Heat treatment
How a heat treatment works in an apartment
Heat is the main tool. Rooms are brought up to a temperature bed bugs and their eggs don't survive, and held there while probes show it is reaching where it needs to.
Electric heaters and fans, run from the apartment's own circuits, spread the heat
Probes in walls, mattresses and furniture record the temperature
The crew moves items so hot air can reach behind and under them
Where a unit also needs it, a licensed applicator adds a targeted treatment and follows the label
The day
What we do, in four steps
- 01
Step 1: Inspect
Look at beds, sofas, baseboards and outlets, and at the walls the unit shares.
- 02
Step 2: Identify
Confirm it is bed bugs, how far it has spread and which rooms need the most work.
- 03
Step 3: Treat
Heat the unit, hold the temperature, and treat the gaps that heat reaches least.
- 04
Step 4: Prevent
Mattress and box spring covers where they help, and a follow-up inspection about two weeks later.
The limits
What heat can't do
We say this before you book, not after.
Reach what hot air can't
Thick walls and packed closets stay cooler. That is why gaps get a targeted treatment and why we move things.
Stop bugs coming back from next door
If the neighboring unit isn't treated, bugs can cross again. This is why we ask to inspect the units that share walls.
Finish the job in one visit
Most units need the heat day plus a follow-up inspection, and some need a second treatment.
Protect against a new infestation
A bed bug that arrives on luggage next month is a new problem. We can tell you how to spot it early.
How pricing works
There are no prices on this page because the number depends on the building. Here is what moves it.
What decides the price
A bed bug job is priced by the units involved and the work each one needs, never by a flat rate per apartment.
How many units, and which ones share walls, floors or pipes
The size of each unit and how much is stored in it
Clutter that has to be moved before heat goes in
How far the bugs have spread, as found at the inspection
Access: elevator, parking and how many households agree to be inspected
What the estimate includes, and what it doesn't
The written estimate lists each unit, the method for it, the number of visits and the follow-up inspection.
Included: inspection findings, a scope for each unit, the treatment day, the follow-up inspection and the re-treatment terms
Not included: laundry and prep, replacing mattresses or furniture, wall and baseboard repairs, or a unit whose resident declines access
What happens at the inspection
An inspector walks the unit and, with residents' permission, the units that share walls with it, and writes up what turns up. If you go ahead with a heat treatment, the inspection fee is credited toward it.
When you get the number
The price comes in writing after the inspection and before any heat is brought in. A building gets one estimate with a line for each unit.
How and when you pay
Tenants can pay by card or check. An owner or a board can be invoiced for the whole building. A deposit may be due to hold the treatment date; the terms are in the written estimate.
We don't quote bed bug work by phone without an inspection.
The re-treatment promise, and its terms
If live bed bugs are found in a treated unit within 30 days of our last visit, we treat that unit again at no charge.
Terms
- The prep sheet is done before the treatment day
- We get access for the follow-up inspection
- It covers treated units, not bed bugs brought in later
- Units where the household declined treatment are not covered
- The written estimate has the full terms
Ready for an inspection?
The inspection comes first, and the price comes in writing before any heat is brought in.