Bedbug Inspections Redbridge

Why Check When Nothing Is Wrong

Most inspections happen because someone has bites. These two do not. They are about avoiding a problem rather than confirming one, and the cost of a check is small next to treating a whole family house after the fact.

What we look at, in what order, and what we can and cannot tell you are covered on the London inspections page for the full explanation. Here we deal with the two situations.

Before You Buy a House

A house you are buying is usually still lived in, so the beds and sofas are the seller’s and the inspection has to be arranged through them or their agent. Ask early; a seller who refuses a look is telling you something too.

• A lived-in house is the easier one to read. The places bedbugs sit, and the signs they leave, are still there to be found.
• An empty house has fewer places to look, but bedbugs and their signs can remain in the skirtings, the carpet edges, the floorboards and fitted wardrobes. A clear result in an empty house is useful, but it is a less complete answer, and we will say so.
• Furniture being left behind, such as a bed in the box room or a wardrobe in the loft, needs looking at on its own before you agree to keep it.

An inspection is a pest check, not a survey, and we cannot advise on the purchase itself. We tell you what we found.

Before a Relative Moves In

When a parent, a grandparent or a grown-up son or daughter moves in, they rarely come with a suitcase. They bring a bed, a favourite chair, bedding and boxes of belongings from wherever they were living. The check that matters is on those things, at the old address, before they go into a van.

1. Ring and tell us what is moving: the bed, any upholstered chairs, headboards, bedding and boxes.
2. We look at them where they are now, while they can still be left behind if need be.
3. If we find nothing, they move. If we find bedbugs, we plan treatment before the move, not after.
4. Pack clothes and bedding in sealed plastic bags rather than cardboard. Our guide to cardboard boxes explains why.

A relative coming for a few weeks rather than for good is a different case; the Wanstead page covers grandparents staying to help with a baby. If the relative is moving out of a retirement flat with a warden, the Clayhall page is written for a retirement flat with a warden and a shared lounge.

What to Do Before We Arrive

Very little. Do not clean, strip the beds or spray anything, whichever home we are visiting. The marks we read are easy to wipe away, and a tidied bed can hide weeks of history.

Do make sure we can reach every bed and every piece that is moving, including anything already packed or in the loft. If something is in a storage unit, tell us, and we will discuss whether it is worth a look.

If We Find Something

You get the answer on the visit, and a clear view of what it would take. For a single room or a few pieces of furniture caught early, a course of chemical treatment in Redbridge may be enough. Where several rooms or a whole bedroom set are involved, heat treatment in one visit usually makes more sense. Treatments start from £220.

If we find nothing, you move in or bring the furniture home knowing you checked, which is the point. For bedbugs and the rest of the household, see our Redbridge page.

What an Inspection Costs

Inspections start from £120. A large house, or a check at two addresses (the house you are moving to and the flat your relative is leaving), is quoted on the rooms involved. Ring 0800 955 1018 and you get the figure on the phone before anything is booked.

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