Bedbug Control Hoxton

Leave It Where It Is

Do not take it in, however good it looks, and do not drag it down the stairs to the street to be helpful. Moving a piece of furniture that has bedbugs shakes them loose along the route, and a stairwell is the one place every flat in the building shares. Keep children and pets from climbing on it, and keep your own bags and shopping off it.

Old wooden pieces and woven chairs are especially hard to judge because they have so many joints and gaps; our guide on wicker, rattan and vintage furniture explains what to look for if one has already come inside.

Who to Tell

Report it in writing to whoever looks after the common parts of the building: the managing agent, the housing officer or the landlord. Say what it is, where it is, and when it appeared. Ask for it to be wrapped and removed rather than simply carried out. We are pest controllers, not legal advisers, so we cannot tell you whose job that is under your lease or tenancy, but a written note makes sure somebody has to answer it.

If you think you know which flat it came from, it is usually better to let the building manager raise it than to knock on the door yourself. Your neighbour may already be dealing with it, and dumping the furniture may have been a panicked first step.

Checking Your Own Front Door

If the furniture is close to your flat, or if it sat there for a while, check the places a bedbug arriving from the landing would reach first:

• The gap under your front door and the skirting either side of it
• Coats and bags hung just inside the door
• The nearest sofa or bed, along the seams and under the cushions
• Any furniture that backs onto the wall you share with the stairwell

Small dark spots, pale shed skins and the insects themselves are what you are looking for. If you are not sure what you have found, an inspection from £120 settles it before any money goes on treatment.

If It Has Already Come Inside

If someone in the household brought it in before you knew, stop using it and leave it where it now stands; ask us before carrying it back out. If it is only that one piece and it has not been slept on, the job may be small. If it has been in a bedroom or used as a bed, heat treatment deals with the piece and the room in one visit, while chemical treatment costs less and runs over two or three visits. Treatments in Hoxton start at £220, and the figure depends on how many rooms are involved. The Hackney borough page covers the wider question of belongings arriving from elsewhere.

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