Bedbug Control King's Cross

Reasons a Neighbour Says No

It is rarely just stubbornness. People refuse because they are embarrassed, because they are worried about cost, because they do not understand what is involved, or because they cannot face clearing a flat. Some do not notice bites at all and genuinely believe they have nothing. Keeping that in mind makes a second conversation more likely to go somewhere.

Do not try to deal with it on the doorstep yourself if it is getting heated. That is what the landlord, the managing agent or the building's concierge is there for.

Put It in Writing to the Building

Write to the landlord, letting agent or managing agent for your King's Cross flat. Give the dates you found signs, the rooms affected, any treatment you have had, and why you think the next-door flat is involved, for example signs concentrated on the shared wall. Ask them to arrange an inspection of the neighbouring flat.

Whether anyone can require access to another flat depends on the leases or tenancies in the building, and we are pest controllers, not legal advisers. What we can do is give you a written note of what we found and where, which is the kind of thing an agent asks for. An inspection starts from £120.

Protecting Your Own Flat

Treat your flat properly and pay attention to the shared side. A residual insecticide along the skirtings, around pipe and cable entries, at socket back-boxes on the party wall and along the threshold gives some protection against bedbugs walking in after the treatment. That is true whether you choose chemical treatment or heat; heat leaves nothing behind, so in a shared building we add a light residual at the edges afterwards.

Once the course is finished and the residual has done its work, sealing gaps on the shared wall is worth doing: around pipes under the sink, behind the boiler, and where skirtings have pulled away. Fewer gaps means fewer routes in. Treatments start from £220, and heat costs more than chemical.

Keeping Watch Afterwards

With an untreated flat next door, the aim is to catch any new arrivals early. Check the mattress seams and the bed frame every week or two, and keep the bed a little away from the shared wall if the room allows. How far they wander and how they cross between flats is covered in do bedbugs fly or jump.

If signs return, tell the agent again in writing, with dates, and ring us. A return from next door is a different problem from a treatment that did not work, and a record of what was found and when helps show which it is. Many flats around King's Cross are in new blocks with a building manager, which usually makes this easier to escalate. The Camden page covers treating a flat that others share walls with.

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