When someone unintentionally brought bedbugs into my house, I researched how to deal with the problem. I decided to go with a professional company, Addison Pest Control.
I liked that they offer a triple battery of treatments; steam heat to kill eggs and larvae, silica powder in void areas (like behind electrical outlets) to desiccate the bugs, and insecticide to kill the ones that walk around. Effectiveness was a major priority for me, and I learned from the site that it is for company owner Avery Addison as well. The company reports a 100% success rate over the course of warranty periods.
I contacted them and we spoke with Jay. He helped get us through much confusion and distress. The man was amazing in his ability to persuade the person who brought in the bed bugs to continue to sleep in the same room after the treatments were applied so that bugs would not wander the house in search of him or another host (me!).
Jay scheduled the treatment session for only two days later. In the interim I got a personal call from Avery, the company owner, which was a sincere and thoughtful gesture, even though Jay had covered pretty much everything over the phone and by email.
To qualify for the warranty, which includes repeat treatments when needed, I had to opt for the full house treatment rather than the single room. There were two insecticide options as well; (A) Demand - which comes with a three month warranty, and (B) Tempril - which comes with a six month warranty. If I had opted for the stronger insecticide, Tempril, perhaps the single room treatment would have worked after only one set of treatments. At first, however, I chose the cheaper insecticide product. Jay had mentioned to me early on that the more expensive insecticide product kills eggs and larvae while the cheaper one does not, but I did not pick up on how significant a difference it would make.
The activity level of crawling and biting increased after treatment. Jay explained this was unfortunate, but normal. But then, with more bites occurring at the end of the three week period, we felt the need to request another visit for treatments.
For the second visit, I paid a few hundred dollars more to have applied Tempril, the insecticide with a statistically slightly higher kill rate, power to kill eggs, and a longer warranty. In hindsight, perhaps it would have been best to go with the stronger insecticide from the start. Subjectively speaking, it seemed to work much better than the less powerful insecticide, or maybe that it killed eggs and larvae compensated for clutter interfering with the first steam heat treatment.
After the last sighting and biting I waited an additional three weeks before writing this review, just to be sure. I am very pleased and confident the problem is resolved -- without the need to throw away furniture or clothes. The warranty remains in effect until some time in November, which is reassuring, but I seriously doubt there will be any further need of it.
A big "Thank you!" to Avery, Jay, and also Lucas, the friendly and professional young man who came to my house both times and applied all six treatments as efficiently as the clutter around the place allowed him to do.
