How much does it cost to eliminate bed bugs without an exterminator
How do you eliminate bed bugs without an exterminator? What does it cost? In this guide, we will share with you the most effective steps to deal with bed bugs for good.
Bed bugs are small insects that don’t fly but can move swiftly on flat surfaces such as floors, walls, and ceilings. They feed mainly on the blood of animals and humans. These little insects can be very traumatic to have in your home. Although they don’t cause any diseases, their bites are incredibly itchy and painful. These itchy bites might cause the skin to break and lead to a secondary infection. In some people, bed bug bites cause allergic reactions. Altogether, having bed bugs in your home might cause sleepless nights, fear paranoia, and even anxiety. If you have pets and little children, bed bugs might equally feed on them, leading to an equally frustrating situation.
But then, you must know that bed bugs can develop and reproduce quickly, especially when they have access to food (blood meals) and good hiding spots. In no time, you might be dealing with an enormous infestation. This is why it’s a great idea to take steps to eliminate bed bugs from your home as fast as possible.
Factors affecting the cost of bed bug treatment
Generally, your first step to dealing with an infestation might not be calling in the exterminators. Fortunately, there are some effective steps you can take to control and even eliminate bed bugs from your home. But what will be the cost? Do realize that the cost of bed bug treatment differs from one unique circumstance to the next. Here are the essential factors to consider:
1.The severity of the infestation
The severity of bed bug infestations is a major factor to consider when looking at the cost of bed bug treatment. When using an exterminator, small infestations might cost about $225 to $350. As the infestation climbs, the cost also skyrockets and can be anywhere from $325 to $4,750. This is because a lot of labor and bed bug products will be needed to treat your home. When you want to eliminate bed bugs from your home, without using an exterminator you need to act fast and address the problem as fast as possible.
2.Size and number of infested rooms
The size of the affected areas can also influence the cost of bed bug treatment. Because, most forms of treatment require filing space with heat or special chemicals. This implies that larger spaces would certainly cost more. So, it’s generally cheaper to treat a single room than the entire house.
But it’s also important to avoid the temptation of saving costs by treating a single room. Bed bugs are great at traveling from one section of our home to the next. So it’s better to treat all rooms and areas in your home once you suspect a bed bug infestation. This saves you the cost of repeating the treatment if you find bed bugs later in the other rooms.
3.Furniture
The amount of furniture you have in your house is another factor that can affect the cost of bed bug treatment. Bed bugs like hiding inside furniture, such as chairs, wardrobes, nightstands, and so on. So you will also have to treat every piece of furniture that has to be treated individually. So the more furniture you have in your house the more it will cost you for the treatment.
4.Frequency of treatment
Another factor that can influence the cost of bed bug treatment is the frequency at which you treat your house. Depending on the severity of the treatment, you may have to consider treating your home about three to four times, split over several weeks. We always recommend re-treating your home 14 days after the first treatment, followed by an inspection to ensure you have dealt with the infestation.
5.Treatment type
There are various types of bed bug treatments. They range from thermal treatment to chemical, steam, and freezing treatments. Each type of treatment comes with its unique benefits and drawbacks. Chemical bed bug treatment involves using specially formulated solutions to eliminate bed bugs. This treatment can target hidden areas where bed bugs reside or operate. Chemical treatments also provide residual effects and will continue to kill the bugs long after the first application. A lot of exterminators use chemical bed bug treatment, but you can equally use this on your own as long as you follow the proper steps:
- Identify the most hidden spots where bed bugs can hide and mark them. This includes near tags of the box spring or mattress, cracks in the bed frame and headboard, baseboards, couch cushions, furniture joints, electric outlets, and under loose wallpaper. Typically you might not find the bugs themselves but signs of them such as dark spots about the size of a period, reddish stains, small pale yellow eggs, and yellowish skins and eggshells.
- Remove all linens, clothing, drapes, carpets, and other possible hiding places and have them cleaned or thrown out. For washable materials, you should wash at the hottest possible temperature for 30 minutes. For nonwashable, steam is treated at the hottest possible temperature. Once done, secure all materials in air-tight bags.
- Next, methodically vacuum your entire home using a high-powered vacuum and HEPA filter focusing on those hard-to-reach spots to cut down infestation by half.
- Seal off any open areas. Glue down loose wallpaper, get rid of cracks in the baseboards and around furniture, and tape up open electrical outlets. All these will help you also cut down the infestation.
- Now it’s time to bed bug proof your mattress and box spring by using bed-bug proof covers to enclose them. That way, any bugs trapped in remain inside and will die at some point. New bugs won’t also be able to get in. You can also consider using your chemical bed bug spray on the mattress and box spring before enclosing it in the cover to kill the bugs.
- Now use your bed bug spray to methodically treat your entire home, including your upholstery furniture.Follow the instructions with your preferred bed bug spray.
- After treatment, you might have to vacuum your home again to remove all the dead bugs. We recommend waiting at least a day before vacuuming.
- You will also have to monitor your home for signs of bed bug activity every seven days to ensure they’ve moved on. Retreatment might be necessary to properly get them out.
When investing in a chemical bedbug treatment, you need to carefully choose your preferred bed bug spray. With Nature’s MACE, you have a non-toxic, plant-based formula that can kill bed bugs at all stages of maturity, including their eggs, nymphs, and adults. This odorless, non-staining bed bug killer is ideal for treating your furniture, bed, baseboard, luggage, floorboards, and lots more. Choose Nature’s MACE bed bug killer to protect your home effectively.
