First, Is the Course Actually Finished?
A chemical course is usually two visits, sometimes three, about 10 to 14 days apart, because the insecticide does not reliably kill eggs. Seeing live bedbugs between the first and second visit is normal: that is the hatch the follow-up is there to catch. If you have only had one visit, ring the company that did it and ask when the next one is.
Seeing them two or three weeks after the last visit is different, and that is when a second opinion is worth having. Our London guide on why bedbugs reappear after treatment covers the common reasons in detail.
What We Look At
- Where they are now. The same bed, a new room, or the sofa. That tells us whether they survived or moved.
- What was treated. Bring any paperwork: which rooms, which method, how many visits. If you do not have it, tell us what you remember.
- What happened in between. Did anyone change rooms, did furniture go out, was the bedding washed before each visit?
- Places that often get missed. Headboards fixed to the wall, curtain tops, sockets, picture frames and the underside of drawers.
An inspection is the right first step here. It answers whether bedbugs are still present and where, before any more money is spent.
Common Reasons It Did Not Work
- The follow-up visit did not happen, or happened too early for the eggs to have hatched.
- Floors were not cleared or bedding was not washed, so parts of the room could not be reached.
- Someone slept elsewhere during the course and took them to an untreated room.
- They are coming from next door or the flat below, so the problem is being refilled.
- Something that went in and out of the house, like a bag or a car seat, kept bringing them back.
None of these are about blame. They are what we look for so the next treatment does not repeat them.
What Happens Next
If the problem is one or two rooms and the cause is clear, a properly finished chemical course may be all that is needed. If people are tired of waiting and the infestation has had several weeks to settle, heat treatment is often the better answer, because it kills every stage in one visit. It costs more. We will tell you which we would recommend for your home in New Barnet and why, before anything is booked. The Barnet borough page explains how we plan treatment in a busy household.
Bedbug Control New Barnet — Questions
Should I ask the first company to come back before calling you in New Barnet?
Yes, if their course is not finished or they offered a return visit. Give them the chance to complete it. Call us if you want an independent look or they cannot come.
Is it normal to see bedbugs after the first visit?
Yes. Eggs laid before the visit hatch in the following days. That is why a second visit is booked about two weeks later.
Can you tell me whether the first treatment was done properly?
We can tell you what we find now and what we think is the likely reason. We cannot say for certain what happened on a visit we did not see.
Should I stop using the bed until someone has looked?
No. Keep sleeping where you are. Moving to the sofa or another room is one of the commonest reasons a treatment seems to fail, because it takes bedbugs somewhere that was not treated.
Will a second treatment cost the same as the first?
Treatments start at £220. The figure depends on the rooms and the method, and you get it on the phone before anything is booked.
Elsewhere in Barnet
The other areas in the borough, each written around a different situation.
Bedbug Advice for New Barnet
Picked for this page: the guides that go further on what matters for New Barnet.
Why Bedbugs Reappear After Treatment
Hatching, survival or re-introduction. Three different problems that look identical.
Read more →
Can Bedbugs Survive a Heat Treatment?
Sometimes, yes. Here are the five ways it happens, and how each one is avoided.
Read more →
The Places That Get Missed
Beyond the bed and the two-metre radius: the harbourages that survive a mediocre inspection.
Read more →What Do Bedbug Eggs Look Like?
Size, colour, where they are laid, what an empty shell looks like, and why eggs shape treatment.
Read more →Bedbug Treatments in Barnet
Every service has its own page for Barnet: heat, chemical, hotels, commercial premises and inspections.
Covering New Barnet
Tell Us About the Property
Tell us what was treated, how many visits there were and what you are seeing now, and we will help you work out what went wrong.