Bedbug Control Penge

When the Lodger's Room Is the Source

A new lodger arrives with a suitcase, a few bags and sometimes a mattress or a chair from their last place. Any of those can bring bedbugs in. Just as often it runs the other way, and a lodger moves into a room that already had them.

It does not matter much for the treatment which way it went. What matters is finding it early, which means asking your lodger to tell you about bites or marks on the sheets straight away rather than putting up with them quietly.

Their Room, Your Room and the Shared Space

Bedbugs stay close to where someone sleeps, so the lodger's bed is the first place to look. After that come the rooms either side of it, any sofa either of you sleeps on, and your own bedroom if it shares a wall.

• The lodger's bed, headboard, bedside furniture and any chair they sit on in the evening.
• Bags and suitcases kept under the bed or on top of the wardrobe.
• Your own bedroom, and any children's rooms on the same landing.
• The lounge sofa, if anyone falls asleep on it.

The kitchen and bathroom are rarely involved. An inspection tells you which rooms go on the treatment list.

Arranging Treatment Around Someone Else's Belongings

The lodger's room holds their things, not yours, so they need to be part of the preparation. Bedding stripped and hot-washed, clothes bagged, the floor cleared. For heat, their aerosols, medication, candles and any electronics we flag come out of the room for the day. Agree a date that suits them as well as you, and tell them what is happening in writing.

If they are away or unwilling, the treatment cannot be done properly, because the room will not be ready. That is worth sorting out before booking.

Choosing Heat or Chemical With a Lodger

Chemical treatment means two or sometimes three visits, 10–14 days apart, and the lodger has to keep the room prepared through that whole period. Heat is usually one day, eggs included, with everyone out while it runs. In a shared house we may add a light residual along the edges after heat. How many treatments it takes explains the difference in visits.

Who pays depends on your arrangement with the lodger and on where the bedbugs came from. We are pest controllers, not legal advisers, but we can put what we found in writing. If you let several rooms to separate people, the HMO guide may be closer to your situation.

After the treatment, a simple habit helps: when a new lodger moves in, ask them to leave cases and bags on a hard floor rather than on the bed, and check the room together a week or two later. It takes a few moments and it is far easier than starting again.

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