Rowhouse Neighbor with Bed Bugs - Can we Improve Exclusion on Party Wall?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best bet is putting furniture on top of excluders. Get rid of all carpet. I put sticky traps under my bed legs.

It is a misconception that bedbugs only like beds and upholstered furniture. They're happy to live in your dresser or picture frame, anywhere where wood seams join. They like electronics as well.

yes but it is going to be harder for them to bite you if they are in those items. Keep them away from places where you sit or sleep.

I don't know that I'd be any more comfortable knowing they were infesting my house but not biting me at night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best bet is putting furniture on top of excluders. Get rid of all carpet. I put sticky traps under my bed legs.

It is a misconception that bedbugs only like beds and upholstered furniture. They're happy to live in your dresser or picture frame, anywhere where wood seams join. They like electronics as well.

yes but it is going to be harder for them to bite you if they are in those items. Keep them away from places where you sit or sleep.

I don't know that I'd be any more comfortable knowing they were infesting my house but not biting me at night.

They will die without a host to munch on, eventually

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best bet is putting furniture on top of excluders. Get rid of all carpet. I put sticky traps under my bed legs.

It is a misconception that bedbugs only like beds and upholstered furniture. They're happy to live in your dresser or picture frame, anywhere where wood seams join. They like electronics as well.

yes but it is going to be harder for them to bite you if they are in those items. Keep them away from places where you sit or sleep.

I don't know that I'd be any more comfortable knowing they were infesting my house but not biting me at night.

They will die without a host to munch on, eventually

It could take 6 months. That's a long time to keep them from finding a host somewhere in your house. They will go looking for a meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG. I am SO SORRY that you are dealing with this. We had bedbugs in our row house 7 years ago, and I never knew where they came from, but I always wondered if they had come from the crazy lady next door. This must be very stressful for you.

I have no good advice, but I do have encouraging words: You will get through this! Try not to read the bedbug forums too much as they will drive you bonkers. You will get through this.

OP here: Thank you.

OP declares this an appropriate level of drama. Yes, right now this is a low-level problem, but it's psychology creepy and physically uncomfortable. Any kind of in situ war, without a heat treatment, requires dismantling furniture, removing all clutter, and obsessively cleaning and treating. This is how I have spent every afternoon for the past two weeks. It is my free time, along with feeling I can relax in my home. I just restructured my whole work schedule to spend afternoons with my now-school age child, and this is how my time is actually being spent.

That's okay, since it is potentially a temporary situation. However, I can't ensure it will be temporary if the problem is located outside my physical and legal control. I also can't do something grandiose like rent or sell, because the moral and legal obligation to disclose makes that very unlikely. In a worst case scenario, I can live with the situation or I can double-pay mortgage/rent.

Not being dramatic, I'm actually in full on analysis mode trying to figure out what my limited options are. My renovation question is me trying to figure out if there's some kind of due diligence / internal project I can fund that would resolve this catch-22. If neighbor can't or won't respond. If anyone with a better grasp on construction does have a reply, I will note your response. My question is too weird for me to be able to research it easily. Unfortunately, I don't have a precise enough idea of how houses (in general, rows in particular) are put together.

I'm inclined to offer to foot the neighbor's bill, which DH thinks is weird and probably off-putting to suggest (it *is* kinda patronizing). Has anyone done that, and did it go over well?

Maybe try talking to your neighbor, like an adult, about the problem. It sounds like that person has conceded that they are aware of a bed bug issue. Mention you’re getting the steps you’re taking to remedy the issue. Ask them what they will be doing in their end. Your offering to pay is bizarre beyond human comprehension.