Source
r/Hamilton•
neonvisual

I think my neighbour had bedbugs.. what now?

hey I think a neighbour in my apt who recently moved out had bedbugs. He lived across the hall from me. Not confirmed but saw a mattress on the curb a ~2 months ago, and he moved out a few weeks ago. The super mentioned that he had a bad 'bug' problem and they sprayed and now there are glue traps outside his door that have bugs on them that possibly are bedbugs. to be honest I don't know exactly what they look like in real life.

should I be looking at finding a new place? the issue is I still have half a year left on my lease. am I able to break it early if needed on the grounds that I could get bedbugs?

thanks.

Posted Oct 31, 2018, 12:46 AM UTC

1619
gothicapples•

Honestly 90% of Hamilton has/have had bed bugs you most likely are not going to escape them just buy a proper bed bug mattress cover and do biweekly bug checks

Remember bed bugs happen even to the cleanest people no reason to be ashamed and absolutely do not hide it from the super tell them right away to get it sorted

29
fadedsparkDurand•

You can definitely find bug free buildings. My old building was bug free as far as I could tell, not a single report anywhere.

Yes, it can happen to anyone, hell I had one crawl on me on a bus. Doesn't mean I was any less pissed off about it.

There are treatment options, but if you aren't in control of them it's fair to be freaked out and want to leave.

12
demolsy•

I had bed bug bites from the Jackson square theatre lol. It was all over my shoulder and my gf had some on her neck because her head was on my shoulder.

1
facelessbastard•

Being so small... How could you spot it out on the bus?

1
fadedsparkDurand•

Dark spot on khaki pants. They aren't THAT small.

3
dpplgn•

The difference with nicer buildings is that they're status-sensitive enough to brown-bag the extermination efforts.

In 2017, Hamilton ranked as #13 on Orkin Canada’s Top 25 Bed Bug Cities. Toronto scored three spots (#1 Toronto, #9 Scarborough, #16 North York). GTA neighbours Oshawa (#17) and Mississauga (#18) also charted.

2
Purplecontrollerr•

This is why I never did apartment buildings when I was renting. Getting bugs was always way worse than someone not doing their share of the dishes an extra roommate and find a split up house. Still got bed bugs from my daughter going between my place and her mom's. Fuck that shit, if I was op I would not chance move out asap don't be intimidated by your landlord.

2
teanailpolish•

Glue traps are not really something they use for bed bugs and shared walls are worse for them than across the hall (they will travel but more likely in a next door situation).

When my neighbour suspected he had them, the pest place checked our mattress etc and said there were no signs but recommended that we put down a residual spray along the baseboards just in case. We bought a mattress cover just in case too. But like the other poster said, there are so many instances of them, you could move into a place with them not knowing and at least your landlord is willing to spray for bugs, lots are not. Doubt you could get out of the lease unless you are being bitten and he is refusing to spray (and even then, the LTB will just tell him to spray for them)

5
neonvisualOPCentral•

cheers. already have most of the preventative work done barring buying DE (metal bedframe, mattress cover, bed is away from wall, sheets dont touch the ground, borax put down around where I've been getting roaches)

1
sharinghappiness•

literally, bed bugs have been known to drop from the ceiling unto beds on a nightly basis. Enjoy your nightmares.

-1
another_plebeian•

sounds like a lot of speculation. bedbugs are small, not something that would stand out on a glue strip, i don't think. you can't break a lease because something might happen. apartment life, bro.

4†
IAmA-SexyLlama•

Adult bed bugs are about the size or an apple seed and are roughly shaped like one, baby bed bugs are about the size of a period dot . You can see them on a glue trap

18
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
sharinghappiness•

Yup, glue traps are suggested for bed frames that don't have 4 small posts.

1
alaphonse•

I sprayed vinegar around my walls and anything wood when my neightbours had bedbugs(quarterround, baseboards)

2
inhumantsar•

Go out and get diatomaceous earth. it's essentially a particular kind of sand. safe to have around kids and pets. you lay it down across any doorway and around beds. when bugs crawl across it, it dehydrates and kills them. it works on all kinds of bugs, but it's super useful as a preventative measure re: bedbugs.

2
IAmA-SexyLlama•

You can ask your super to give you preventative treatments in your apartment. You should be diligent in checking if the pests have spread to you. You can get glue traps to help track if you get pests as well as help identify them

1
neonvisualOPCentral•

I already have a bunch of glue traps out b/c of minor roach/mice issues, no signs of bedbugs at all in the half-year i've been here so far. hopefully it was just baby roaches that I saw

1
Sprout3169Eastmount•

I recently had a battle with fleas. I mentioned to buddy I had bed bugs problems on Bay St. He mentioned Bay St is filled with bed bugs. If you find one, MOVE OUT

1
toytonyDelta East•

The way I got rid of my problem with Bed Bugs in Uni residence was a blue spray bottle product from Canadian Tire in the pet aisle.

Spray it around your bed, under, in any nooks, and especially in warm areas after you strip your bedding and wash it.

Stay vigilant because they suck... a lot. But, I would say look up online what the bugs look like and compare it to the ones in the traps. Might be worth while.

Good luck!

1
iNerdRage•

Use diatomaceous earth to keep them from laying their eggs, Rubbing alcohol for anything you can see. There's a lot of information on YouTube and google.

1
rillydumguy•

you have the fucking internet, how can you possibly not know what something looks like? you type 6 letters and it shows you pictures. you dont even need to type you can just say "bedbug" into a microphone.

-4†