Since you can carry bed bugs home from just about anywhere, and your guests can bring them in your home on their clothing, a bed bug infestation is always a possibility whether you rent a home or an apartment. Exterminating bed bugs can be more challenging when you rent because you need to work with both your landlord and the pest control company. Here are some suggestions for dealing with bed bugs as a renter.
Notify Your Landlord Right Away
When the bed bug exterminator inspects your home or apartment, it will be obvious to them if the infestation is new or if it has been going on for a long time. If you've let a bed bug problem go and the bugs have multiplied and spread, exterminating them could be your responsibility. So, as soon as you suspect you have bed bugs, call your landlord. Together, you can work out who is responsible for exterminating the pests.
Local laws play a role in deciding who is responsible for eliminating bed bugs in rental property, so you may even want to talk to an attorney or your local housing authority so that you understand your rights and responsibilities.
Make Your Bed A Safe Place To Sleep
Since most bites from bed bugs happen at night when you're sleeping, make your bed a safer place by vacuuming or steaming bugs out of your bed frame and sealing your mattress in zipped bed bug enclosures. Try putting double-sided tape around your bed or placing the feet of your bed in cups with petroleum jelly on the sides to keep bed bugs from climbing up. If you can get the bugs out of your bed and keep them from climbing back in, you might at least be able to sleep at night until the bed bug problem is resolved.
Follow The Exterminator's Instructions
The exterminator should provide you with things you need to do to help the extermination process along. This might include getting rid of clutter in your apartment and treating and bagging clothing. You may need a system for dealing with clothes to keep bugs off clean clothing while keeping the clothes ready to wear.
If you live in an apartment building, all your neighbors have to cooperate with the extermination process too, and if they don't, the bugs will come right back. That's one reason it can take a while to completely eliminate bed bugs. If you live in a single-family rental home, getting rid of bed bugs will probably be quicker and easier.
Watch For The Return Of Bugs
Bed bug extermination can take different forms, and some may act quicker and be more effective than others. If you're paying for the extermination, cost may also play a role in the method you choose. No matter how the exterminator kills off the bugs, you should watch for signs of their return, so a follow-up treatment can be given if necessary. Bed bugs can hide deep behind walls, inside electronic equipment, behind wallpaper, and in clothes and clutter, so multiple treatments could be needed to get rid of them completely.
Can you sit down and make a list of critters you don't like? Chances are, most of the critters on your list will be household pests. You might list cockroaches, ants, spiders, mice, and rats. Maybe you also mention termites, which are not very creepy, but can absolutely destroy your home. Coming into contact with any of these critters can be disheartening, but pest control companies are there to help. Learn more about this industry and how pest control professionals work right here on this website. We know spiders and ants can be creepy, and we want to give you the information necessary to keep them away.