Choose an exterminator who is transparent about their costs and offers a warranty. They should also be willing to discuss different treatment methods, like heat and freezing.
Look for visual signs of bed bugs, including fecal stains and shed exoskeletons. You may also notice that your clothes smell musty. Contact Bed Bug Exterminator Tampa now!
Whether you got bed bugs from a hotel, visited friends, or picked them up in your own home, they’re hard to eradicate once they’ve spread. You’ll need to be vigilant in keeping them away, and use a variety of treatment methods. Keeping your home clean and sealed up will also help prevent new bed bug infestations.
Start by doing a thorough inspection. Check the entire bedroom area, including mattresses and box springs. Look in crevices and corners, as well as the headboard, footboard, and dresser. Then move on to other furniture near your bed, such as nightstands and dressers. Be sure to check for signs of infestation in these pieces, such as fecal and blood spots (they look like rust).
When you’re done with your inspection, wash all clothing and bedding in hot water on the highest setting as soon as possible. This will kill any newly hatched eggs and stop the spread of bedbugs. Seal cracks around baseboards and furniture with caulk, as well. You can also put a tightly-woven zippered cover over your mattressand box springs to keep bed bugs from getting in and out. This should be kept in place for a full year to prevent new bedbugs from entering.
Another way to prevent new bed bugs is by putting interceptor traps under each leg of infested furniture. Sprinkle a little talcum powder in these traps to make them slippery, and then place them where bedbugs are likely to crawl up. Check and clean the interceptors regularly, and reapply talcum powder as needed.
If you do have an infestation, vacuum the affected area often, and clean all linens in hot water on the highest heat setting. In addition, use a non-chemical treatment, such as Temprid FX, to spray infested mattresses, box springs, and the interior of furniture frames and headboards. For upholstered furniture, spray only the infested tufts, seams, and folds.
For major infestations, you may need to call in professional pest control services. Trained pest control professionals can use nonchemical approaches such as heat treatments, in which rooms are warmed up to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit. They can also sprinkle a floury dust called diatomaceous earth around rooms, which clings to the insects’ exoskeleton and dehydrates them.
Identifying Bed Bugs
When you think you have bed bugs, it’s important to have a professional inspect your property as soon as possible. This helps prevent the bug infestation from getting worse and preventing it from spreading to other rooms in your home or business. Trying to solve the problem yourself with DIY chemicals can be expensive and dangerous, and it’s not guaranteed that your efforts will work.
Upon arriving at your home or business, the professional will conduct a visual inspection of the affected areas to see if there are signs of bed bugs. During this process, they will search for the pests in cracks and crevices of the mattresses, box springs, walls, and other furniture. They will also look for fecal stains and other indicators of the presence of these nasty pests, such as molted skin from the exoskeletons that are shed during their life cycle.
Because of the number of nooks and crannies that they can hide in, it is not always easy to spot them with the naked eye. However, a good pest control professional will be able to locate them with ease.
Once a visual inspection is completed, the exterminator will begin to treat the affected area. They will spray a fast-acting insecticide on the mattress, box springs, and other surfaces in the room where the bugs are present. This will kill the pests instantly and prevent them from reproducing. In some cases, the professional may also use a steamer to penetrate the cracks and crevices of your mattresses, box springs, and other furniture where the pests have hidden.
In addition to spraying, the pest control expert will use a dust-based insecticide on all other surfaces where the bed bugs have been hiding. This treatment will prevent them from crawling out of those cracks and reentering the infested rooms.
A professional exterminator will never try to scare you with the use of “bug bombs” or other invasive and frightening techniques. They will employ techniques that are safe for your family and pets, as well as the environment. They will not rip and tear your home or business and leave it in a mess for days to weeks, and they will not disrupt your daily routine and work schedule.
Getting Rid of Bed Bugs
Bed bugs are a difficult pest to get rid of and require expert treatment. There are a variety of methods that exterminators use to eliminate them, depending on the extent of the infestation. For a severe problem, fumigation is one of the most effective options. This process involves filling a room with gas that kills the bugs instantly. This option is typically the most expensive of all treatments, but it offers the best long-term protection against re-infestation.
Heat treatment is another method that can effectively kill the bugs. It works by raising the temperature in a room to over 115 degrees Fahrenheit. This kills the bugs and their eggs, and it also dehydrates them so that they cannot reproduce. This method can be costly and disruptive to your daily life, but it is a great option for a severe problem.
A professional exterminator can also spray pesticide in your home to get rid of the bugs. This isn’t ideal for families with young children or pets, but it can be very effective against a mild infestation. This type of spraying can help to make the bed bug’s favorite hiding places inhospitable so that they will leave on their own.
Another way that you can help to get rid of bed bugs is by getting rid of clutter. This will limit the number of hiding spots for the bugs and will allow you to more easily treat areas in your home. This is a good idea for all kinds of pests, but it is especially important when dealing with bed bugs.
You should also clean your house to remove the buildup of dirt and dust that could attract the bugs. You should also seal cracks and crevices in your home that they might be able to crawl into.
It is essential that you choose a reputable company when it comes to choosing an exterminator to get rid of bed bugs. Choose an exterminator who specializes in these difficult pests and has the proper certifications to back up their work. They should also be willing to answer any questions that you might have about their methods and services. Lastly, you should choose an exterminator who offers a guarantee to give you peace of mind that they will do a good job.
Prevention
Bed bugs are a persistent pest that may require multiple treatment sessions to eliminate. They are also hardy and can survive a variety of different treatments, so it is important to follow prevention methods when you are done to ensure that your infestation doesn’t return.
Bed bug prevention begins with reducing clutter and regularly cleaning items in your home. Wash and dry all linens and clothing on the highest heat setting. Items that cannot be washed or dried can be steamed, heated or frozen using specialized equipment. Items that cannot be steamed or heated can be sealed in plastic bags and put in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. This will kill the bugs and eggs.
Inspect the mattress, box spring and bed frame on a regular basis. Check all seams, corners, and crevices. Also, inspect all other furniture and bedding near the bed, including dressers, nightstands and sofas. Inspect the cracks and crevices of these pieces as well, as they can also contain bed bugs or egg sacs.
If you find a spot in your home where you suspect that there are bed bugs, use silicon caulk to seal the area, which will make it difficult for the bugs to enter or escape. Be sure to check the caulking on a regular basis and replace it when it becomes loose.
Lastly, place interceptors under the legs of your beds, couches and plush chairs to trap bed bugs before they have a chance to climb onto your furniture. These can be purchased at most hardware stores. Check and clean the interceptors every 1-2 weeks. Keep in mind that they are not foolproof and you may need to keep them in place for a full year.
Ultimately, a professional exterminator is the best way to get rid of bed bugs. Often, a few treatments with the right product can take care of a problem, but in other cases, it will take several attempts to completely eradicate the bugs. In the end, it is worth contacting a professional as soon as you think you have spotted the first signs of bed bugs.