Can Bedbugs Live in the Loft in Merton?

It is natural to picture bedbugs retreating into the roof and waiting there. But bedbugs live where their food is, and their food is a sleeping person. An empty loft, full of boxes and insulation, gives them nothing to feed on.

Why an Unused Loft Is Unlikely

Bedbugs hide within easy reach of a bed and come out at night to feed. They do not roam a house looking for new territory unless they are forced to, and an unheated roof space with no one sleeping in it is not somewhere they would choose to settle. A problem in a bedroom below does not climb up through the ceiling to set up home among the rafters.

There is also the loft itself. It swings from cold in winter to very warm in summer, and it is dry and dusty. None of that makes it a good place for them.

A Loft Bedroom Is a Different Matter

Many semis and terraces have had their loft converted into a bedroom, a study with a sofa bed, or a guest room. The moment someone sleeps up there, it is a bedroom like any other, and bedbugs can live in the bed, the frame and the skirting just as they would downstairs.

Converted lofts bring a few quirks. Sloping ceilings create low, tight spaces where the roof meets the floor, and those eaves are often boarded off as storage behind small doors. The joints along the knee walls and the edges of built-in cupboards are worth checking with a torch and card, as covered in our guide to checking a bed.

Stored Bags, Suitcases and Furniture

Where a loft does matter is as a store. Suitcases that came back from a trip, a bag of bedding from a spare room, an old headboard or a box of children’s clothes from a relative can all carry bedbugs up there, and bedbugs can go a long time without feeding. The loft does not become infested; the item stays a risk until it comes back down.

1. Think about what went into the loft in the months before bites started.
2. Bring suspect bags and cases down to a hard floor away from the bedrooms, one at a time.
3. Open them there, check seams and pockets with a white torch, and wash what can be washed on a hot setting.
4. Vacuum the empty case along its seams and empty the vacuum outside straight away.
5. Tell us about anything you find, and about any furniture stored up there.

Do not put an infested item in the loft as a way of starving the bugs. They can outlast most people’s patience, and the item comes down one day.

Treating a Loft Room

A loft bedroom is treated like any other bedroom. With chemical treatment the residual goes into the bed, frame, skirting and the edges of the eaves cupboards. With heat, the eaves storage needs emptying of heat-sensitive items first, and the thermal camera is used on the low corners where cold spots are likely. The borough heat treatment page and the London guide on preparing for heat treatment explain what to move out.

When It Is Worth Asking Us to Look

If someone sleeps in the loft, or you stored things up there that came from a room with bedbugs, mention it when you call. Otherwise there is usually no need to empty the whole loft. An inspection from £120 can include a loft bedroom or a look at stored items if you are unsure.

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