The council is making myself and my child life hell, we have bed bug and they have not treated the flat properly they are been very unprofessional?
we do not have many but they are here, they are hidden in places inside the flat, walls, etc, the flat is been spray 2 time and my neighbors too, the pest control are doing a little spray here and there! They said that if they do not see trace of them there is no need to spray, my solicitor has no clue what is all about and we have to leave with all our belonging in the garden, the flat has NO space to store as me and my girl are forced to stay in a small one bedroom (bedsit size) flat, kitchen and living room are one room so the bedbug have been found on my pan on top of a shelf, so in order to monitor where they are coming from we packed and washed all our clothes and belonging and put them in the shared garden, so the freeze will keep staff safe from bugs for now.
Look like the bathroom is the place where they travel from flat to flat, but Pest control said is impossible. I would like a newspaper to come around and be involve, an article maybe will move the council and the Pest Control.
suggestion or article are welcome.
If it was not clear they are not in the bed, they are within the walls of the block they have infested 3 fla
this is what they look like:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/content/articles/2008/02/15/london_bed_bugs_s13_w2_feature.shtml
this is another link of what my bug look like : http://www.bed-bugs-handbook.com/photos-of-bed-bugs.html
also this are the step i taken so far:
1. I try to get the other tenant to write a letter together and one tenant did, but only 3 of us sign(out of 4) the tenant at the ground floor is not effected as she is just moved in and her bedroom is at the opposite side of ours, also the council did her flat up before she moved, so if the bug where there they have escape to our floor upstairs.
2. one of the tenant is a private tenant and they are the one that wrote the letter, the other one is an old lady no way she will do more...one moment she things that they are bedbug or different bugs than she change her mind...no much help from her, so is hard to get cooperation, also since we only find few in bathroom area the pest control do not think is serious,
3. I told the local politician he wrote few letter with no success,
the problem is the pest control have treated the flats but in different time as well as not properly for example they did not spray cracks on walls or window frame etc or bathroom were we have lately find them.
thanks bedbug handbook yes I wrote to newspaper too, with no success so far. the rent idea is good but some of my neighbour's will not be able to do it as they are private! and the lady downstairs is on benefit! the idea is good but with no much cooperation is going to be hard. the local council Environmental heath has send the pest control that I mention above so really no much I can hope. the solicitor I got is been useless he show me the pest control letter that say that they spray their insecticide where they see the bug! we all know they can hide and strange after they spray there is always few death one the next day so if there were no bugs where are the death one coming from. also for the information in case I was not clear:
1-my flat is free of clutter as all my belonging and my kid ones have been all in the garden in refuse bag for few month now (note the council did not offer any alternative storage solution),
2-the wardrobe and chest of drawer and all furniture are off the
Answer by Snappy Michaelangelo
In order to remove bedbugs, follow these instructions carefully:
1. Wash sheets
Congratulations, you are now bedbug-free!
Answer by Bed Bugs Handbook
Apartment buildings or flats are one of the most difficult to treat for bed bugs. The problem with spraying is that the insects have the opportunity to hide in the walls and spread from unit to unit. Also, apartments with clutter make it difficult to treat walls, baseboards etc. Also, furniture in front of walls makes treatment difficult.
When an apartment has bed bugs, all adjacent units need to be treatment. This includes those next door, above and below the problem apartment.
Most building managers will try to limit their costs by only treating the problem apartment. They often ask tenants not to discuss the problem with neighbors. As indicated, this is a mistake. Be sure to contact your neighbors, as their apartment could have been the cause, that spread to yours. It is next to impossible to determine how an infestation started in the building. Also, contact your local department of health. With will create a legal record that you have a problem, an important consideration if you need government or legal action to get out of a lease or to force a landlord to take action.
If the initial extermination methods do not work, which are usually some combination of vacuuming, sprays and fossil dust, the building management will either need to 1) fumigate the entire building or apartments affect, or 2) use heat treatment on the entire building or affected apartments. Heat works by raising the temperature in the building to levels at which bed bugs cannot survive. It is 100% effective and chemical free. Both chemical and heat will be effective. I prefer heat (called thermal remediation) (see resource for more information). This can be expensive which is why many building managers resist this approach.
If your building manager does not take action, try contacting your local health department to see if they can help.
In the mean time, the resources listed below have some suggestions that could help protect your family. This includes:
- Sealing base boards with caulk
- Placing fossil dust around the perimeter of the room
- Moving beds 6 inches from walls/furniture
- Wear tight fitting clothes to bed
- Treat the mattress with heat using a hand steamer or even a hair dryer (hold on each section of mattress for 30 seconds to generate heat needed to kill insects)
- Treat the perimeter of the apartment with a residual bed bug spray (see resource for suggestions), which will kill bed bugs for several weeks
A kit is the most economical way to purchase the combination of products needed (see resource for suggestions), however, remember that all adjacent apartments need to be treated for lasting protection.
If all else fails, you can reach out to local politicians like you have already done, organize a rent strike (place rent into escrow with the help of a lawyer via your local legal aid society) and even reaching out to the media for help as you also mentioned. All landlords hate publicity.
Given that you tried many of these methods, I'd work with a lawyer to organize a rent strike.
What do you think? Answer below!
Orignal From: BEDBUG at Christmas, we need your HELP! anyone?
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