Bed Bugs

[Christopher Lombardi]

Hey BP,

My crew is in the middle of demo-ing of an apartment building which we are turning into luxury units, and found TONS of bed bugs. There are literally colonies of bed bugs spread throughout the entire place, mostly under the molding.  I am wondering if anyone knows of a good strategy for making sure they don't come back after we finish construction.  

We will be removing any wall, wood, flooring, insulation, etc, that shows signs of bugs.  Would it make sense to bring in the dogs to sniff them out before putting up walls?   We are also going to try to leave the building winterized this winter so if it gets cold enough we can freeze them out.  

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks,

Chris

[Account Closed]

While I'm no expert, bed bugs can be a huge problem. You may want to hire a professional to exterminate them, where they usually use steam to kill them. I don't think the cold winter weather will do anything to them. The good thing is that right now you are demoing and also the property is vacant, so it is the opportune time to do so. The worst thing to do right now would be to NOT fully exterminate them, put up your luxury units, get the units occupied, and then have to deal with the extermination. After the treatment, the bed bug company should be able to bring their bed bug dog out behind them to sniff the place to make sure the bed bugs are gone. It is a bad idea to hire a company that doesn't specialize in this area as not only will they waste time and money, but you could pay them for something only to have the bugs come back again, putting you further behind than when you started. Also, be careful not let any of the bugs hitch a ride on you or your tools and equipment, as then you could transfer them from property to property.