Renting an apartment can be a very convenient, low maintenance housing solution. It can be joyful renting your first apartment as a couple, or well timed to down size as you get older. It can feel safer when you live alone, or just be the best fit for your growing family. Whatever your reasons for living in an apartment, it can, as you know, also bring some challenges. Noisy neighbors, small living space, lack of privacy, leases, and maintenance issues might be on the top of your list of challenges. An often-disregarded challenge that can come with apartment living is bed bugs.
In general, public awareness of bed bugs is low. So, it’s probably not something most of us think about very often… unless, of course, you’ve had a run in with these pests. If so, you’ve experienced the havoc they can wreak on your home, finances, and mental health.
This blog aims to educate you, the renter, on what you need to know about bed bugs and apartments. There are unique challenges with renting an apartment and dealing with a bed bug infestation. You may not be able to pursue treatment options without first contacting the maintenance personnel. Or you might have to notify tenants next to you of the issue. Is the problem yours to deal with or the landlord? What should you do and not do if you find bed bugs in your apartment? These are all important things to know. Additionally, how can you protect yourself from getting bed bugs? Let’s jump right in to answering these questions.
Knowing if you have bed bugs
The first thing we need to discuss is how to know if you have bed bugs. It is important to practice the following habits to stay aware of possible bed bug issues in your apartment.
- Know what bed bugs look like. It is a myth that you cannot see bed bugs with the naked eye. Adult bed bugs are about the size of an apple seed and will be reddish brown in color. Nymphs can vary in appearance depending on the developmental stage they are in. They can be more transparent looking and will be smaller than adults. They may have a red spot in their abdomen if they have recently fed. Bed bug eggs are white and about the size of a salt crystal. There are typically many eggs clumped together making them easier to see. Refer to the image to see the stages that bed bugs grow through.
- Keep your apartment free of excessive clutter. Having stacks of papers, piles of clothing laying around, or boxes everywhere can prevent you from noticing when a bed bug issue arises.
- Regularly wash bedding and check the mattress and headboard for bugs. Bed bugs typically stay near the headboard area. So, it is common to find them behind a headboard or on the mattress near the headboard. Look for dark stains on the mattress and check for live bugs and eggs in the seam or ribbon on the mattress.
- Vacuum your apartment often including around the edges of the room near baseboards. Be sure to seal the bag and dispose of it outside after vacuuming.
What to do now that you’ve found bed bugs
If you do find evidence of bed bugs in your apartment, the first thing to do is to call your landlord and report the issue. Each state has different regulations and requirements for landlords, and each lease is very different. Check your lease paperwork to be sure you are well informed about what the landlord’s responsibility is in the situation. Be sure to keep thorough records of your communication with the landlord and each of the steps taken to rid your apartment of bed bugs.
If the responsibility for treatment lies on you, it would be best to contact a pest control professional to deal with the situation, if you have the means. If you choose this approach, be sure to research the pest control company well. Read reviews about the company, focusing especially on reviews they can’t change or remove like Google reviews. Call and ask about the process they use to treat bed bugs. An integrated pest management approach is best, but at least be sure that their approach utilizes heat treatment as it is the most effective way of eliminating bed bugs and their eggs. Ahead of treatment, follow the procedure on our pre-project checklist.
If you decide to tackle the problem yourself, it will take diligence and time. You can purchase a bed bug heater yourself and perform a heat treatment if it is allowed by your building super. However, there are other ways to deal with the infestation as well if that is not an option.
A bed bug proof mattress encasement can be used to encapsulate the infested mattress. Bed bug proof mattress encasements utilize special technology to keep bed bugs from escaping the encasement. The bed bugs will eventually die of dehydration from not having blood meals. This would be a long wait as they can live for several months without eating. Do not remove the encasement during this period.
Additional steps would need to be taken to eliminate the bed bugs in the rest of the room or apartment. Lights Out Bed Bug Spray effectively kills bed bugs. It has a residual effect for up to 30 days. So, any bugs that walk through the dried crystalized structure will also die. The spray will need to be reapplied for several applications to be sure any newly hatched bugs are also killed. Spray the headboard, baseboards, dressers, and any other cracks or crevices in the bedroom. If the infestation has spread, a more thorough application will be needed.
A bed bug steamer can also be effective for targeted areas. We’ve seen people try some crazy things to get rid of bed bugs. Be sure to refer to a trusted source or even call a pest control company to get advice before moving forward. We know having bed bugs is a traumatic experience, but be safe and do your research so you don’t make a decision that makes the problem worse.
What not to do if you have found bed bugs
As frustrating and downright disgusting as bed bugs are, there are some things that you shouldn’t do to try to get rid of them. Do not rip up the carpet or throw out rugs. Do not throw out all of your furniture or your mattress. These steps will not get rid of bed bugs on their own and are not needed when you use heat to treat bed bugs. Heat will penetrate deep into the mattress and other furniture to kill the bed bugs that hide within. And, as we discussed already, there are great bed bug proof mattress encasements available.
Do not purchase chemical from a hardware store to try to kill bed bugs. Bed bug foggers will only send bed bugs deeper into the cracks to get away from the chemical. Even the strongest chemicals used by pest control technicians may not be enough to eliminate bed bugs as some strains have become resistant.
How to prevent bed bugs
Let’s move on from treatment and talk about prevention. The best way to prevent bed bugs from infesting your apartment is to be proactive. Here are some things that we recommend:
- Be cautious about bringing used furniture into your apartment. Check furniture very carefully before it enters your home. We recommend going a step further and spraying all used furniture with Lights Out Bed Bug Spray. It will kill bed bugs on contact and, as we shared before, has a residual effect for up to 30 days. Multiple treatments will be needed to be sure all bugs die. Be very cautious with mattresses and couches as there are many places bed bugs could hide.
- When travelling, always check for bed bugs. Using your knowledge from the previous section about habits and appearance of bed bugs, check your hotel, Airbnb, VRBO, or any other vacation rental you stay in for bed bugs. Do a thorough inspection before bringing your luggage in. This will keep you from bringing unwanted bed bugs back to your apartment.
- Be vigilant in protecting your apartment from bed bugs in neighboring apartments. One of the biggest struggles with bed bugs and apartment living is the shared walls. If a neighbor has a bed bug infestation, you may start to see those bugs migrating to new food sources, i.e. you in your apartment. They can travel through very small cracks and crevices. Here are a few tips to help you keep bed bugs out.
- Be sure that all cracks are sealed well.
- Spray Lights Out Bed Bug Spray around the baseboards of connecting walls and under doors. Repeat this process every 30 days.
- Use a bed bug proof mattress encasement to keep bed bugs from infesting your mattress.
In conclusion
We hope this information helps you when dealing with bed bugs in your apartment. Remember that you don’t get bed bugs because you or your apartment are dirty. That’s a common bed bug myth. Clean apartments can also have bed bugs.
Bed bugs are actually a huge problem in the United States and in so many other countries. You may have read recent news stories about bed bugs in France and other countries. They are a worldwide problem. The best defense against them is to be well educated about their appearance and habits, as well as, best practices for bed bug prevention.
If you have any questions about how to get rid of bed bugs in your apartment, give us a call at 844-364-3281. Although we do not offer service, we have a variety of products that can help you. Our company was co-founded and is co-run by a pest control technician with over 30 years of experience in the field. His knowledge and expertise will help guide you through the difficult ordeal of a bed bug infestation.
