Fleas in rented property

sharpee

My partner and I moved into a rented house in January. We choose this house as the landlady permits pets and we were looking to move in a couple of cats.

However when we moved into the property there were various cleaning and conditions issues with the propertry. LA claimed carpets had been professionally clean, which they could no have been due to the state when we moved in and were full of animal hair (this is stated in the inventory).

2 months down the line we have now discovered fleas!:mad:

We have informed the LA who claims the property was "de-infested" before we moved in, implying there was an issue before we moved in.:eek:

Where do we stand as we don't have any pets so the fleas are a hangover from previous tenants.

Its horrible I am constantly itchy, feel like their crawling all over me, even when I'm out the house and not sure whose responsibility it is to sort it out.

Any advice would be appreciated!

RacyRed

Quickest way to deal with this would be to get some Acclaim, about £10 or so, for enough to do a 3 bed house.

Many supermarkets and chemists stock Acclaim in the pharmacy sections. Follow the instructions carefully and you will soon have a flea free home.

Acclaim doesn't just kill the adult fleas, it destroys them at various stages of their life cycle and, if done properly, will be effective for a year.

Petmeds and many other online pet suppliers also stock it.

Gingernutmeg

And don't forget to treat your own pets. Shoving a flea collar into the hoover bag is a good idea too.

sharpee

There are no animals in the house and haven't been since we moved in. Is the Accliam spray to treat carpets etc?

poppysarah

2 months?
You'd have noticed within hours. If the place had been empty they'd have been hungry.

sharpee

I had done some research online and read that they can hibernate? Not sure if this is the case.

not_loaded

I found Acclaim inadequate.

All the answers here though:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1834823

hth

**dancingbutterfly**

this happened in the last house we lived in, i brought my newborn son home 3 weeks after moving in and i was plastered in bites from my toes to my kness, i was absolutely disgusted, i too didnt realise/notice until 3 weeks down the line, i went mental with my landlady and she sent the council in and low and behold it didnt make a blind bit of difference they were still biting me to bits. (my hubby who is a mechanic never got bit by them once! must have been his oily smell!) so i called in ecolab and it cost £100 but it was so worth it, they were gone and i could take my baby back into our home!
i made sure she paid for Ecolab to come in. Horrified i was!!
Ecolab's your best bet for me! and make sure the landlord pays, its their fault it wasnt done properly in the first place!

db

sharpee

Thanks not_loaded the thread was very helpful.

I will speak to our LA and asked who they used to "de-infest" the property and find out what treatment they used. Hopefully it will only need one more treatment to get rid of the problem

BitterAndTwisted

The landlord probably did have the property treated which most likely did kill off all the eggs, larvae and adult fleas but as I said in that linked thread no insecticide has yet been developed which will kill the dormant ones tucked up in their nice, secure pupae. The vibration from movement has probably encouraged the young fleas to emerge if the property has been empty for a while. I would recommend you asking the landlord to have the property re-treated or for you to buy an aerosol can of Acclaim or similar. Cat fleas will bite humans but they can't live on human blood, so if there are no pets in the property the problem will go away on its own eventually if you have the patience and fortitude. I'd spend a tenner on the Acclaim

monkeys_bunny

just saw this and thought it may help?
Fleas begin as eggs, hatch into larvae that feed on dried blood and dander, and then become pupae, which hatch into adults. The direct source of dog fleas in your home will not be your dog, but rather the hatching pupae.

You're first best defense again dog flea re-infestation is careful vacuuming, including corners and crevices. Once in the vacuum cleaner bag and out of your carpet you can sprinkle flea powder or another insecticide in the bag and discard it in the trash outside.
It is also highly recommended that you vacuum and treat all of your upholstery, your bedding and mattresses, your pets bedding, pet carriers, pet crates and window-treatments. Since people can also bring in fleas from the great outdoors, check your clothes: long pants, long skirts, socks, shoes for any sign of fleas. A good idea is to never wear shoes inside your home.