It is very important to call for a professional pest-control help when the bed bug infestation is severe. The wide spread of bedbugs hiding in hard-to-reach places, makes is difficult and a tough challenge to contain and curb the bed bugs. In case of apartments, row homes, condominiums, etc., a collective effort and co-operation are essential to eliminate a bed bug infestation. Clutter and crowded population make the environment more susceptible to the bed bugs to infest. Such areas require detailed and thorough inspection followed up with multiple treatments to resolve the problem of bedbug infestation.
It is thus, essential to avail the services of a professional exterminator to get rid of the bed bugs. This is often expensive and depends on the size of the area and the severity of the infestation. A typical bed bug extermination process involves the following steps –
Thorough inspection and detection of bedbugs: Most of the exterminators visit the location and propose to inspect the place free of cost. The exterminator team uses various tools to carry out the inspection. Flashlights, magnifying glass, collection containers, tweezers, forceps, putty knife, spatula, monitoring devices are some of the inspection tools. They prioritize the places and inspect those places that rank high in their list. It includes inspection of mattress, box spring, bed frame, headboard, storage area, furniture, around the room and other locations such as children toys, light fixture, air conditioners, hollow doors, cardboard boxes, etc. Bedbug inspection can be pretty consuming depending on the clutter and the size of the rooms. The inspection team will look for dead or alive bedbugs, eggs, molt skin, fecal spots to confirm its presence.
Prepare the place for bed bug treatment: Cleaning and clearing of the clutter are essential, before the start of extermination service. This limits the hiding places for the bed bugs. This includes washing all washable items in maximum temperature of the washing machine. These must be sealed and put aside in plastic bags. Removal of closets, drawers, chairs, bed frame, baseboards, electrical outlet covers, pulling the furniture away from the walls, peeling of wall papers, seal the thin cracks or hole in the walls are some of the preparatory activities before the treatment is applied.
Carry out the extermination process: Primary focus is on the sitting and sleeping areas of the room. Steam treatment kills bedbugs, eggs and is effective on upholstered furniture and mattress. Heat treatment is used on items such as sleeping bags, backpacks, cracks, perimeter of the room, flooring and other household items. At times, dry ice or use of carbon dioxide also works as a bedbug trap to freeze and kill them. Pesticides, that have longer residual effect, are applied on items as a complementary step to kill the bedbugs. Mattress encasements, diatomaceous earth, sprays, discarding of infested items are also used as part of the extermination process.
Follow-up service: After the main treatment, follow-up treatments are recommended that spans across several weeks. This includes inspection and spot treatment if required.
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