Think our student flat has fleas!

princesslizzie

Our sofa in our student flat is terrible. Firstly, it has a wooden board to stop it collapsing which all of us have cut ourselves on and secondly my flatmate just came in with 17 bites! She thinks it is from the sofa because she sits on it the most (I haven't been recently) and one of my other flatmates has a couple bites. I have had a few in the past but not a lot. We're new tenants and I'm not sure what our rights are. Can we get a new sofa from the landlord?

Thank you!

dmg24

You should ask for the flat to be treated for fleas.

pinkshoes

I would ask for flea treatment, AND a new sofa! We had a flea infested house (housemate's cat died and she left it in a box in the lounge for several days - ewww!), and it took 2 attempts to de-flea EVERYTHING (carpets, furniture, BED SHEETS, clothes). Don't sit on the sofa for now!

budget_counsellor_shaz

Go to the nearest vets and buy a can of spray. We had this problem in a house we rented. Spray the rooms and make sure the windows and doors are shut, then go out for at least a couple of hours, then hoover and then spray again and hoover again. Your landlord should pay you back for the spray. The sooner you do it the soon it will get sorted and the fleas will be gone.

I don't think you'll get a new sofa........

Shaz

Tao81

When I moved back into my house (which I had rented with written tenancy agreement stating no animals) I was horrified to find that the place was infested with fleas. I bought a product called Vetchem (available from your local vet) and treated the house and everything within it. As budget_counsellor_shaz says - make sure you have all windows and doors shut and go out for a couple of hours. Hoover and keep hoovering when you can and you will find that the problem will go away.

FYI - I only needed to treat the house the once and the problem didn't return for 11yrs and only then because we took in a neighbours dog for a week whilst they were away in France!

It' horrible when you realise you have this problem, but rest assured it is very simple and easy to erradicate (Oh! I can't stop itching all of a sudden:eek: ) Good Luck and I'd ask for a new sofa purely for the reason that it sounds like a death-trap!!
Having let a property myself though, I can now understand why landlords pick up furniture only fit for the dump and furnish their houses/flats with this rubbish. I rented my house out with really good stuff and you would be gobsmacked at the blatant distruction and poor treatment, of both the house and its contents, that went on whilst the tenant was insitu.
Some people are scum, the woman had the place for half the market rate of rent at the time as a favour to help her out financially because she was in a difficult situation and I paid the water and sewage bills for the 3yrs she was here. You just can't be good enough to some people?!!! The few spoil it for the many unfortunately.

Hope you get your problem sorted soon and enjoy your 'new' comfy, flea-free sofa when you get it.

moonpixiewitch

Hi
as previously posted , get some flea spray from the vets (ones from pet shops are just not as effective) . You may need to spray twice one week apart (it takes approx a week for eggs to hatch) depending on the type (and cost) of the spray (some kill eggs and larvae as well).
If the landlord won't sort out the sofa , try joining your local freecycle groups an see if anyone local is offering a sofa or suite , depending on the local group rules you may be allowed to post a wanted ad for one. also check your local council website , in our area we have a thing called twice as nice and they help people who can't afford new furniture by recycling old usable (flea free & safe) donated household furniture , they even deliver! your area may have a similar thing?
good luck ,
oh and piriton cream is quite good at stopping the itching from the bites.
moonpixie

nasty_nas

Get some flea spray i think i have seen some in asda, i used to work there

bamboozled2

A few years ago I was in the same boat, our house became infested with fleas from a neighbours cat my husband used to let in our house.
I was pregnant at the time and showed the midwife the bites, (as I did'nt know what they were) she told me to contact the council, who came out and sprayed all around the house, I could'nt hoover for a couple of days, but there were dead fleas everywhere, even in the bathroom sink.
The stuff the council use is stronger than anything you can buy in the shops and only needed applying once, and(for me at least) it was free.
You could contact the local council and ask, if there is a charge, inform your landlord and tell him you will be sending him the bill.

roses

I thought you weren't supposed to hoover?

I would recommend calling the council in. The flea spray is £15 per can. When my landlady's cat got fleas, she bought some RIP spray. I was waking up & finding fleas in my bed! I sprayed them directly with the spray & they didn't die!

After pest control came in, the flea bites stopped the next day.

If I ever have the unfortunate situation again then I won't bother with the spay, I'll be calling out pest control right away (which only cost £50 compared with the 2 cans of spray my landlady bought which didn't work!).