Have bed bugs, am moving - recs or advice?

[chickflick1979.livejournal.com]

Hi, I searched through the other pest control tagged posts, but I didn't see anything related to moving out of an infested apartment.

My apartment was sprayed twice for bed bugs, though the other people in the building were not (it's my landlord and his family, and he hasn't done anything - I'm looking into getting my money back from him, too). After 2 sprays, I'm still getting bitten. Meanwhile, I decided to move out, because I thought it was all taken care of, but I wanted to get out of here.

So, does anyone know of a good way to move out of my apartment without taking the bugs with me? I've been looking for companies who will fumigate my items in a truck, or spray the furniture, et al, on my way out. If anybody knows of a good pest control company who might do something like that, please let me know. Or if you have advice on what the procedure should be while moving out, please let me know.

Thanks.

Comments

[anyee.livejournal.com]

I had bed bugs and I moved successfully. It is was stressful and somewhat expensive. The flip side is that the cost of the treatment I used, which is more or less guaranteed, is less than the cost of replacing all your stuff. Here is my guide. Do with it what you will.

1) The Bed Bugger Forum (http://bedbugger.com/forum/) is the hands-down most useful site out there. It has access to tons of veteran ex-buggers, scientists, and PCOs (exterminators). They're great about being reassuring and helpful. They're also great about killing off myths, e.g., freezing bugs will get rid of them (rarely), RAID and other sprays will get rid of them (not really), bugs occur because you're dirty (nope).

2) The washing, laundering, and bagging can be a very effective way to control the infestation, but it won't work alone. If you need to do this more or less cheaply and non-toxically, combining that with diatomecious earth and vacuuming can eventually take care of your problem if you're REALLY careful. It's an interesting process, but I haven't experienced it personally.

3) Moving itself: I used the thermal treatment method of bed bug extermination via Pure Heat (http://www.pureheat.com/). Pure Heat uses propane and high temperature (170 degrees) to kill bugs. They'll either do it in your apartment/house or in a moving truck. The latter is the option I chose.

Let's talk logistics: The basics are you rent a truck, pack all your stuff into it, and they attach a tube and a tank of propane, then heat it for 4 hours or so. They can do this at their site, which is cheaper but out in Cape Cod. They can also come to your location. However, you need to get the propane permitting. Somerville is much harder to get permits for than even Boston. Pure Heat can help you, but it's a pain in Somerville from what I've heard.

The advantage of Pure Heat is that it's nontoxic and it's damn effective. We did not move a single bug, as confirmed by both inspection and a bed bug dog. Plus, if you follow their exact instructions,if stuff does get damaged, it'll get replaced. Everything we put in the truck survived except a picture I dropped. Some unfinished wood leaked sap and one drawer on a chest of drawers cracked...not big enough to care about. Pure Heat won't cover electronics and stuff, but two tower computers, a DVD player, the microwave, radios, VCR, etc. all made it through unscathed.

It is expensive. The heat treatment cost $600, not including the cost of the permit and the truck. However, a new bed, rugs, furniture, etc. would have cost a LOT more. They can tent-heat your car, though bugs tend not to live in cars. We solved the potential bug-car problem by sitting the car in the July/August sun...dark interior was enough to cook any bugs.

You can message me off-list and I'll tell you more if you want.

[chickflick1979.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Anyee. I sent you a couple of messages. :)