Six places, in order, with a torch. It takes ten minutes, and it is worth doing before you sign for a room as well as after you have been bitten.
Small dark faecal spots on the mattress seam, shed skins, live insects, and blood smears on the sheet.
Check in order: mattress seams, frame joints, headboard, skirting behind the bed, bedside furniture, then the carpet edge. Use a torch.
People look at the mattress and stop. The headboard and the skirting behind the bed are just as productive and much less often checked.
| Sign | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Faecal spotting | Small dark spots, like ink from a fine pen, often in clusters |
| Shed skins | Pale, hollow, bed-bug-shaped, translucent |
| Live adults | Flat, oval, reddish-brown, about apple-pip size |
| Nymphs | Much smaller, paler, harder to see |
| Eggs | About 1mm, pearly white, glued into a crevice |
| Blood smears | Small rust-coloured marks on the sheet |
| Smell | A sweet musty odour in a heavy infestation |
£220 for the first room, £120 for each additional. Published, up to four rooms.
View Bed Bug Control Rayners Lane →Rayners Lane has a lot of room lets and a lot of turnover, and this is a ten-minute check that is entirely reasonable to make at a viewing.
| Actually | Tell |
|---|---|
| Fleas | Bites at ankle height, pet in the house, no bed evidence |
| Carpet beetle larval hairs | Irritation rather than bites, bristly shed skins present |
| Mosquitoes or midges | Single bites, summer, windows open |
| A skin condition | No physical evidence anywhere in the room |
| Mould or dust mites | Respiratory symptoms rather than bites |
We would rather tell you it is not bed bugs than treat a room that does not need it. Send photographs of what you find.
They hide in crevices by day. You are usually looking for evidence rather than insects.
A single fertilised female can establish a population within weeks.
Primarily within a few feet of where someone sleeps. The carpet edge along that wall is worth checking.
Nothing to do with beds — a wasp nest is £90 fixed in Rayners Lane, guaranteed for 30 days.
In order: mattress seams and piping, bed frame joints, the headboard, the skirting behind the bed, bedside furniture, then the carpet edge along that wall.
Small dark faecal spots like ink from a fine pen, pale hollow shed skins, flat reddish-brown insects about apple-pip size, and rust-coloured smears on the sheet.
Yes, and it is entirely reasonable. Ask to look at the mattress seams, headboard and skirting behind the bed at the viewing.
Do the six-place check on day one before unpacking, photograph the mattress seams and frame with the date, and add anything you find to the inventory.
No. Reactions vary enormously and one person can be bitten heavily and show nothing. Physical evidence is what confirms it.
Fleas, which bite at ankle height; carpet beetle larval hairs, which irritate rather than bite; mosquitoes; and sometimes skin conditions with no evidence anywhere.
They hide in crevices by day, so you are usually looking for evidence rather than live insects.
Photograph it before disturbing it, do not spray it, do not move to another room, and report it in writing the same day if you rent.
Six places, ten minutes, with a torch. Photograph anything you find before you touch it.
Prefer to talk? Call 0203 151 6640 or WhatsApp us.
