Bed Bug Inspections: Homeowner Edition
It is very important for the general public to understand how to perform their own bed bug inspections. Please understand we are not expecting you to turn into an overnight pro, so if you do suspect a bed bug infestation at all give us a call for our advice. There are a few reasons that you should learn to do your own bed bug inspections. For one, when your on vacation it is very difficult to hire a pest control professional to perform the inspection. Another reason is to check your own bed. We suggest to our customers to perform self inspections every month to keep up with any infestations they may introduce into their home. Remember, if you ever suspect bed bugs or are getting bites call in a bed bug inspector to come into your home to check for bed bugs. Grab a bright flash light and grab a family member to help you with the following. Your looking for live bed bugs, fecal ( little black spots ) or a shell casing that resembles a bed bug.
- Remove any heavy sheets from the bed and set aside. Gently pull off the fitted sheet and check around the elastic corners of each side of the bed. Look at the underside and top side of the sheet for any evidence.
- Look carefully around the molding or piping on the mattress. Use your thumb and index finger to hold onto the mattress piping and pull it to either side. Look underneath any folds on the mattress for bed bug excrement or live bugs.
- Have your friend or family member help you lift your mattress. look on the underside of your mattress for any evidence of bed bugs.
- Lift up your box spring and check the plastic corner protectors of the box spring. Carefully peel those back. Bed bugs love to hide behind that area. Check all corners of the boxspring.
- Now have your friend again help you lift the box spring this time. Stand box spring on its side and peel back the black mesh on the bottom of the boxspring.
- Remove black mesh completely and check inside the wooden area for any bed bug evidence.
- If you have a wooden bed frame and are capable of dismantling it this is another place you should check only if you have a suspicion of bed bugs. Although this can be time consuming it is only recommended if you suspect bed bugs. If your doing a routine self inspection every 30 days and have no reason to think you have bed bugs, dismantling your frame is not necessary.
- Another great place to check is behind any picture frames around your bed.
- Check the underside of any night stands or dressers near your bed.
