[dt_toronto_geek]

MetroMan, no, I thought you lived somewhere else based on some DT photos I've seen you post from the Bloor St. E. area.
Your likely being bit, some people have an allergic reaction to bites, some people don't. Looks like you don't.
Try not to get all freaked out, it'll all be over soon.

 

[MetroMan]

I'm already freaked out. I spent the day vacuuming and spraying and vacuuming. As I was gathering courage to finally try to sleep in my bed boasted by the fact that I hadn't seen any bedbugs since the first 4 I had found, I found another one, waiting for me.

I had done a thorough vacuuming of the smallest particles all over the mattress and box spring but this one guy still came on to the bed. I think it's because the box spring is their likely nest. The mere thought of it makes me want to just throw it all out

I'll go shopping for a sealed box spring cover tomorrow while the exterminator sprays my place.

I want to believe that I'll beat this but I hear so many stories of people saying it's impossible to get rid of -- that they just keep coming back.

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I want to believe that I'll beat this but I hear so many stories of people saying it's impossible to get rid of -- that they just keep coming back.

No, absolutely not true. BTW, make sure the mattress covers are bed bug proof (example - I'm not endorsing this, I just Googled and found this link - http://www.theallergyguy.com/Bed-Bug-Bedding/) and keep those mattress covers on for at least one year as they can live without feeding for quite some time which makes them so difficult to get rid of - but hardly impossible if you follow all of the Integrated Pest Control instructions.

I've had three friends get these things & get rid of them and several apartments in my building since early 2008 (I'm on the Tenant Association which is how I know about what has gone on here). As of the end of June the Ops. Manager reported during our meeting that the building is clear since March and I've heard no new reports since. We're lucky here that management jumps right on the case when they are reported and they help residents move furniture and such prior to treatments which is likely the reason for the success we've had here.

You WILL succeed.

 

[Tuscani01]

MetroMan, you have my sympathies. Seriously. Just the thought of bed bugs gives me the heebie jeebies, and I'm obsessive about checking hotels and vacuuming my bed, just in case.

Re the Spider Blaster -- does it really work for spiders? Because we have a ton of them hanging out on the balcony! (and they bite)

Funny you should mention that... I have since moved to Cityplace (Luna) and had two cans of the spider blaster left from my bedbug problem at the last place. (I purchased 3 cans because I had no idea how much I would need to solve the problem) I never had a spider problem at Quantum, so never had a need for the Spider Blaster after the bed bugs. I sprayed my balconies here at Luna, and within seconds the spiders fell to the ground dying. I went out the next day with a duster to gather the cobwebs and the balcony has been fine since.

 

[MetroMan]

Update:

Today, I found several more bedbugs, most of them out in the open -- which is unusual. Perhaps the Raid from yesterday is doing something after all. (by the way, the Raid smell persisted all night and I woke up with a massive headache and sore throat. yikes)

The exterminator came in this morning and sprayed pyrethrin. He said it should kill them in one go but everything I've read says it commonly takes 2, 3 or more treatments to eliminate bed bugs. I was immediately suspicious and called to speak with the head of the exterminator company. They were a lot more informative and told me that there will be a follow-up in 2 weeks.

I was also seeking a box spring bed-bug grade sealed cover and they offered to drop one off tomorrow. I'll be able to sleep a lot better knowing that any bugs in the box spring can't get out. From the conversation I seem to be a lot more proactive than other tenants who can't be bothered to launder all their clothing, be constantly vigilant and vacuum daily.

What is turning out to be the most disruptive to my life -- other than not having proper sleep -- is that I must have all my clothes bagged away. The rep I spoke with over the phone said that I should be able to bring out clothes in the next few days but experiences detailed on the web suggest that clothes will need to be bagged up for up to 60 days!

I'm going to try a hybrid approach, putting away most of my clothes in sealed containers and selecting a limited wardrobe that I can fit in a single sealed container. I'm also picking up a clothes steamer. I'll steam each garment that I take out of the container to ensure that I'm not bringing out any new bedbugs that may have crawled in.

The good that has come of this that it's finally gotten me to enact something that I've wanted to do for a long time: "miniaturize my life"

Imagine how free you'd feel to not have to worry about your possessions. You could get up and go anywhere in the world. The standard in the western world is to own a big house filled with things that we accumulate over life. But what we own is often an anchor and a burden that weighs on our minds. I've always been anti-clutter but now I'm taking it further. I want to be able to fit all my essentials into a few small containers. For example, I've been digitizing all my photos, DVDs, CDs and books into an iPhone, Mac, AppleTV, and Kobo. Nick-nacks are being given away. I only have one small plastic container containing papers and souvenirs that I don't want to part with.

For clothes, the 15 bags that I have sitting on my dining table are unexpected and surprising given that I wear the same 6 or 7 outfits most of the time. I'm going to go for the Jamie Oliver kitchen clutter approach: Put everything in a box and only take out and put away what I use as I use it. What ever is still left in the box in 60 days is given away.

This experience, even if resolved will have left a serious traumatic scar on me. I think I'll be looking for bed bugs for a long time after they're gone Guys and girls, be very vigilant and don't let it happen to you. Caulk up the crevices in your home and get some diatomaceous earth and powder it up in all your power/cable/phone wall plates and any other potential entrances into your home. Put some on your bed legs just in case. That stuff will last a really long time so that you won't have to think about it for years. Just re-apply on occasion in higher traffic areas that may get cleaned. Finally, and most importantly, get a bed bug grade sealable box spring and mattress cover. If they can't infest your mattress, you'll have a much easier time of spotting them when they do show up.

... and my friends, given how widespread this is becoming in Toronto: they will show up.

