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Hiring an exterminator

Expect multiple visits and ask about canine detection accuracy — 44% in real apartments vs. 97.5% in the lab. Sourced guidance for hiring a licensed provider.

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Hiring an exterminator
What should a licensed provider actually do on site?

Inspect the residence, take apart furniture if necessary, and use a combination of vacuums, heat and pesticides, per EPA's own guidance to consumers hiring a pest management professional. Monitoring for bugs missed during treatment is part of an integrated approach, not a separate add-on.

Bed Bugs Answers connects you with licensed local pest control companies. We are not a pest control contractor.

How many visits should a provider offer?

Two or more, with follow-up. EPA's direct guidance: "prepare for multiple visits, as very few infestations are controlled with only one treatment. Look for companies that offer two or more service visits and follow-up." A provider proposing a single visit as a complete solution is offering something the sourced guidance says rarely works.

What's the one question worth asking about canine detection?

Ask about accuracy under real conditions, not just laboratory conditions — the gap between the two is the single most valuable fact in this niche. Detection dogs measured 97.5% accuracy under controlled laboratory conditions with 0% false positives. In real apartments, across 11 canine teams, the mean detection rate was only 44% (range 10–100%) with a 15% mean false-positive rate — while every one of the 11 handlers believed their dog was performing at 95% or better. Extension guidance is direct: verify third-party certification and ongoing training, and confirm any canine alert with a detailed visual inspection by a trained professional.

What's the one question worth asking about canine detection?

Does it matter if I live in an apartment building?

Yes — CDC and EPA are explicit that control in multi-family housing is much more difficult than in single-family homes, because bed bugs frequently travel between units, either carried directly by people or through voids in shared walls. That's worth raising with a provider, since a single-unit treatment plan may need to account for adjacent units.

Sources

5 cited
  1. What a PMP should do and visit guidance: US EPA, Hiring a Pest Management Professional for Bed Bugs (checked 2026-08-18).
  2. Canine detection, laboratory conditions: Pfiester, Koehler & Pereira 2008, J. Econ. Entomol. 101(4):1389–1396 (checked 2026-08-18).
  3. Canine detection, real apartments: Cooper, Wang & Singh 2014, J. Econ. Entomol. 107(6):2171–2181 (checked 2026-08-18).
  4. Extension's canine verification advice: UC IPM Pest Notes Publication 7454, May 2013 (checked 2026-08-18).
  5. Multi-family complexity: CDC & EPA, Joint Statement on Bed Bug Control in the United States, 2010 (checked 2026-08-18).
How this works

From “what is that?” to “someone is handling it”

Four steps, nothing booked until you say so, and no obligation at any of them.

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  1. 1

    Work out what you have

    Bites with nothing visible, marks on the sheets, and specks along a mattress seam are different findings that point in different directions.

  2. 2

    Tell us what you found

    Where you found it, how many rooms are involved, and whether this is a house you own, a rental, or a unit in a shared building.

  3. 3

    See what each method involves

    Heat, steam and chemical work are different jobs with different preparation. Knowing which one is being quoted matters before you agree to the number.

  4. 4

    Matched with a local company

    A licensed local company, their own quote, their own schedule. We do not carry out treatment, so nothing here is a sales call.

How we work

What this site will and will not do

Identify before you treat

Bites with no insect found, specks on a seam, and marks on the sheets are different findings. Which one you have changes what the treatment should be.

Plain language, no scare tactics

No countdown, no talk of the problem racing through your home while you read. It is a real problem and it is a solvable one.

We are not the contractor

We do not treat anything, so we have nothing to gain from steering you toward the bigger job. Licensed local companies do the work and quote it themselves.

Nothing we cannot source

If a figure is not in our research, it does not go on the page. That is why you will find questions here that other sites answer with a confident number.

Questions

Frequently asked

The questions people actually type at two in the morning.

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Should I be worried if a company only offers one visit?

It's worth asking why. EPA's guidance to consumers specifically recommends looking for providers offering two or more service visits with follow-up, since very few infestations are controlled with a single treatment.

Are bed bug detection dogs reliable?

It depends heavily on conditions. Laboratory testing found 97.5% accuracy, but real-apartment testing across 11 teams found a mean detection rate of only 44% — and every handler in that study believed their dog was performing far better than it measured. Ask about certification and confirm any alert with a physical inspection.

What should a pest control visit actually include?

Per EPA's guidance, expect an inspection, furniture disassembly if needed, and a combination of vacuuming, heat and pesticide application — not a single spray-and-leave visit.

Does an apartment building need a different approach than a house?

CDC and EPA note multi-family control is much more difficult because bed bugs travel between units through shared walls or by being carried. It's worth discussing with a provider whether adjacent units factor into the plan.

Get matched with a local bed bug company

Tell us what you found and where you found it, and we will put you in front of a licensed local company. No obligation either way.

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