask how I know this...
posted by hermitosis at 9:00 AM on May 17, 2011