Turnover, Furniture and Bed Bugs in Harlesden Flats
Bed bugs are carried, not caught. They do not come up from a drain or in from the yard; they arrive inside something that was put down where bugs were already living. Where flats and rooms change occupants regularly, that something is very often a piece of furniture or a holdall that has just been carried up the stairs.
Moving Day, in Both Directions
The riskiest hour in a rented flat is the one when everything comes in off the pavement. Boxes, bedding and a mattress go straight onto the bedroom floor and nobody looks at a seam first. Leaving works the same way: bugs packed inside a headboard get unpacked at the next address. If you are moving within NW10 or on to Willesden or Stonebridge, look over the frame and the mattress in daylight before either goes in the van.
Furniture That Stays Behind
Beds, sofas and wardrobes are often left in place between tenancies because moving them is more trouble. A mattress that has served three households in a row has had three chances to receive bed bugs, and a wooden frame full of screw holes and joints conceals them better than the mattress does. Look over anything that came with the flat before you sleep on it, and give a free sofa from the street the same going-over. The guide to bed bugs in sofas and furniture shows what to check.
Neighbours on the Same Staircase
Above the parades, several flats are often reached from one back stair, and a terrace behind the High Street may hold two or three households. Bed bugs do not need a shared route to spread, but they use one where it exists: a bag set down on a landing, a mattress carried past three doors, a gap where a pipe crosses a party wall. Tell the neighbours you can, and tell the landlord or agent in writing even if you mean to pay for your own rooms. How bed bugs spread between flats sets out the routes, and Pest Control Harlesden covers shared buildings here.
Finding Out Whether It Is Bed Bugs
Check in daylight with the bed stripped: mattress seams and piping, the joints and screw holes of the frame, the back of the headboard, and the carpet edge underneath. You want dark spotting, pale shed skins and living insects, rather than bites, which settle very little on their own. The first signs guide shows each of those, and where they hide during the day explains why a room can look empty and not be. Itchy marks with nothing at all on the bed may be fleas or the larvae of carpet beetles in Harlesden.
Getting the Rooms Ready
Preparation counts for more in a small flat than anywhere else, because there is less floor to work with and more packed under the bed. We will tell you exactly what is needed when you book, and the room preparation guide gives a fair idea of the sort of work involved.
- Strip the beds and wash the bedding on the hottest cycle the label allows, keeping it bagged until the room is done
- Bag clothes from the floor and the bottom of the wardrobe instead of shifting them into another room
- Clear out the space under the bed and pull furniture a little away from the walls where you can
- Leave the mattress on its frame and carry on sleeping in your own bed unless we tell you otherwise
- Do not set off a shop fogger or spray beforehand, which drives bugs into wall voids and towards next door
Around the Visit and Afterwards
When you book, say how many rooms have signs, whether the home is a flat over a shop, a flat in a converted terrace or a whole house, whether it is let furnished, and whether anyone else in the building is affected. Tenants should give us the landlord or agent's details so nothing waits. Afterwards, keep looking at the same places you checked at the start. How quickly things settle depends on the rooms and on how long the bugs had been there, which how long bed bug treatment takes explains, and if you are still being bitten after the period we give you, ring us.
Keeping Bed Bugs Out Between Tenancies
- Inspect second-hand beds, sofas and drawers outside the front door rather than in the bedroom
- When a room changes hands, strip the bed to the frame and look at the joints before anyone moves in
- Keep the space under the bed clear enough to be looked at, instead of filling it with boxes
- Unpack a suitcase on a hard floor after a trip and put the clothes straight into the machine
Landlords and agents letting rooms here can book for a property directly; give us the tenant's contact details and the number of affected rooms. The borough page is Bed Bug Control Brent, and the Brent advice on finding bed bugs covers the first few days.
