How to hire a bed bug exterminator and avoid costly mistakes
Before hiring a bed bug exterminator, note that dog teams in a Rutgers field study averaged 44% detection. Check the inspection, contract and warranty.
Table of Contents
Hire a company whose licensed technician inspects your home before quoting, then puts the treatment plan, the products, the follow-up schedule and the warranty start date in writing. Expect more than one visit, because few infestations end after one treatment.
Each check below targets a way a bed bug job ends up costing more than the quote: a price set without an inspection, a contract that leaves out follow-up, or a warranty that expires before the bugs do.
Bed bugs are not known to spread disease, and that leaves time to talk with several companies before choosing one, even when the problem feels urgent. If you are still deciding whether to bring in help at all, read when DIY bed bug control can work and when it can’t first.
Before anyone quotes a price, they should see your bedroom
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension warns against companies that quote a home or apartment bed bug job without inspecting it first. The cost depends on how heavy the infestation is and how much clutter and furniture must be moved and treated, so a price set before anyone has looked cannot reflect those things. An inspection before the quote shows the company means to treat what is there at a fair price.
A thorough inspection starts at the bed and works outward. The minimum practices NYC Health sets out for bed bug work describe:
- taking the bed apart if needed
- checking mattress and box spring seams, tags and zippers
- then checking drawers, furniture joints, the backs of wall hangings, and the edges of carpet and molding
Under those practices, confirming an infestation takes live bed bugs or viable eggs seen during the inspection. In apartment buildings, the inspection also covers the units beside, above and below yours, along with laundry rooms and other shared spaces.
Ask the technician to show you where the bugs were found (Oklahoma State Extension’s inspection questions). Contra Costa County’s hiring checklist adds two more marks of a careful company: a written inspection report with an action plan, and a price based on what was found instead of a flat fee.
When a dog does the inspection
Some companies bring a scent-detection dog, and a dog alert on its own does not confirm bed bugs. Any positive indication from a dog should be confirmed by sight, under New York City’s health department practices.
Field results show why. When Rutgers researchers tested 11 dog-and-handler teams in naturally infested apartments, the teams found infestations 44% of the time on average, with an average false-positive rate of 15%. Every handler in the study believed their dog was at least 95% accurate.
Ask whether a dog is included in the quote and what the company does after an alert, since a canine inspection adds to the price. Dogs still earn a place. Low numbers of bed bugs are hard to spot by eye, so pairing a visual check with traps or dogs helps.
Screening a bed bug exterminator by phone
Call several companies before you let anyone into the house, and judge them on the same questions. Price makes a weak tiebreaker, because treating the problem properly the first time saves time and even money.
| Ask | A strong answer |
|---|---|
| Is your applicator licensed in this state, and in the right category for this job? | A license number you can check with the state before work starts |
| Do you carry insurance? | Coverage for you, your property and their own employees |
| How many bed bug jobs did you do last year in homes like mine? | A specific number, plus recent customers you can call |
| Do you inspect before giving a price? | Yes, followed by a written report |
| Which methods do you combine, and how will you monitor afterward? | More than one method, with traps or inspections to check results |
| Who will treat my home, and how many technicians come? | Named technicians trained in bed bug control |
| What preparation do you need from me, and do you help with it? | A written prep sheet |
| How many follow-up visits are in the price, and when? | Visits listed with dates |
| When does the warranty start, and how long does it run? | A start date written into the contract |
Sources: Texas A&M interview card, NPIC, UMN Extension, Oklahoma State Extension, Purdue Extension.
Score each company from 1 to 5 on every row, add the scores, and set each total beside that company’s quote. That is how the Texas A&M interview card works.
Start with the license. Each state has one agency that works with EPA on pesticide rules, listed in NPIC’s directory of state pesticide regulatory agencies. That office can tell you whether a technician’s license is current, whether it is the right classification for the job, and whether the company has recent violations or complaints. Ask to see the license before any work starts (UMN Extension).
