Need Bed Bug Advice
I am currently looking to rent a place on Manhattan Ave in Greenpoint. I love it! It’s perfect! When I first arrived to view the apartment I asked the Building Manager if there had ever been a history of Bed Bug infestation in the building. He seems to skip a beat for an instant, but…
I am currently looking to rent a place on Manhattan Ave in Greenpoint. I love it! It’s perfect! When I first arrived to view the apartment I asked the Building Manager if there had ever been a history of Bed Bug infestation in the building. He seems to skip a beat for an instant, but replied, “I’m not sure, I would have to check with the landlord.â€
The next day when we spoke on the phone to finalize some details he told me that three years ago the apartment directly above the one I was interested in had reported bed bugs. They apparently treated the entire building and I was told they haven’t had any problems since.
However, after the initial report an exterminator came and found bed bugs in all three apt.’s on that side of the 8 family building. The one above, the one I want and the one below. There were two old women living in the apartment I want to rent and the apartment below, they never reported bugs because they had no physical reaction to them. So even if a problem persisted, they may have never known.
Anyways, the apartment vacated because the old woman moved back to Poland and the place was gut-renovated. The old lady living above (where the infestation was said to originate) is also vacating and that place is going to be gut renovated too.
It seems a little odd to me that two of the three apartments said to be infested are now vacating and being gut-renovated, but the tenants did live there for like 30 years.
Do you think this place is probably okay to move into? It’s a great place and they said they could probably spray before I moved in to ease my mind. What do you think? Is it worth the risk?
I haven’t ever had any success with heat treatment. It’s a fad, just like those “as seen on TV” type crap products. You just need some good strong chemicals. If you want some more info on those parasites you can check out Bed Bugs
Has anybody ever heard of BedBugChasers.com?? Has anybody had any success treating an entire house with heat to get rid of bed bugs?? Rather than chemicals I would like to treat the whole house rather a room or two just to be safe.
“I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”
–Warrant Officer Ripley.
And the creepy-crawlies she was talking about weren’t as scary as bedbugs…
When my grandmother was a child, all the bed frames were metal and every leg stood in a little dish filled with kerosene so the bedbugs couldn’t reach it.
If you try this, though, don’t smoke in bed.
GirlDetective, I’m worried about what will happen when the upstairs apartment is renovated – good chance that the bugs will migrate down to you (or to someone else in the building). They are resilient little f-ers.
The bugs have a cost factor, a drive-you-crazy factor, and a make-you-throw-out-stuff-you-really-love factor. If you get bugs, your landlord is responsible for extermination costs, but not the cost of all the stuff you have to replace. And some of that stuff will be irreplaceable – like furniture you inherited from your great grandmother or whatever.
I’m also not crazy about the building manager’s non-straightforward-ness. Although if I owned a building with bugs I’m not sure what I’d do myself…But what else is he not being straightforward about?
If it were me, I wouldn’t do it. You’ve had bugs before, but it doesn’t sound like it was bad – I’ve seen people literally driven insane by bugs. But if you’re so desperately in love with this particular apartment, I’d advise not bringing anything you would be devastated to throw out into the apartment for three to six months after moving in.
HotelDetective—
feel free to stop by if you want, i can share some preventitive tips with you.
OnEasternParkway, yes I saw on BedBugRegistry that it was above and below and I know that it was treated, but it’s still unnerving. Obviously I’m 5. Except for my occasional paranoia about the bed bugs, it’s really an amazing apartment.
I know plenty of people who’ve had them–and though it’s a major pain, it is absolutely possible to get rid of them completely.
But just to be safe:
–make sure you have a metal bed/bedframe
–order those bedbug mattress covers for your mattress & box spring (http://www.natlallergy.com/ has cheaper options than those Protect-A-Bed things)
–Never pick up anything off the street.
Your landlord is already responsible for the exterminator costs, so you don’t really need to have him sign an additional waver.
You can also get that white powder at the hardware store on Manhattan, we’ve swept it into all the baseboards to prevent them from coming in from other apartments, so far, so good.
i wouldnt live RENT FREE in a luxurious high rise overlooking the hudson river if it possibly had bedbugs.
*rob*