Don’t let the bed bugs bite.
You have heard of the “Ghost”,” Dog”, or “Horse Whisperer”. Now comes “The House Whisperer”. After inspecting over 14,000 homes in the last twenty-five years, homes do whisper and convey messages telling us about house problems.
In Ohio, we have many nuisance biting insects such as fleas, ticks, lice, and flies. All these nuisance pests bite humans to obtain blood meals. However, the one blood sucking vampire that gets all the attention is the small, flat, reddish-brown bedbug that enters the home as a stowaway in luggage, furniture, clothing, pillows, boxes, and more when these are moved between dwellings. Moving out of your home will not solve the problem. The bed bugs will just hitch a ride to your next dwelling. Some exterminators state, that while dealing with bed bugs, its best not to sleep away from home. The bed bugs will move to other rooms that may not be infested. Used furniture, particularly bed frames and mattresses, are most likely to harbor these 3/16 of an inch wingless creatures. Watch out for items found on the curb or at estate sales! Because they survive for many months without food, bed bugs could already be present in clean, vacant apartments hiding in crevices because of their great advantage of having dorsoventrally flattened bodies.
Look for small blood smears on the sheets and pillow cases. Look for fecal matter which looks like a pepper spray. Look for bed bug casings and skin that they have shredded. These predators shed their skin five times before reaching full adult size. Peel back the bed sheets and look in the crevices of your mattress at the head of the bed and at the crevice between the mattress and the box spring. You also should look on walls being picture frames, outlets, and inside drawers of night stands. If you are looking for a bedbug siting, you need to stay awake between their feeding time of 2 AM and 4 AM. Lift the sheets and turn on a flashlight. This may lead to your bed bug siting, but this method can also be unsettling. Once you determine that you have bed bugs, it is best to call an exterminator.
A few things you can do to keep bed bugs off your bed. Move your bed at least 6-12 inches from the wall. Bed bugs can’t fly or jump. Wash the sheets, with very hot water. Steam clean your mattress and box spring. Hot water and hot steam kills bed bugs. Install climb up interceptors which can be bought at stores to all four legs of your bed. Bed bugs approaching the bed will climb up exterior surface and fall into the outer pitfall ring. Bed bugs climbing down from bed will be found in the center well. Finally, invest in bed bug mattress covers, box spring covers, and pillow covers which can be bough online. These covers that will trap and kill bed bugs that are hiding. These products will not allow bed bugs to escape.
The bed bug does have a weakness and it is its sensitivity to high and low temperatures. Bed bugs cannot live for more than 10-20 minutes at temperatures below 32 degrees. So all the foreclosed, vacant and bank-owned homes, the bed bugs are not going to bite in those homes. Additionally, bed bugs can’t survive in temperatures above 115 degrees. Therefore, if you move your bedroom to the hot third floor attic, the bed bugs won’t bite their either. The most effective and most popular method of killing bed bugs thermal heating. The house temperatures are raised to 130 F and left their for several hours. This method probably kills everything including spiders, ants, fleas, mice and more. Weather you use chemical treatment that can cost an excess of $1200 or thermal heating which can cost an excess of $2000 it will still be necessary to remove the dead carcasses, eggs, and fecal matter from your living space. This needs to be done to eliminate the potential for skin and respiratory irritation from these bed bug leftovers
Finally, when traveling, always inspect before settling into any room. Pack a flashlight and gloves and don’t forget your glasses or readers.
If you would like to read other House Whisper volumes, become friends on Face Book with Marko Vovk and read his wall for his daily learning posts. Marko is licensed in termite, radon, and lead paint. Certifications include: Indoor Air Environmentalist, Carbon Monoxide, HVAC air balancer, ASHI Home Inspector, ICC Code inspector, and has a B. S. in civil engineering. You can email Marko at clevelandmold@aol.com or call him to schedule an inspection at 216-924-8378.