How do I know it is bed bugs and not another insect?
The surest sign is finding the bugs themselves: flat, reddish-brown, about the size of an apple seed, in mattress seams or behind the headboard. Dark spots on bedding and shed skins are strong clues. Bites alone are not proof, since mosquitoes, fleas and skin conditions can look similar.
A technician can inspect with a flashlight and a card to scrape seams, and may place interceptor traps under bed legs. If you catch a bug, put it in a sealed bag or tape it to a card and keep it for the inspection.
Cockroaches and bed bugs are sometimes mixed up, since both hide in cracks and come out at night. If you find brown, quarter-inch egg cases rather than tiny white eggs, see cockroach control.
Why do bed bugs spread through Detroit flats and apartment blocks?
Bed bugs move through shared walls, pipes, cable runs and hallways, and they travel on furniture, laundry and bags. In older multifamily buildings, those connections are everywhere. A single infested unit can seed the units next to it, above it and below it, so a building-aware plan is often needed.
Detroit has plenty of pre-war flats, converted mansions and apartment blocks with shared walls and original plumbing chases. Those structures are lived in and loved, and they make a bed bug problem harder to contain, not impossible to solve.
If you rent, tell the owner or manager promptly, in writing if you can, so adjoining units are checked at the same time. If you own a two-family building, it is worth asking the technician to look at both units on the first visit.
How should I prepare my home for bed bug treatment?
Strip the bed and bag the linens, then wash and dry them on high heat for at least 30 minutes. Reduce clutter, vacuum the mattress and floor edges, and seal the vacuum bag outside. Do not move furniture to another room or discard it without telling the technician, since that can spread the bugs.
Dryer heat kills bed bugs on contact, so a hot dryer cycle is more reliable than a wash alone. Clothes should travel in sealed bags to the dryer, then be stored in clean bins. Wash and dry bedding again if it is used before treatment is done.
Plenty of people want to throw the mattress out. It is usually better to treat or encase it, since a discarded mattress can spread bugs in the hallway, and a replacement can be infested again if the room is not treated. Ask the technician before moving anything large.
- Bag linens and clothing in the room before carrying them
- Dry on high heat for at least 30 minutes
- Vacuum seams and baseboards, then seal and discard the bag
- Leave furniture where it is until the technician advises
How long does it take to get rid of bed bugs?
Most treatments take at least a few weeks, because eggs hatch after the first visit and a follow-up check is needed. A heat treatment can be done in one day but still needs a check afterwards. No honest technician promises an exact date, and your preparation and the building both affect the timeline.
Expect a short run of visits, with the technician looking at the monitors and the sleeping areas each time. Signs of success are fewer bites and fewer bugs on traps. Do not stop the plan when bites stop for a few days, since that can happen before all the eggs have hatched.
If the problem returns, tell the technician where and when. A new bite pattern can point to a new source, for example a visitor, a sofa, or the next apartment.
