Bedbug Chemical Treatment Lewisham

The Course Only Works if Every Visit Happens

A residual insecticide is laid into the seams, frames and skirtings on the first visit, but it does not reliably kill eggs. The visits that follow, around 10 to 14 days apart, are there to catch the bugs that hatch in between. Skip one, or let the gap drift to five weeks because no one could let us in, and the hatched bugs have time to mature and lay again.

That is why, in a rented flat, the arrangements matter almost as much as the insecticide. The London chemical treatment page gives the full explanation of how the course works; what follows is how to make sure it actually gets delivered.

Who Lets Us In

The simplest arrangement is the tenant being at home for each visit. They know what has been seen and where, they have done the preparation, and they can tell us if anything has changed since last time. Each visit takes one to two hours, so it rarely needs a full day off.

If the tenant cannot be there, a landlord or letting agent can meet us with a key, but agree it between you first. Your tenancy may say how much notice is needed before anyone enters, and that is a matter for you and the landlord to settle, not us. What we need to know when booking is who will open the door on each date and a phone number that will be answered that morning.

• Book all the visits at the start, not one at a time
• Put the dates somewhere both tenant and landlord can see them
• If a date falls through, ring us straight away so we can move it within the window
• Whoever opens the door should know which rooms are being treated

Getting the Flat Ready, Visit After Visit

Preparation is not a one-off. Before every visit, the bedding is stripped and hot-washed, the floors are cleared so we can reach the skirtings, and the bed is left where it is. If the landlord is letting us in and the tenant is at work, the tenant still does this part, so it helps to agree it the evening before.

After each visit you stay out of the treated rooms until they have dried, then carry on living there as normal. Follow what we tell you on the day about cleaning near the skirtings where the product has gone down. Moving to a friend’s sofa for the duration usually carries the problem with you, so we ask people not to. If the washing has to go to a launderette, read our guide to laundry bags and launderettes first.

Keeping the Landlord in the Loop

Once the course is booked, a landlord who hears nothing for a month tends to assume either that it is finished or that it has not started. A short message after each visit prevents that. It does not need to be long: the date, which rooms were treated, what we said about what we found, and the date of the next visit.

Whoever booked us receives our notes on what was found and what was done. If that is the tenant, forwarding them keeps the landlord’s record complete; if it is the landlord, a copy for the tenant is a courtesy that pays off when the next visit needs arranging. How to report the problem in the first place, and who pays, is covered in Tenant or Landlord: Who Arranges Bedbug Treatment?

When the Course Finishes, or Does Not

At the last visit we tell you whether we think the course is complete or whether a further visit is needed. Pass that on to the landlord in the same way as the others. Keep every note and date together, because if bedbugs turn up again months later the record shows exactly what was done; the Forest Hill page covers what a return after a long gap usually means.

If the tenancy is ending partway through, tell us and tell the landlord. Leaving the course unfinished hands the problem to the next person who moves in.

Price, and When Heat Is Easier

Treatments start from £220, and chemical costs less than heat. The exact figure depends on the number of rooms and is given on the phone before anything is booked, which gives a tenant and a landlord time to agree who is paying.

Where arranging several visits is going to be difficult, for example because the tenant works away or the landlord lives far off, a single day of heat treatment in Lewisham can be simpler to organise even though it costs more. A tenant in one room of a shared house should also read the New Cross page.

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