Night, night, sleep tight, don't let the...

dismrs

.... bedbugs bite!!!

So, I moved into this rental property 1st March this year. Since living here I have been getting itchy bites appearing on me at least three times a week.

My boss suggested I may have bedbugs so I had a look but saw none. My next door neighbour told me that previous tenants had used the house for drug-taking purposes and that one of the frequent 'guests' had told him the house was rife with bedbugs.

Another friend who used to live on the street told me that at one time nearly every house on the street had the problem.

On another inspection of the bed (which was already there when I moved in) I found one bug and got rid of it. A few days later I spotted another one crawling up the wall.

Today I informed my landlord (he denied all knowledge of any problem beforehand) and told him the various options re treatment of this infestation, even down to the council being the cheapest at just under £200 for three visits.

He went away to consider the problem and sent me a text saying that I must have brought the bugs from my previous address therefore I should pay for the fumigation.

I lived in my previous house for 7 years and never had a single bite so I know that I haven't brought the critters. Also as the house was furnished I didn't bring any soft furnishings with me.

I think he did know of the previous problem, particularly as he is very chatty with my neighbour.

I don't see why I should have to pay for the council to come in.

I'm not in a financial position to move elsewhere.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Do sleep well... don't have nightmares

monty-doggy

I'd say its the landlords responsibility to sort it out!

And I assume you mean every house on the street, not every street on the house

dismrs

Lol they must be eating my brain!!!

DaftyDuck

My next door neighbour told me that previous tenants had used the house for drug-taking purposes and that one of the frequent 'guests' had told him the house was rife with bedbugs.

Can you get this in writing? (Even record conversation on your phone, bit naughty, but...) I'd have thought that was key

dismrs

Problem resolved, landlord has decided to stump up the cash so all's well my end!!!

Scratch, scratch...

Thanks for replies :beer:

monty-doggy

Brilliant news

Better_Days

Excellent. Be aware though that it can take more than one 'treatment' to get rid of the beggers. Plus it will probably be a good idea to wash everything you can at 60 degrees and if you can tumble dry on hot.

Do some reading around the subject online - there is even a forum or two eg
http://bed!!!!!!.com/forum/

http://thebedbugresource.com/phpBB3/index.php

As someone who is very sensitive to insect bites I can sympathise wholly with your problem. Hope you get it sorted soon as it is horrible to live with.

Edit - oh dear one of the forums has been censored. Just google bed bugs forum and you will find it.

avnire

Hi there,

On my travels I came across bed bugs, so last year when I had the crazy bites having slept on my sofa bed at my place I had a feeling I had them. The trouble is with bed bugs that they don't go away, they hide very well and they spread like crazy, one female can lay 4-5 eggs per day.

I did my research, and found a reasonable guy who came around and fumigated my place two times for £135 (the council employs private pest control officers and they charge way more than that). Price for the same treatment can vary from £70 to £300. You have to make sure they fumigate at least two times, the best thing is that they offer a third kind of "just-in-case" occasion too.

The bed bug guy I called at the end was very professional, came around with his sniffer dogs. I asked my neighbours if the dogs could check their place too (it's a Victorian house divided into bedsits). The dogs indicated straight away the presence of bed bugs at my downstairs neighbour, but he refused the treatment saying he did not have bites and he was skint to pay for it. There were no signs of bed bugs at my place, but after a long search the dogs found two bugs.

To cut a long story short, I called the agent managing the property - they told me the same: I must have brought the bed bugs with me in, therefore I have to pay for the treatment. I explained the risk of having bed bugs, and the fact that they can move one bedsit to the other infesting the whole house and the landlord agreed to contribute with £130. I had my place sprayed, all clothes were washed and put in plastic bags, I was told to buy a steamer to go through my cupboard and the items can't be washed (which I did not do, but got away with it).

They say it's important to have at least two spray leaving at least two weeks in between them to kill the baby bugs newly hatched from the eggs laying around.

If I were you I would explain the risk of having bugs to your land lord, would take pictures of the black marks on the bed (bed bug poo) and if it's extensive, it really shows that it is not a new infestation, bugs must have been living there for a while.

The sad spin to my story is that one year on I discovered few bed bug like bites on my leg.. devastated by the thought that the torture starts again.. I am doubtful that the landlord would pay for it again, so I am thinking of some kind of DIY treatment, still researching the use of diatomaceous earth (cheap and effective, but what if I inhale it?). Sadly heat treatment is only effective if you literally manage to catch the bugs with the steam, if your bugs hide, (like mines) it's not exactly useful (it kills eggs though). I had my bed bug guy around this morning, he could see some signs, but can't confirm if they are fresh or from last time around..

Advice on cheap ways of home bed bug treatment would be appreciated, especially on how to use DE!

avnire

PS: yes, it would be great if you could change the name of the topic, it's hard to find as you don't have "bed bugs" in the title..

moneyistooshorttomention

The first thought that would strike me would be "Yuk. Gotta move. I do NOT live in a place with something like that".

But, if someone decides to stay on and the landlord comes at them accusing them of being the "guilty party" that imported "something from the history books" into the place like that, then wouldn't it be possible to turn round and reply with "YOU are not just the one responsible for resurrecting something that belongs in the history books, but would expose me to harmful chemicals dealing with YOUR problem" and put the onus back on them to compensate you for being exposed to dangerous chemicals because of having to deal with "history book problems"???

There might be a risk some years down the line of you coming out with a health problem that you weren't due for because of being exposed to THEIR harmful chemicals dealing with THEIR problem (ie fumigating the place to get rid of their bedbugs).