Bed bug control in Harat Al Baharah, Jeddah

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 Harat Al Baharah

Visits to this quarter tend to turn up the same pattern: the room above the shop, facing the street, shows an infestation sooner than the quieter rooms further back in the house. The method is set out in full on what Bed bug control involves.

The first reason

Adjoining walls with no real gap between them

The old houses in Harat Al Baharah were built low and close together, sharing walls and roof space with almost no cavity between one home and the next, so bed bugs can cross into a neighbouring house through a small gap without ever touching that household's own furniture, which means the unit next door often needs checking too.

The second reason

Tenants above the shops turn over with the fishing season

Flats above the shops in this quarter are often let to fishing crews and dock workers for a season at a time, and when one lodger leaves and another moves straight in, the bedding and furniture usually stay exactly where they are, so an infestation can pass from one tenant to the next without anyone noticing until it has spread.

The third reason

Sea humidity pushes the hiding place further in

Being this close to the Red Sea keeps the outer walls of the quarter damp all year, and bed bugs tend to avoid that damp side, settling instead deeper into the frame joints and the drier half of the headboard, which shifts exactly where an inspection needs to look closest.

Landmarks of Harat Al Baharah

Visits in this quarter are organised around Thuwal Harbour, where the oldest and most closely built houses stand, and extend along Thuwal Corniche, where the newer low rise homes and their flats above shops continue the same row.

Thuwal Harbour
Thuwal Corniche
Al Shati Mosque
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

Before treatment

The places that decide the treatment

The old houses in this quarter share low roofs and party walls with almost no gap between them, so bed bugs can move from one home to the next without any furniture changing hands at all.

The stitched piping along the edge of a mattress

The mattress seam

In flats above the shops here, the mattress seam is the first thing checked, since it often arrived with a previous tenant rather than with the current household.

A wooden bed frame and its slats seen from below

Frame joints and screw holes

The old timber bed frames common in this quarter swell with sea humidity, so their joints widen and give the insect more room to hide inside the wood.

An upholstered headboard fixed to a bedroom wall

The headboard and the wall behind it

Because the outer wall of these houses carries sea damp all year, the insect tends to settle on the drier side of the headboard rather than against the wall itself.

What the bedding shows

In these rented rooms the bedding changes often, so a fresh mark on the sheet usually points to an infestation that has just arrived rather than an old one.

A fabric sofa and the seam of its cushion

Sofas and armchairs

In houses here that put up fishing crews or visiting workers, the sofa by the entrance is checked first, since it is where a new arrival usually sits.

An open suitcase on a luggage rack in a room

Luggage and second hand furniture

Crew bags and furniture moved into flats let near the university are among the most common ways bed bugs travel into this quarter and out of it again.

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 Thuwal Sub-Municipality

Thuwal sub municipality is a small fishing town on the Red Sea coast at the far northern edge of Jeddah governorate. Its old quarters are closely packed popular and mud built houses on narrow streets, with newer low rise concrete homes from the town's development programme beside them. Sea humidity stays high all year, the fishing harbour and the corniche form its seafront, water arrives by tanker so household tanks are everywhere, and the town sits on Wadi Thuwal, ringed by open ground and by the irrigated green campus of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

Questions about this district

Can bed bugs move between adjoining houses through a shared roof space?

Yes. The old houses in this quarter share low roofs and walls with barely a gap between them, and bed bugs can cross from one house into the next through a small opening even when the second house has no furniture that came from anywhere else.

We let a room above our shop to fishing crews each season, should it be checked after they leave?

Yes, checking the room after each crew leaves stops an infestation that started with one season's tenants from carrying straight over to the next group, especially since the bedding and furniture in that room usually stay put between lets.

Should a furnished flat near King Abdullah University of Science and Technology be checked between each tenant?

Yes. Flats let to university staff and students near the campus change hands every term or contract, so checking between tenants and treating any early sign before it takes hold stops an infestation building up that nobody can later trace to a cause.

Visitors rent a room from us for a short stay near the corniche, could they bring bed bugs?

Yes, a bag can carry bed bugs in even for a night or two, which is why the room kept for short stay visitors should be checked after each stay before anyone in the household uses it again.

Does the sea humidity here make steam treatment less effective?

Humidity does not stop steam from killing the insects and eggs inside the seam, but it does slow how quickly the mattress dries afterwards, so we allow the room proper airing before the bed is made up again.

We go away for weeks on long fishing trips, could bed bugs appear while the house is empty?

Bed bugs do not need anyone home to survive, they can wait inside the seams and joints without feeding for a long stretch and become active again as soon as you return, so it is worth checking the bed on the first night back rather than after.

How much does bed bug control in Harat Al Baharah 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 Harat Al Baharah.