Jan 14, 2012 – Charge For Profit
QUESTION:
How do I charge for a bed bug job? This is the first one I have had to deal with. What do you recommend for chemicals and times of spraying? Thank you.
ANSWER:
I am going to be brutally honest and tell you that there is no possible way I could make you an efficient expert at bed bug control with just a few paragraphs of information here. As I have mentioned a number of times since October, I attended the NPMA Conference with the intention of attending every educational session I could on bed bugs, and it amounted to one in every session - probably about 10-12 sessions in all. These still-emerging public health pests are THE hot issue right now, and one reason is because of the difficulty in controlling them. I would caution you that total reliance on just chemicals for their control could very well put you in deep trouble. While insecticides do kill bed bugs they are not the panacea they may be for many other pests, and resistance to many active ingredients is a very real issue. It may be very helpful for you to go into the Archives of the Mr. Pest Control questions and read as many previous answers as you can. This will start to give you an overall picture of what needs to be done. You also should attend as many seminars as you can on this, read some excellent resources on university websites such as Univ. of Kentucky and Virginia Tech, and get the "Bed Bug Handbook" to study from.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
How do I charge for a bed bug job? This is the first one I have had to deal with. What do you recommend for chemicals and times of spraying? Thank you.
ANSWER:
I am going to be brutally honest and tell you that there is no possible way I could make you an efficient expert at bed bug control with just a few paragraphs of information here. As I have mentioned a number of times since October, I attended the NPMA Conference with the intention of attending every educational session I could on bed bugs, and it amounted to one in every session - probably about 10-12 sessions in all. These still-emerging public health pests are THE hot issue right now, and one reason is because of the difficulty in controlling them. I would caution you that total reliance on just chemicals for their control could very well put you in deep trouble. While insecticides do kill bed bugs they are not the panacea they may be for many other pests, and resistance to many active ingredients is a very real issue. It may be very helpful for you to go into the Archives of the Mr. Pest Control questions and read as many previous answers as you can. This will start to give you an overall picture of what needs to be done. You also should attend as many seminars as you can on this, read some excellent resources on university websites such as Univ. of Kentucky and Virginia Tech, and get the "Bed Bug Handbook" to study from.
It probably sounds like I am trying to scare you away from bed bugs, but they are such a tough adversary that if you do not know how to approach the job you will likely not eradicate them and will lose money. Most companies plan on at least 3 trips to an infested account, and these may be spaced out over a month or more. If this is multiple family housing the problem is compounded by the fact that it is likely that far more than just the one unit is infested, and inspecting all surrounding units above, below, and to the sides is required. Most companies seem to plan on a minimum of 3 to 4 hours per visit, particularly initially, as control depends on extremely thorough applications of material into EVERY possible crack and crevice. Customer cooperation and involvement is critical, and if the customer will not do their part there is no sense in taking on the job. This means that they provide access to everything in every room, launder, dry clean, or run through a hot dryer every fabric in infested rooms, and that they NOT move out and take infested belongings with them.
You should at least consider the use of a high powered vacuum for many areas, as these will instantly remove many bugs and shed skins and some eggs. Consider a high quality steamer for use along mattresses and floor and carpet edges. You need to have a protocol in place for yourself for how to prevent taking bed bugs home on you or your equipment. Recognize that any electronic equipment and other equipment in a room that cannot be treated with insecticide needs to be isolated, and possibly "fumigated" with Nuvan Prostrips. The customer may even opt to have their home tented and fumigated with Vikane to complete the job overnight, albeit at a higher cost. Heat treatments also are an excellent option but require a lot of dedicated equipment and knowledge. You need to discuss the options with the customer, and if they choose to have you do the "standard" approach of insecticide applications they need to understand the disruption to their lives that is going to occur. There is no real way to sugar-coat this serious problem and the difficulty that exists in complete, 100% eradication of all bugs and their eggs.
So, have I painted a gloomy enough picture yet? I'm not trying to talk you out of it, but only prepare you for the fact that bed bugs are like no other pest you have every encountered, and cannot be treated like any other pest. Eradicating them from a single family home might take 4 or more visits and cost the customer well over $1000, and they are not going to like hearing that. But, YOU need to make a profit on this work and doing it successfully means a tremendous amount of time will be spent. Many insecticides are used successfully, including dusts within wall voids (Tempo, Drione, MotherEarth) and spray products (Phantom, Temprid, Bedlam, Gentrol, Alpine, Transport seem to be the top 6 used by PMP's). There also are some good monitoring devices and one excellent one to be introduced in March, and that is Verifi from FMC.
What it boils down to is that you need to become fluent on exactly how to approach this before going into the first job, or you will have frustrating problems and probably fail to eradicate them. The good news is that a great many resources are available to prepare yourself.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
