We recently brought bed bugs to our house from a motel, how do we get rid
of them in our brand new savana van, if we hire an exterminator what will
it cost? can they get rid of them or do we have to replace all of the
carpets, and seats?
How To Get Rid of Bed Bugs
It is the toughest decision you will have to make when dealing with a bed bug problem in your home. Do you toss out infested furniture or hope that pest control treatments will eventually eliminate the problem?
Pest control professionals have customers on both sides of the aisle. Some clients quickly decide to throw out mattresses and box springs, upholstered chairs and even their dressers and bedside tables. They are disgusted by the very thought that their room might be inhabited by blood sucking insects. While others simply refuse to discard anything at all. The latter type accounts tend to be continually plagued by bed bugs, of course. They eventually come to realize that either the infested furniture must go or they must decide that they can live with the bed bugs.
Generally speaking, wooden furniture can be treated in a way that bed bugs
can be eliminated. Plywood should be tossed out because bed bugs can get into the laminated ends of the plywood sheets and hide from pesticide treatments. Solid wood provides no cracks and crevices and treatments are more successful.
How to get rid of bed bugs in upholstered furniture is problematic because of all the folds in the fabric. Bed bugs can get behind buttons, tufts and piping where pesticide applications are difficult. Treatments must also include areas covered by the cambric fabric (dust cover) on the bottom of most furniture, requiring the cambric to be removed.
As a rule of thumb, any piece of upholstered furniture with torn fabric should be discarded. Bed bugs easily move about looking for the best hiding places. Once they become established it is almost guaranteed that they will find openings in torn furniture where pesticides will not penetrate. Throw it out!
Understanding how different furniture types must be treated may help you in deciding which pieces may stay and which pieces must go.
Comments
Glen
04 Feb 2008, 16:15
04 Feb 2008, 16:15
Ask The Exterminator
04 Feb 2008, 16:18
04 Feb 2008, 16:18
Glen,
The upholstery in the van presents the same problem as upholstered furniture inside a home. The bed bugs will crawl into the most protected spaces, deep into the cracks and crevices of the van. Surface treatments using insecticides may or may not get to all the hidden bed bugs. The bed bugs will lie awaiting a blood meal. So, even if you don't use the van for up to a year, the bed bugs can survive.
Obviously, you cannot strip out the entire interior of the van, so you might want to consider having the van fumigated. Fumigation can only be done by certain pest control companies specifically licensed to do fumigations. The van will need to be totally covered with a tarp, sitting on a concrete slab, and pumped with Vikane gas. The gas works its way through the entire van killing any living thing. The process takes about three days and the van must be quarantined in a locked area with signs posted warning of the fumigation in progress. (The pest control company will do all the posting.)
The cost of this process will be in the $1,500 range. You might want to consider putting other items inside the van that you think might be infested with bed bugs. As long as the van is being treated it does not cost any additional to put a couch or upholstered chair inside the van to kill any bed bugs you might suspect.
The fumigation company will properly air out the van before turning it back to you. There will be no residual odor from the treatment, but you cannot expose food, medications, pets or plants to the treatment.
The upholstery in the van presents the same problem as upholstered furniture inside a home. The bed bugs will crawl into the most protected spaces, deep into the cracks and crevices of the van. Surface treatments using insecticides may or may not get to all the hidden bed bugs. The bed bugs will lie awaiting a blood meal. So, even if you don't use the van for up to a year, the bed bugs can survive.
Obviously, you cannot strip out the entire interior of the van, so you might want to consider having the van fumigated. Fumigation can only be done by certain pest control companies specifically licensed to do fumigations. The van will need to be totally covered with a tarp, sitting on a concrete slab, and pumped with Vikane gas. The gas works its way through the entire van killing any living thing. The process takes about three days and the van must be quarantined in a locked area with signs posted warning of the fumigation in progress. (The pest control company will do all the posting.)
The cost of this process will be in the $1,500 range. You might want to consider putting other items inside the van that you think might be infested with bed bugs. As long as the van is being treated it does not cost any additional to put a couch or upholstered chair inside the van to kill any bed bugs you might suspect.
The fumigation company will properly air out the van before turning it back to you. There will be no residual odor from the treatment, but you cannot expose food, medications, pets or plants to the treatment.
crystal
25 Aug 2008, 08:02
25 Aug 2008, 08:02
If I hire an exterminator, will they be able to defuse the bed bug problem?
Ask the Exterminator
25 Aug 2008, 08:55
25 Aug 2008, 08:55
Hiring a pest control professional is only part of the bed bug elimination
puzzle. Much of the solution lies with you.
An experienced pest control pro should give you lots of pre-treatment preparation instructions that are necessary for a successful treatment program. Notice I said "program", because a single treatment rarely resolves a bed bug infestation. Usually, it requires several visits to kill off the adults and nymphs.
The removal of clutter is essential. If your living area has lots of stuff sitting on the floor you might as well save your money. Clutter gives bed bugs lots of places to hide. Treatments are not magical. The pesticides have to touch the bed bug, so piles of clothing, boxes, books and the like cannot be treated. It is up to you to get those items out of the way and assure they are not hiding any insects.
If you have plush upholstered furniture where you have found bed bugs, you have a decision to make. It is extremely difficult to get pesticides into the deep crevices of the furniture. Do you throw it out or have it fumigated? Having a piece of furniture fumigated can be expensive, but less costly than buying a new couch or chair. Talk to your pest control company to see if they can do "vault fumigation". Not all pest professionals are set up for that service. (Vault fumigation can be done by putting the infested furnishings in a rental truck, but the truck must be locked in a secured lot during the treatment. Fumigants are effective, but deadly.)
An experienced pest control pro should give you lots of pre-treatment preparation instructions that are necessary for a successful treatment program. Notice I said "program", because a single treatment rarely resolves a bed bug infestation. Usually, it requires several visits to kill off the adults and nymphs.
The removal of clutter is essential. If your living area has lots of stuff sitting on the floor you might as well save your money. Clutter gives bed bugs lots of places to hide. Treatments are not magical. The pesticides have to touch the bed bug, so piles of clothing, boxes, books and the like cannot be treated. It is up to you to get those items out of the way and assure they are not hiding any insects.
If you have plush upholstered furniture where you have found bed bugs, you have a decision to make. It is extremely difficult to get pesticides into the deep crevices of the furniture. Do you throw it out or have it fumigated? Having a piece of furniture fumigated can be expensive, but less costly than buying a new couch or chair. Talk to your pest control company to see if they can do "vault fumigation". Not all pest professionals are set up for that service. (Vault fumigation can be done by putting the infested furnishings in a rental truck, but the truck must be locked in a secured lot during the treatment. Fumigants are effective, but deadly.)