How I Spent $2,700 Learning Something the Exterminator Already Knew
I'm the kind of person who researches before I act.
When I found bed bugs in our guest bedroom last spring, I didn't panic.
I read for four days straight.
I learned about the life cycle. The egg hatch timeline. The harborage sites. The difference between chemical treatment and heat treatment.
By the time I called an exterminator, I probably knew more about bed bug biology than his assistant did.
I hired the highest-rated company in our area. $900 for the first visit.
The lead technician guy named Dale was thorough. I'll give him that.
He pulled back the baseboard on the east wall of the bedroom.
And there they were.
A live colony. Inside the wall. Between the drywall and the exterior sheathing.
Dale pointed at them with his flashlight the way a mechanic points at a cracked belt.
Matter of fact. Completely unbothered.
"Yeah," he said. "They get in the voids. We'll treat what we can reach."
I stared at him.
We'll treat what we can reach.
He put the baseboard back. Sprayed the surfaces. Scheduled a follow-up visit.
Three weeks later, I woke up with bites on my arms.
I called Dale. He came back. Another $900.
Same result.
Three weeks later bites again.
I remember standing in my bedroom, staring at the baseboard.
The bugs were right there. Twelve inches from my bed. Behind a wall I wasn't allowed to open.
And every exterminator in the country was charging me to treat everything except the place where they actually lived.