<p>So I flipped the mattress a few days ago and had a heart attack. I immediately called the landlord, and they brought a bedbug exterminator. They cleared the place within 24 hours.</p>
<p>Since I read that bedbugs are very hard to get rid of , I looked around… saw a few crawling around again. </p>
<p>I have the lease til the end of April; I’ll see if there are any other available rooms. Not sure how highly they’re considering my interests because the bedbug company that was hired didn’t bother to clean the dead bugs after they sprayed the place, or add a protective covering to the mattress - seems like they killed everything and then left. </p>
<p>I’ve alternated between sociable to turning downright abrasive and mean when problems aren’t dealt with and when I get fed with b.s - I haven’t reached a tipping point because they’ve been agreeable so far but I’m skeptical that this problem will be solved because bedbugs are very very hard to deal with. (who knows where they’re hiding, and whether they’re coming from another room in the building).</p>
<p>What should I do in this situation? Obviously will be talking to them asap but wondering what I should be asking for (new room?), no penalty (if I break my lease, contract ends end of April so one more month). Thanks, appreciate any help</p>
<p>First of all, I would have a conversation with the exterminator or the landlord to find out what their plan is. Bed bugs cannot be eliminated with one treatment. And you are right, they can easily come from another unit through cracks, ducts, etc. The best treatment for them is to clear the apartment of all belongings, treat the rooms and then repeat the treatment every month for three months. This is effective because it interrupts the reproduction of the bugs, which one treatment will not do.</p>
<p>Your best defense, as MichiganGeorgia says, is to find out how not to bring them with you when you move. It will be time consuming and frustrating but absolutely necessary if you don’t want to deal with this again. I was trying to link you to a website that is very helpful but can’t seem to find it. I will keep looking. In the meantime, beware any sites or suggestions that are “quick fixes”. Bed bugs are, as you stated, very difficult to get rid of. But they can be eliminated if handled correctly to begin with.</p>
<p>In the meantime, get some diatomaceous earth and sprinkle that everywhere. It hardens their shells and kills them. I sprinkled it around the perimeter of my mattress before going to bed at night. They could crawl through it to feed on me (really gross to think about and made going to sleep difficult) but they got coated in the process.</p>
<p>Using the diatomaceous earth, I got rid of the bedbugs in about a month’s time, without an exterminator. That was in October, and they can go without feeding for up to six months, so I can finally relax and stop looking for bite marks. In the meantime, I put my clothes through the dryer every morning and got dressed in the laundry room, leaving immediately after dressing. I kept my shoes out on the porch. </p>
<p>You should (1) talk to the landlord. If the exterminator thought what they did was enough, you should ask them to engage another exterminator that specializes in bedbugs; (2) move out at the end of April. You do have to research how to get them out of your stuff, and that is a huge hassle. But worth it.</p>
<p>Bedbugs can live for 18 months without feeding, not six. Not every exterminator nows the proper way to deal wit them but they are usually more than willing to take your money regardless.
When we got them, the first exterminator I called was inexpensive and wanted to treat the house only once. It was tempting. I did a lot of research on the most effective methods and ended up going with another exterminator.</p>
<p>I have heard that, as KKmama says, diatomaceous earth is very helpful for bedbugs. They say you should sprinkle it around entrances to your apartment from other apartments, such as electrical sockets, etc. </p>
<p>I use DE in the spring around my hostas and it does a good job in eliminating slugs. </p>
<p>Diatomaceous earth sounds like a great idea; I was skeptical of any non professional treatments but seeing hayden corroborate KKmama’s experience makes me feel a lot more at ease.</p>
<p>Will definitely do mores research on how to not bring them over, probably invest in some bed coverings for my new place. Not sure if I should just throw the mattress away, I’ll see if isolating it is worth it.</p>
<p>Great link ETPR, exactly what I need. Think I found intparent’s thread from a few years back about bedbugs when I googled lol, good thing the bites aren’t causing any allergic reactions of discomfort.</p>
<p>Appreciate all the responses, I’m grateful for the CC community haha.</p>
<p>We learned a lot by going through this. If your mattress is fairly new and it has been treated appropriately by a trained exterminator, you can safely keep it but should put it in a case that is made specifically for bed bug issues. We kept our mattresses. The cases (for a queen size) cost us about 100 dollars. The whole adventure was close to three thousand dollars. That included the exterminator, plastic storage bins, no pest strips, mattress covers and pillow covers (did buy all new pillows as well), dry cleaning, boarding for the dog during treatments…</p>