Methods tell you the rest. A company that relies on insecticides, steam or heat alone is not using integrated pest management, the approach anyone you hire for bed bugs should follow. Third-party IPM certifications such as Green Shield Certified or GreenPro count in a company’s favor without being required for good work.
The plan, products and price belong in writing
After the inspection, the paperwork is what you can hold a company to. NYC Health’s minimum practices list what it should cover:
- an action plan with your preparation tasks and a timeline for treatment and re-inspection
- a service agreement that includes follow-up inspections and treatments, plus every guarantee, exclusion and limitation
- a cost estimate based on the inspection, given before any billable work
Extra services get priced and agreed before they begin.
Before signing, check the contract for each item on UMN Extension’s contract checklist:
- Company name, address and contact details
- The work to be done and the insecticides or methods to be used
- Preparation instructions you must follow
- Start and end dates, plus dates for follow-up visits
- License and insurance details
- Exclusions, the cancellation policy and any arbitration clause
- The guarantee and the price
For every product, ask for:
- its name
- its EPA registration number
- its form (gel, spray or dust)
- where it will go
(NPIC). Ask for the label and safety data sheet too; the company should provide both on request. Price moves with the size of the infestation, the clutter and the furniture involved, and what drives the cost of bed bug treatment goes into those factors.
Safety: Applying pesticides is the licensed applicator’s job, done as each product’s label directs, because the label is the law. New York City’s practices rule out applying pesticides to mattresses and box springs, and rule out using insecticidal bombs for bed bugs (minimum practices). After an insecticide treatment, stay out of treated rooms until everything has dried or the technician says it is safe to return (UMN Extension).
Warranty start dates and follow-up visits
Two to three weeks after the final treatment is when the first follow-up inspection belongs under NYC Health’s minimum practices. Another check comes about a month after the problem seems solved, because infestations are rarely eliminated in one visit.
Insecticide treatments generally take two to three visits. Heat is more likely to finish in one, though retreatment is sometimes needed if areas were missed or bugs come back in. Ask up front how many visits the company expects and whether all of them are included in the estimate.
A 2013 Texas A&M fact sheet puts typical bed bug warranties at 30 to 90 days, with the company monitoring through one or two follow-up visits. The detail to pin down is when that period begins. Some companies start it at the first treatment; others wait until the last bed bug sighting. Ask which applies, and have the answer written into the contract.
If bugs are still turning up at the follow-ups, a 60-day warranty counted from the first visit can run out weeks before one counted from the last sighting. Three weeks after treatment ends with no new bites, live bugs, fresh fecal spots or cast skins, the infestation is likely controlled. The signs that bed bugs are gone after treatment are worth knowing before the warranty period closes.
What should you hold off on before treatment day?
Between the first phone call and the technician’s arrival, the pull to do something yourself is strong. A few common moves make the job harder:
- Spraying or setting off a fogger. Treating the problem yourself first could help the infestation spread. Foggers should not be the only method used against bed bugs, and hardware-store foggers are not effective against them. Why bug bombs fail against bed bugs goes into the details.
- Moving belongings to other rooms or throwing things out before treatment. This can spread bed bugs to rooms and neighbors that didn’t have them.
- Starting prep from guesswork. Wait for the company’s written instructions; a company that gives none is one to pass on (Purdue Extension).
Once the prep sheet arrives, follow it line by line, because poor preparation is one of the main reasons bed bug treatments fail.
For renters: Report bed bugs to your landlord or property manager right away (UMN Extension). Who arranges and pays for treatment depends on your lease and on state and local law. Who is responsible for bed bugs in an apartment walks through how that is decided.
Book inspections, then compare the written plans
The next step is booking in-home inspections with a few licensed companies and scoring each against the table above. Put their written plans side by side before you sign.
Weigh the inspection report, the visits included and the warranty start date ahead of price, since the lowest-priced bed bug services are seldom the most effective. The main guide to getting rid of bed bugs picks up from there.
