Bed Bugs in the flat :(

They are very difficult to get rid of and very easy to spread. Be aware that anyone you visit ie family, work friends could get infested. Suitcases and luggage is a common way for people to pick them up from hotels and take them home.

This site has good info and forums http://bedbugger.com/faqs/

It sounds as if you have a well established infestation. You won't get rid of them by hoovering and using sprays available to the public and as has been said they are probably now established throughout your block anyway.

Contact the council or CAB asap to get a reliable opinion on where you stand re your landlord.
 
There's no way of getting rid of them completely without professional pest control. They are vile and disgusting and you shouldn't have to put up with them. My parents have a property that they rent out and the tenants rang them as the letting agents are useless at everything apart from collecting rent. Pest control came and sorted it the next day. I believe it cost a little under £200 for the spraying and a follow up visit.
 
Never had a problem with bed bugs myself, but my mum worked as a nurse/carer in few places where fumigations were required.

If you are tempted to try and eradicate bed bugs yourself (landlord dragging their feet etc) you can try and use bug bombs (flea bombs/foggers) and sprays. I don't think you can get proper chloride solutions or something "industrial" like sulfuryl fluoride stuff over the counter in UK, so permethrin and variations is your only solution.
You will need something better than the small carton boxed Bob Martin's ones and a lot more of it than for flea infestations. Use both spray foggers and candle type smoke foggers. If you have glued/nailed/wall to wall carpets, rent a steam carpet cleaner first and steam clean the entire carpet (all furniture lifted and moved) and bed. Make sure all furniture is moved away from the walls, position spray fog canisters in corners, few candle bombs in the middle, low enough to reach everywhere under furniture. If you have box type bed base, lift it up and put it on top of chairs, so fog and spray can reach it from all directions. Gas mask on, light it all up, leave the room for 3 hours, then come back and open all windows and leave for another hour. Spray all corners with good bug killer - something strong with at least 0.4% w/w - Rentokil Insectrol or Pest Expert Formula stuff. Move to another room, do the same. In entire flat, regardless of whether the problem is present there or not.

Repeat week later.

It will cost few hundred quid quite easily and it has to be all-or-nothing blitkrieg attack - if you screw it up, bed bugs will move under floor/into the walls and they will spread everywhere.
 
v0n said:
Never had a problem with bed bugs myself, but my mum worked as a nurse/carer in few places where fumigations were required.

If you are tempted to try and eradicate bed bugs yourself (landlord dragging their feet etc) you can try and use bug bombs (flea bombs/foggers) and sprays. I don't think you can get proper chloride solutions or something "industrial" like sulfuryl fluoride stuff over the counter in UK, so permethrin and variations is your only solution.
You will need something better than the small carton boxed Bob Martin's ones and a lot more of it than for flea infestations. Use both spray foggers and candle type smoke foggers. If you have glued/nailed/wall to wall carpets, rent a steam carpet cleaner first and steam clean the entire carpet (all furniture lifted and moved) and bed. Make sure all furniture is moved away from the walls, position spray fog canisters in corners, few candle bombs in the middle, low enough to reach everywhere under furniture. If you have box type bed base, lift it up and put it on top of chairs, so fog and spray can reach it from all directions. Gas mask on, light it all up, leave the room for 3 hours, then come back and open all windows and leave for another hour. Spray all corners with good bug killer - something strong with at least 0.4% w/w - Rentokil Insectrol or Pest Expert Formula stuff. Move to another room, do the same. In entire flat, regardless of whether the problem is present there or not.

Repeat week later.

It will cost few hundred quid quite easily and it has to be all-or-nothing blitkrieg attack - if you screw it up, bed bugs will move under floor/into the walls and they will spread everywhere.
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Bleedin' hell :O

Environmental Health and departing for a few days seems easier!
 
BURN IT ALL TO THE GROUND!

On a more serious note, dispose of the mattress and wash all bedding at ultra-high temps repeatedly (3 goes ought to do it).

In the meantime, get a kit with bug bombs and fumigate the upstairs rooms. Those bombs work bloody wonders. We had a flea infestation when we moved home a few years ago, and after suffering with it for a little while we got a kit with a few bombs, a spray, and a shake 'n' vac type stuff that all managed to eradicate the buggers with zero effort. :)
 
Find where they are nesting (should be relatively close to the bed or in the actual bed frame and have dark black/brown marks around it) and empty 1-2 cans of raid ant & cockroach killer onto it, there may be more than one 'nest' so rinse and repeat

It worked for me
 
If you want a short term solution ( then having been to oz where they love biting you, they nuked them in black bags in the everyday 40+ heat) However I know it sounds mental, but you can fold your bedsheets down and down then stick them in the microwave and nuke them, if the sheets fit......

Will make them explode, plus you really cant set fire to stuff in a mic, (it only heats up water) it may not fit though.
Your matress is a different story.
 
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This guy had similar problems last year and tried various ways to kill them but failed.

You'll need to get the room professional cleaned as they live everywhere in the room like the furniture, carpets, behind the wallpaper and skirting boards and they only come out at night to feed. Trying to kill them like you're doing will be a waste of time as there's probably loads more you can't see. :(

MW
 
I missed out a glaringly obvious point earlier. You moved into the flat in August. These are adult bed bugs so the problem has been there for at least a year. Your landlord has a legal obligation to get it sorted. They will have nested and nests can lay dormant for some time. So you will probably have to get at least 1 repeat visit.
 
weescott said:
I missed out a glaringly obvious point earlier. You moved into the flat in August. These are adult bed bugs so the problem has been there for at least a year. Your landlord has a legal obligation to get it sorted. They will have nested and nests can lay dormant for some time. So you will probably have to get at least 1 repeat visit.
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Thanks, that's a good point, will bring it up :) Any source to this please?

I have wrote to Environmental Health and the LL this lunchtime to try and get it resolved.
 
Probably a good idea to dump all your sheets and go primark and pick up some cheap ones.
The thought of those is making me want to clean my bed lol
 
Well at least you don't sit there at 10pm at night thinking about the night's sleep ahead of you knowing these things are going to be crawling over you. Absolutely dread going to bed.

Only found 6 this morning, which was a positive.
 
You found 12 of them on your mattress at one time? Sounds like a pretty bad infestation, forget doing it yourself and get a professional in ASAP.

I had them in my flat a couple of months ago, but managed to catch them early so wasn't too big an issue. The exterminator used some sprays and let off a bomb, problem solved :)
 
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