Might be a strange topic, but

Stopped by a friend's shop today and his mother was there. She and hubby have a successful exterminator business. We got talking and she said bed bugs are by far the main pest these days. I've known a few people that have gone through it and it sounds horrible and expensive. She said Craigslist and yard sales are how they spread the easiest. Buy a piece of furniture or something cheap at a garage sale can cost you thousands if it's from a bed bug house. She mentioned I needed to be careful buying speakers that have a hole in the box to let sound out (her words) cuz bed bugs love insulation to start families in and most open hole speakers have insulation in them. She said people usually won't admit having bed bugs cuz public perception is they come from nasty dirty homes and beds which isn't why they're called that. It's cuz they like attacking people to suck your blood while you sleep. Once you get them she said to figure at least $2-3 per square foot your house is and a bunch of work to get rid of them. Something to think about being into vintage speakers.

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  • I was thinking about how most Polk stuff I see are passive radiator designs so it wasn't much to worry about with this line. But I have bought quite a few other speakers over the years that are ported designs. She said if you do get something that's infected you'll know within three weeks or less and they'll have your whole house within a few days. She said to pay attention to the seller's arms and stuff for small scabs and bumps from them scratching. She also mentioned Goodwill and pawn shops are some of their best customers cuz they constantly need treating.
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    What part of the country are u in @Slapaho? Just curious is all. I think bed is are the worst on the east coast iirc...
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  • Msabot1
    Msabot1 Posts: 2,098
    Slapaho wrote: »
    Stopped by a friend's shop today and his mother was there. She and hubby have a successful exterminator business. We got talking and she said bed bugs are by far the main pest these days. I've known a few people that have gone through it and it sounds horrible and expensive. She said Craigslist and yard sales are how they spread the easiest. Buy a piece of furniture or something cheap at a garage sale can cost you thousands if it's from a bed bug house. She mentioned I needed to be careful buying speakers that have a hole in the box to let sound out (her words) cuz bed bugs love insulation to start families in and most open hole speakers have insulation in them. She said people usually won't admit having bed bugs cuz public perception is they come from nasty dirty homes and beds which isn't why they're called that. It's cuz they like attacking people to suck your blood while you sleep. Once you get them she said to figure at least $2-3 per square foot your house is and a bunch of work to get rid of them. Something to think about being into vintage speakers.

    Speakers are the least of your worries,I think...You had better watch the hotels and motels you stay in..Even some of the upper crust ones have a bad problem with them..They hitch hike on your luggage going through airports too..In this city,they had to close down the Health and Human Services building for a week to eradicate those pests...They know no class distinction and once they get established can be a real pain ITA to get rid of...
  • rooftop59
    rooftop59 Posts: 7,952
    DSkip wrote: »
    rooftop59 wrote: »
    What part of the country are u in @Slapaho? Just curious is all. I think bed is are the worst on the east coast iirc...

    You won't like the answer - he is in Irving.

    dammit skip you bubble burster!!!
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  • Yup. Irving as young skip said. She said something about the East side of the states is now claiming they're migrating from house to house on their own but she doesn't believe it.

    Younger guy I worked with a few years ago moved into his first apartment that was already infested. Parents made him pretty much throw away everything he had before letting him move back home. Clothes can go into black trash bags and zip-tied closed, then sit in the sun to cook them. Then immediately from trash bag into washer and drier.
  • txcoastal1
    txcoastal1 Posts: 13,124
    Hotel, Motel, (Holiday Inn)...I always check the mattress'
    Travelers have spread them nationwide. The reason more cases are in the north east is high rise living/apt
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  • dkfreebird
    dkfreebird Posts: 1,180
    I used to work in the Irving area.They spread quick and if you get one apartment infested you really need to treat the whole building. I've seen my fair share of them and they are expensive to get rid of.
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    txcoastal1 wrote: »
    Hotel, Motel, (Holiday Inn)...I always check the mattress'
    Travelers have spread them nationwide. The reason more cases are in the north east is high rise living/apt

    Agree here with Ron. Always check the headboards and lights on the nightstand. Them little buggers leave a trail that can be pretty easy to follow. Brown specks are dead give away. Picking up a curb find before it ever goes in your house spray it completely well with insecticide. They need to feed often so if there are no host they die off. Funny how 10yrs ago you never heard of them now they are everywhere.
  • dkfreebird
    dkfreebird Posts: 1,180
    pitdogg2 wrote: »
    DDT done :p

    Those were the days! That stuff would kill anything. I'm not sure if they used that stuff to spray for mosquitoes back in the 70's but I remember the trucks going around our little town spraying and us running behind it thinking it was fun. I guess that explains a lot of my thinking today. :o
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  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    That's amazing about running behind the truck, because my neibors across the street told me he and some other neighborhood kids did the same thing here in Wilm. NC. back in the day. He's a healthy 50 year old and still going strong. I guess it only hurt the hawks, owls and eagles who ate rodents saturated with the stuff every day if they could catch em.
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • Tony M
    Tony M Posts: 11,009
    By the way, one of those trucks went by my house the other night. Unmistakable sound that the sprayer makes. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.. LOL.
    Most people just listen to music and watch movies. I EXPERIENCE them.
  • City of Euless on West side of D/FW airport still runs the fogger trucks several times every year. Figure it's from Bear Creek running back and fourth through the city at two mph and there are so many bugs that breed along it. A couple of the soccer fields we used to play at were right up against it. Deep Woods Off spray cans stayed in my bag just for those parks. Even as a kid I don't think I ever considered chasing after one of those trucks though. Too tired from running down the ice cream trucks.
  • When I was a kid in Bedford, IN,in the 50s, we used to ride our bikes behind the fogging truck as it made its way around town.

    Not too bright, but nobody thought much about it in those days.

    Today, I have to wonder if it has contributed to my current battle with prostate cancer.

    Which has nothing to do with bed bugs!
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  • dkfreebird
    dkfreebird Posts: 1,180
    We didn't have an ice cream truck in our town of 900 and with seven boys in the family the only ice cream we got was what we took turns cranking the handle and pouring the rock salt over the ice out in the garage. :#
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  • mrloren
    mrloren Posts: 2,454
    Those things suck! A coworker came to work one day said he had them in his house. He was sent home right away to work from home till he got rid of them. Took him 3 weeks, I think it could have taken a week but he milked it.
    When I was a kid my parents told me to turn it down. Now I'm an adult and my kids tell me to turn it down.
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  • dkfreebird wrote: »
    We didn't have an ice cream truck in our town of 900 and with seven boys in the family the only ice cream we got was what we took turns cranking the handle and pouring the rock salt over the ice out in the garage. :#

    It sure was good though wasn't it? My grand parents played that way too when we stayed with them.


  • Dude, get a life.[/quote]

    Noted. Will look into it. Where'd you get yours?
  • If this is a kharma, IN. 512 please.
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