Before They Arrive
Decide which bed they will use and make it the guest bed rather than yours, if you can. It is easier to deal with one spare room than the main bedroom. Put a clean, pale sheet on it so that any spotting would show.
Ask them to keep their luggage on a hard floor or a luggage stand, not on the bed or under it. This is an ordinary request and most sitters will not think twice about it.
What to Agree With the Sitter
- Tell them what to look for. Small dark spots on the sheets or mattress edge, and bites in lines or clusters.
- Ask them to stay in the same bed. If they think they are being bitten, moving to your bed or the sofa would spread them.
- Ask them to tell you straight away. A photo of the spots or the bites is more useful than a description.
- Leave them our number. They can ring and describe what they see, and we can advise.
If Bedbugs Turn Up While You Are Away
It is tempting to wait until you are home. Usually it is better to get an answer now. An inspection from £120 confirms it, and if the sitter can let us in and do the preparation, treatment can go ahead before you get back. Whether that works depends on what the sitter is willing to do, so ask when you ring.
Preparation is the bigger question. For heat treatment in Havering, anything heat can damage has to come out of the room first, and pets have to be out. For chemical treatment, bedding is stripped and hot-washed and the floor is cleared. A sitter who has been told the list can do either.
Coming Home
Your own luggage is now as much of a question as the house. Unpack it in the hall, put clothes straight into a hot wash, and check the case seams before it goes back under a bed. Hotels are not the only place bedbugs are picked up, as our guide are bedbugs only a hotel problem explains.
Then look at the bed the sitter used, and the one you sleep in. If both are clear and the sitter reported nothing, that is the end of it. If you find signs, leave the sitter's bed made up as it is and ring us. Treatments start from £220, and the figure for a Harold Wood house depends on how many rooms need doing.
Bedbug Control Harold Wood — Questions
Should I ask the sitter whether they have had bedbugs before?
You can, but a clear answer does not tell you much. Agreeing what they should do if they find signs is more useful.
The sitter is sure they did not bring them. Does it matter who did?
Not much, for the treatment. Bedbugs could have come in with either of you. Focus on which rooms are affected.
Can the sitter stay during treatment?
They will need to be out of the rooms while we work, and for heat treatment for most of the day. Follow the instructions given on the day.
What if my pets are being looked after at home?
Pets have to be out of the room for heat treatment and out while chemical treatment is carried out. Tell us about them when you ring.
Can the sitter book it on my behalf?
They can ring us, but whoever owns or rents the house should agree to the booking and the price before anything goes ahead.
Elsewhere in Havering
The other areas in the borough, each written around a different situation.
Bedbug Advice for Harold Wood
Picked for this page: the guides that go further on what matters for Harold Wood.
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 →
The Early Signs, and the Timeline
Week one to month six. What is detectable when, and why 'early' is mostly invisible.
Read more →
Only a Hotel Problem?
Where bedbugs really turn up, why homes are where they settle, and what follows.
Read more →
How Long Does a Heat Treatment Take?
Why one London flat takes four hours and another takes ten, and what decides it.
Read more →Bedbug Treatments in Havering
Every service has its own page for Havering: heat, chemical, hotels, commercial premises and inspections.
Covering Harold Wood
Tell Us About the Property
Tell us whether you are home or away and who can let us in, and we will work out the next step.