Before the Boxes Come In
Woolwich has a lot of new rental stock around the Royal Arsenal and near the Elizabeth line station, alongside older flats and conversions. New or old makes less difference than you would think: bedbugs arrive with people and furniture, not with the age of the building. What matters is whether the last occupant or the last piece of furniture brought them in.
If you can, get the keys an hour before the van arrives and walk every room with a torch. Stack the boxes in the hallway or the kitchen rather than the bedroom until you are satisfied.
What to Look At in an Empty Flat
- Any furniture left by the landlord. A supplied bed, mattress or sofa is the first thing to check. Look along every seam and into the frame joints.
- Skirting boards in the bedroom. Run a torch along the gap where the skirting meets the floor, especially where a bed used to stand.
- Carpet edges and gripper rods. Lift a corner if it comes up easily. Dark spotting or pale shed skins are worth photographing.
- Behind sockets and switch plates near where a bed has been. Look, do not unscrew anything.
- Wardrobes and built-in cupboards. The back corners and the shelf supports.
An empty flat can still look clean when it is not. Bedbugs can go a long time without feeding, and a few hidden in a skirting will not show themselves until someone sleeps nearby. Our guide where bedbugs hide that gets missed is worth reading before the walk-round.
If You Find Something
Stop unpacking into that room. Take clear photos, keep any bug you can catch in a sealed bag or pot, and tell the landlord or agent in writing the same way you would report a leak. Who arranges and pays for treatment depends on the tenancy and on how the bedbugs got there, and that is a question for the tenancy agreement or an adviser rather than for us — we are pest controllers, not legal advisers.
What we can do is give you a clear answer on whether it is bedbugs. An inspection starts at £120, and a written finding is useful whichever of you ends up booking the treatment.
Treating a Flat You Have Only Just Moved Into
If the flat is still mostly empty, that is the easiest treatment anyone will ever get. With chemical, there is nothing to strip and wash and the floors are already clear. With heat, there are no boxes of heat-sensitive things to sort through first, and one visit usually finishes it. Treatments start at £220, with the figure given on the phone before anything is booked.
If you have already unpacked, keep your clothes and bedding bagged until the treatment and ask us which of your things need to be in the room on the day. Our guide to pillows, duvets and toppers covers what can simply be washed and dried.
Bedbug Control Woolwich — Questions
Can bedbugs be in a flat that has been empty for weeks?
Yes. They can survive a long time without a meal, so an empty spell does not clear them out on its own. The check before you unpack still matters.
Should I bring my own mattress in if I find bugs in the supplied one?
Not into that room until it has been dealt with. A clean mattress in an untreated room soon becomes the next place they live.
Is it my job or the landlord's to arrange treatment?
It depends on the tenancy and on the cause, which we cannot judge. Report it in writing and keep a copy; that record helps whichever way it goes.
Would a trap tell me if the flat is clear?
A monitor can show that something is moving, but an empty cup does not prove there is nothing there. The traps and monitors guide explains why.
Do you cover the rest of the borough?
Yes. See the Greenwich borough page, or ring and tell us where you are.
Elsewhere in Greenwich
The other areas in the borough, each written around a different situation.
Bedbug Advice for Woolwich
Picked for this page: the guides that go further on what matters for Woolwich.
The Early Signs, and the Timeline
Week one to month six. What is detectable when, and why 'early' is mostly invisible.
Read more →
Inspection First, or Straight to Treatment?
When the £120 saves you money, and when it is £120 you did not need to spend.
Read more →
Do Bedbug Traps and Monitors Work?
Interceptor cups and monitors as a way of finding bedbugs, not a way of treating them.
Read more →
Metal, Wooden or Divan: Which Bed Frame?
Which frames give them most places to hide, how each is treated, and whether to replace.
Read more →Bedbug Treatments in Greenwich
Every service has its own page for Greenwich: heat, chemical, hotels, commercial premises and inspections.
Covering Woolwich
Tell Us About the Property
Tell us whether you have moved in yet and what furniture came with the flat, and we will suggest the next step.