Where Do Bed Bugs Come From?—Case Study Columbia, SC

Do Bed Bug Bites Itch?

Here’s a story about a family that had bed bugs but failed to understand the importance of decluttering their home and in preventing infestation. The family had figured out they had bed bugs because the children were having a skin reaction “bites” and itching. They said they weren’t getting bitten, just the children. Of course, they were getting bitten too, just not reacting to the bites. The father liked to play cards at a friend’s house and it was soon discovered that the friend had bed bugs.

Bed Bug Heat Treatment

They hired us to do our Heat Remediation Program because they liked the 90 day guarantee we offer. When we went to do treatment the home had not been properly prepped. There were hampers full of clothes in the corner of the bedrooms, toys, batteries, crayons and trash under beds, and just a generally cluttered home. We explained that heat will fail when there are hampers full of clothes and that these items must be laid out in small stacks of 2 or 3 items or hung up in order for the heat to penetrate them completely. (A lot of people will run clothes thru the hot dryer for twenty minutes and then remove them in clean garbage bags to decrease clutter prior to treatment.) In this situation we had to reschedule the treatment.

K9 Bed Bug Detection

When we went back a few days later they had done a better job and had decluttered as originally instructed. We did the treatment and bed bugs fell of head boards and window frames and curled up and died right before our eyes. Our follow up K-9 inspection was clear and the children no longer had bite marks.

Where Do Bed Bugs Come From? – AGAIN!

The client called us back nearly a half a year later to say they had bed bugs again. Originally, questioning if we had actually killed all the bed bugs and would it still be under warranty. We went out to inspect and while in the home the daughter complained that her dad had been hanging out with his friend playing cards and the friend still had bed bugs. A few bed bugs were found on the father’s bed and in his recliner. When confronted about the statement his daughter made, he admitted he had been hanging out at his friend’s house because he thought his friend got rid of them. We worked with the client to eradicate his problem at a discount and also offered to treat his friend’s home – which wasn’t possible because the friend wasn’t interested in treatment. Thankfully, the client learned not to go around with this particular friend and have had no further issues with bedbugs.

*The key is to detect bed bugs early. Then getting rid of them is not such a daunting task.

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