Bed bug control in Al Shuhada, Makkah

Targeted, not broadcast

Product goes into cracks and runways, never sprayed across open surfaces.
Told before we start

What we will use, where it goes, and what to cover or move before we arrive.
A follow-up visit

We return after the first treatment, because what survives it does not show on the day.
Homes and businesses

Apartments and villas, and kitchens and stores that need a record of each visit.

Why they keep coming back in Al Shuhada

Working through the district, we notice houses built straight against the rock at the base of the hill stay cooler at night, and bed bugs there tend to cluster near the wooden frame rather than the stone wall. The method is set out in full on what Bed bug control involves.

The first reason

Building without a plan on broken rock

When a new room goes up on a rock outcrop instead of levelled ground, a step in height stays between the old wall and the new extension, leaving a gap behind the headboard that a house built in one go never has.

The second reason

Hajj Street's workshops and the furniture that circulates

Carpentry and upholstery workshops line Hajj Street, so repaired or reupholstered pieces move into the district's homes more often than furniture bought new, which makes checking a frame before it goes back into the bedroom a step worth keeping.

The third reason

An old quarter that was never cleared and rebuilt

Two old cemeteries tied to the battle of Fakh mark the district as older than Makkah's modern grid, so original stone rooms still stand next to later concrete additions, and the two kinds of wall hide bed bugs differently enough that each gets checked on its own terms.

Landmarks of Al Shuhada

Inspection visits in the district are organised around Al Shuhada Square as a first gathering point, then move west towards Asad ibn Zurarah Mosque, where the old houses sit close together and many doors carry no clear number at all.

Hajj Street
Madinah Road
Al Shuhada Square
Thaniyat Al Bayda
Jabal Al Shahid
Asad ibn Zurarah Mosque

Before treatment

The places that decide the treatment

Jabal Al Barud, Jabal Al Shahid and the wadis of Al Tanim and Al Zahir close in on the district from nearly every side, so many homes sit on sloped rock rather than one level plot.

The stitched piping along the edge of a mattress

The mattress seam

In Al Shuhada's older houses the mattress is often pushed against an uneven stone wall, so the seam on that side gapes wider than the seam facing the room.

A wooden bed frame and its slats seen from below

Frame joints and screw holes

Many beds here come from Hajj Street's workshops or older shops, and a used wooden frame carries wider screw holes than a new one straight from the shop.

An upholstered headboard fixed to a bedroom wall

The headboard and the wall behind it

In rooms built straight against the rock, the wall behind the headboard is often rough stone that gives bed bugs an easier hold than a freshly plastered wall.

What the bedding shows

Where the bed sits close to an old stone wall, the darker marks tend to show on the edge of the bedding nearest the wall rather than the middle.

A fabric sofa and the seam of its cushion

Sofas and armchairs

Rooms in Al Shuhada are often small, so the sitting room sofa doubles as a bed when the house is full, and bed bugs move onto it from the nearest bedroom.

An open suitcase on a luggage rack in a room

Luggage and second hand furniture

Near Hajj Street's workshops, used pieces are sometimes set out on the pavement before they are sold, and anything from there needs checking before it settles into a room.

How we work

1
Inspect and map the spread

We strip the bed and work through the mattress and base seams, the frame joints, the headboard and the skirting, then check the upholstered furniture and the neighbouring rooms to see how far it has gone.
2
Laundry, heat and steam

Bedding is bagged and sealed inside the room, then washed and dried hot. Steam runs along the seams and edges, because heat reaches the cemented eggs that a liquid never will.
3
Targeted, non-repellent application

A non-repellent product goes onto the harbourage itself, with a dust into voids and screw holes. We do not use a repellent aerosol, because it drives the insect deeper into the wall and into the next room.
4
Monitoring and the follow-up visit

A sealed encasement goes onto the mattress and the base, with monitors under the bed legs, then we return once the remaining eggs have hatched and re-treat anything still active.

What bed bug control includes

A recorded inspection

Mattress and base seams, frame joints, the headboard, the skirting and every upholstered piece in the room.
Steam and targeted application

Steam along the seams and edges, and a non-repellent product on the harbourage itself, not on the surfaces you sleep on.
Voids and pipe entries

Behind the skirting, around pipe entries and under socket plates, which is the route from one unit to the next.
Monitors under the bed legs

Checked at every visit, they show remaining activity before the bites do.
Laundry, encasement and aftercare

The hot wash and dryer routine, a sealed encasement on the mattress and base, and what must not be carried out of the room.
A follow-up timed to the hatch

A date set on the hatch, and re-treatment of anything still active.

What is different about Al Utaybiyah Sub-Municipality

Al Utaybiyah sub municipality covers the old districts north of the Grand Mosque: the hillside quarters of Al Hajun, Al Utaybiyah and Al Bayban, Al Zahir and Al Shuhada at the northern entrance, and the newer Al Zahra, Al Diyafah and An Nuzhah westward. Its building stock is among the oldest in Makkah, stone houses on the hills, packed apartment blocks and sewers decades old, threaded with crowded markets like the Utaybiyah souq and furnished flats that fill in the pilgrim seasons. Wadi Al Zahir and Wadi Al Tanim carry storm water through it, and industrial workshops line Hajj Street.

Questions about this district

Our neighbour next door handed us an old wardrobe from his house, does it still need checking?

Distance is not what matters here, bed bugs travel with the piece itself rather than through the air, so we check the wardrobe inside and out, including its joints, before it comes into the room, whatever the distance between the two adjoining houses.

We added a room on the roof for our grown son, does its new bedding need a first check?

Brand new bedding is rarely a risk on its own, but the first check is worth doing if other furniture for the room came out of an old store in the original house before being moved up to the new addition.

Cracks in our bedroom wall come from the rock shifting, could they hide bed bugs?

Fine cracks in an old stone wall are exactly the kind of place bed bugs use close to the bed, so we give those seams particular attention during the check, not only the flat part of the wall.

A relative stays one night to visit the old cemeteries near the battle of Fakh, does his bedding need checking?

One night is enough for bed bugs to move if they were already in his bag, so we check the bedding he used and the spot where he set his bag down before he left, not just the room as a whole.

Our narrow street stops removal trucks, so an old bed stayed put during a refit, does it need checking?

Staying in place is not the same as being safe, refitting a room, including knocking on walls and shifting nearby furniture, can spread bed bugs that were already there, so a check after any refit is worth doing.

We store guest mattresses on the roof between visiting seasons, do they need checking before we bring them down?

Storage on the roof does not kill bed bugs on its own, heat alone is rarely enough, so we check the folded mattresses before they are laid out for guests, especially the seams and corners that sat against the floor while stored.

How much does bed bug control in Al Shuhada cost?

It is set after the inspection, because the price follows the type of infestation, the size of the space, how far it has spread and the number of visits it needs. Send a photo and a description on WhatsApp and we will give you an estimate before we reach Al Shuhada.