Bedbug Inspection for Gut Renovated Building
In a couple of months I will be moving into the top floor of a 3 story brownstone in Park Slope that has been gut renovated. The other two units are also in contract so no one is living there now. I checked the bedbug registry and there are no hits for my building or…
In a couple of months I will be moving into the top floor of a 3 story brownstone in Park Slope that has been gut renovated. The other two units are also in contract so no one is living there now. I checked the bedbug registry and there are no hits for my building or the rest of the block. Still, I am wondering if I should do a bedbug inspection. Our agent said that the people on the second floor had an engineer do a structural inspection and everything looked okay so she didn’t think it was necessary. What do you all suggest? Can a dog even sniff out bedbugs if they are living within the walls of a building?
plus if no furniture in the house, where do you think they would be living?
bedbugs is the new neurosis of the day. The new toxic mold, or asbestos or whatever. Remember radon?
reasonable, sane advice. thank you.
Bedbugs make people crazy. I have two good friends who have had them, and the mental health toll on both of them was intense. So I get why you would want to be sure.
Problem is, it’s impossible to be sure. And Minard is right – you can get them the moving truck, the bench on the subway, lots of places. The new owners downstairs can bring them in. Point being, it’s not possible to eliminate the threat of bedbugs 100% from your life. So there’s no point in making yourself nuts over it. You take reasonable precautions, and then pour yourself a drink and relax. Terrorists will probably get you before the bugs anyway :).
A year is the outside time limit for how long bugs can live without feeding. They’re not going to feed on the construction workers – not while they’re working, anyway. So if the place has been empty for a year, that’s about the best chance you’ve got of a bug-free home. If an inspection will make you feel better, do it – there’s something to be said for the placebo effect. But you probably don’t need it.
from what the agent tells me, the building has not been occupied for about a year. i have no reason to suspect that the building has bed bugs and am admittedly caught up in the wave of paranoia sweeping the city. i was feeling pretty good reading your comments until i read minard’s about the likelihood of getting bed bugs from the moving truck. 🙁
this does not guaranty that you will not get them in the future anyway. And if you will get them in the future – you can hire exterminator to deal with this. So do not get too preocupied with the subject.
BTW is there a theory why bedbugs sudently become an issue in NYC? We did not use DDT for decades and people travel for decades. But only in the past five years 20% of the houses got them. Maybe this is the new weapon of terrorists.
bedbugs cannot live in an empty building. they need to feed on human blood -so no humans, no lunch.
It is far more likely you will pick them up from your mover’s truck, so save the inspection until after you see bites on your arms.
Ridiculous for 99% of homes.
I assume you’re already in contract – bed bug clauses are becoming more and more prevalent in sales, esp. in Manhattan, actually. Talk to your lawyer. Bed bug sniffing dogs, supposedly, are responsible for more false positives than anything. When was the place last occupied? If over a year ago you should be OK, unless they were feeding on construction workers during the day (not likely).
I wouldn’t do it. But hey – if you are made of money…