 

[Marko]

The one thing I like about living in buildings as opposed to houses or townhomes is the reduced likelihood in seeing these fuckers:

I travel a fair bit and have stayed in some questionable hotels, but have been fortunate thus far and have never experienced bedbugs. One guy I know from Jersey had such a huge problem years ago, that all his belongings stay in the tub during a hotel stay and if he has any weird perceptions about a place - like being in NYC or some questionable no-name place in a small town - he sleeps in the tub as well.

My sympathies to anyone who has this problem - hopefully you deal with it swiftly and permanently, MetroMan.

 

[Tuscani01]

Update:

Today, I found several more bedbugs, most of them out in the open -- which is unusual. Perhaps the Raid from yesterday is doing something after all. (by the way, the Raid smell persisted all night and I woke up with a massive headache and sore throat. yikes)

Sorry, forgot to mention, you should spray well before bed time, so the smell has time to wear off. Also keep a window open to help vent out the room.

 

[Bogtrotter]

Those guys (house Centipedes) are nasty looking but relatively harmless, in fact they might be helping out with a bigger bug problem by eating couch sharks and bedbugs. Apparently they are a sign that other insects are present since that is their main diet- so if you see them you likely have something else. I encountered a huge one in a rental apt years back, the day after coming back from Mexico so I thought I had brought it back with me in my suitcase.

I haven't encountered any bedbugs, but my condo has put out prevention flyers though. I know hot temps kill the eggs- I saw this on billy the exterminator. He put fabric items like cushions and curtains into a makeshift 'oven' which he warmed up with a heater.

 

[Peepers]

dt, I have no problem saying where I live specially if my building manager was blatantly lying to me about there never being a single case of bedbugs here: I'm in the tallest building behind the 7/11 on Queen St. West near Trinity Bellwoods Park. Is that the one?

.

According to the Bedbug registry there were 2 reports of bedbug (actually looks to be by same person) at 179 Walnut in 2010.

http://bedbugregistry.com/location/ON/M6J/Toronto/179 Walnut Ave

You can search the registry to see if your apartment or hotels you are planning to visit have reports of bedbugs

http://bedbugregistry.com/search/

 

[Marko]

Those guys are nasty looking, but relatively harmless and in fact might be helping out with a bigger bug problem by eating couch sharks and bedbugs. Apparently they are a sign that other insects are present since that is their main diet so if you see them you likely have something else..

Oh I know - they're like spiders in that way - their main diet is smaller insects, but they'll snack on Mentos is you leave them out. I just really dislike they way they look and move and their seeming habit of parking themselves on the ceiling directly above your bed. I had a basement apartment in my younger years and that's when I developed a hate-on for them. I'll see one overy so often here at the shop, but believe it or not they fell from the drop ceiling in my office a few times in one week. I think it was the red LED inside my mouse that must have looked like a moving bug in the dark or something, as they dropped right by my hand twice - scares the shit out of you when you see it fall and then scatter under your laptop.

 

[PinkLucy]

Yeah, building managers don't tend to admit that there have been issues.

But given that the little suckers were there when you got home, MetroMan, they had to come from somewhere, so I'd say that they're in the building. While you're doing a great job going after them, you raise a good point about taking preventive measures because your neighbours might not be as vigilant as you.

And I'm getting some of that spider blaster; my balcony is infested. Good to know it works.

 

[MetroMan]

My building manager said they looked at the apartments adjacent to mine and found nothing. I suggested they put out an information poster to let other tenants know but she didn't seem interested in "scaring people for nothing". Well, there's bedbugs IN THE FRICKIN BUILDING. It's not for nothing.

Given that they've been proactive about eliminating my problem, I don't want to be seen as adversarial by putting up info myself or calling Toronto Public Health but I'm quite concerned that I'll get them again if my neighbours aren't vigilant.

 

[NikoS]

Hey... OMG my heart goes out to you for battling this suckers. I still remember that night after all the spraying and washing waking up with crew of them sucking... I freaked out and that was it!

It is super cooperative, and I would suggest mandatory, that neighbours participation is important. When I had them we moved because none of our neighbours - including the one that brought them in wanted to have her place sprayed. During the infestation I had sealed bags of outfits that I could unseal. I bought a rowenta pressure steamer and dyson vacuum too... I over did it though and blew fuses..

We did our best but the people spraying our unit told us that since no one around us was getting sprayed that they would simply be back over and over again.

 

[someMidTowner]

The one thing I like about living in buildings as opposed to houses or townhomes is the reduced likelihood in seeing these fuckers:

A gross as these things are, they DO eat roaches and bedbugs....i kill everything with more than 4 legs except for those

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

In the house I grew up in we had earwigs in the rec-room downstairs. I kept an old shoe down there and when I'd get home from work late at night in my teens I'd locate and smack them all then vacuum them up the next day. One night as I was smacking the bastards I saw this 4-5" long furry thing running across the carpet with about 60 legs and it gave me what was probably my first panic attack (for real). In a state of shock I finally caught up with it and smacked it with the shoe and nailed it, but the front half kept running. I'm not scared of bugs (that's my limited experience with bugs along with spiders), it's just the element of surprise that freaks me out. My dog spots spiders for us when they crawl up walls or along the ceiling, she's an 8 year old Lab with eyes like The Terminator. She can spot a small house spider at night with the lights dimmed 20 feet away, it's the craziest damn thing!

I've never heard or read anything about this spider spray helping with bed bugs, good information to know. I'm going to buy a container as I have a lot of spiders on my balcony where we smoke cigarettes during the day & at night (we never smoke inside). Sometimes I think they're crawling on me at night which kind of freaks me out so I'm off to the hardware store this weekend to rid the balcony of those things.