Bed bugs
One Flat in a Block
In an older mansion block the bedroom wall may back onto a neighbour's bedroom, and the gaps around skirtings, pipes and electrical sockets can connect the two. Bed bugs usually stay close to where people sleep, but when numbers grow or a room is treated they can move along those gaps. Can bed bugs spread between flats? explains how far they tend to travel.
The common staircase
Every piece of furniture that arrives in a block comes up the same stairs. A second-hand sofa, a mattress being taken away, or a bed frame left on the landing for collection can drop bed bugs on the way, and a stair carpet or a crack in the plaster beside the banister will hide them for a while. If you are getting rid of an infested mattress, wrap it before it leaves the flat.
How they arrived
Travel, visitors, a second-hand bed or chair, and moving in are the usual routes. It is worth thinking back over the last couple of months, because how bed bugs got in often explains where else to check. It is never a sign of a dirty home.
Checking a Period Bedroom
- Dark spotting and pale shed skins along the mattress seams and piping
- Live insects in the joints of the bed frame or behind the headboard
- Spotting where the skirting meets old floorboards close to the bed
- Marks around a picture rail or the edge of wallpaper behind the bed
- Signs in the seams of a sofa if anyone has been sleeping on it
Where bed bugs hide shows the less obvious places. If the bites are mainly on the ankles and you have a pet, fleas are worth ruling out.
Moving day in a block
Moving in or out is a risky moment where bed bugs have been in the building. Furniture waits on the landing, a bed frame taken apart can shed bugs in the stairwell, and removal blankets travel from job to job. Look over the joints of any frame before putting it back together, and keep bags of clothes sealed until they can go through a hot wash. The first signs of bed bugs is worth reading in the weeks after a move.
Who to Tell in the Building
Inside your flat, arranging treatment is normally for you, or for your landlord if you rent. It still helps to tell the neighbours either side and the managing agent, since a flat treated next to one that is not can be reinfested. The Childs Hill area page sets out who usually looks after what in a block.
Getting Ready for the Visit
- Do not move to the sofa or another bedroom, which spreads them
- Do not throw the mattress out yet, and do not carry it through the building unwrapped
- Leave the bed as it is, so the signs can be seen
- Wash bedding hot and dry it on a hot cycle, bagging it before it leaves the room
When you book bed bug control, say how many rooms are affected, whether anyone sleeps in the living room, and whether the neighbours have reported anything. How to prepare a room goes through the steps. You will be told what was found and what to expect next; how long it takes depends on the flat and how established the bugs are. If you are still being bitten or finding live bugs after a while, get back in touch.
Keeping Bed Bugs Out of a Flat
Check second-hand furniture on the landing before it comes inside, look over luggage after travel, and keep the bed a little away from the wall. Bed bugs in sofas and furniture explains what to look for, and Bed Bug Control Barnet covers shared houses and new blocks across the borough. For moths in the stair carpet, see carpet moth control.
