Bed bug control in Harat Al Sarahin, 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 Sarahin

We have noticed that houses recently rebuilt under the replacement programme sometimes keep bedding carried over from the old mud house, which brings the same problem into a new building. The method is set out in full on Bed bug control in detail.

The first reason

Moving between the old house and its replacement

When a mud built house here is due for replacement, mattresses and bedding are often moved into the new house before anyone checks them, so an infestation in the old furniture travels straight into the building meant to replace it.

The second reason

Houses of one family, side by side

Related families here keep their houses clustered together in the old coastal style, and bedding and cushions travel between those houses for gatherings, so the infestation is rarely confined to a single address once it starts.

The third reason

Half a kilometre from the next quarter

Harat Al Sarahin sits barely half a kilometre from Harat Al Baharah and Al Harah Al Janubiyah, and family visiting between the three is frequent, so bags and borrowed bedding can carry bed bugs across a quarter boundary that residents barely notice.

Harat Al Sarahin on the map

Harat Al Sarahin sits about 0.5 km from Harat Al Baharah and about 0.5 km from Harat Al Amir.

Open in Google Maps

Before treatment

The places that decide the treatment

The old mud built houses here have thick walls full of small gaps and cracks, which give bed bugs hiding places behind panels and furniture pushed against the wall.

The stitched piping along the edge of a mattress

The mattress seam

In this cluster of family houses, guest mattresses are often lent between relatives for occasions, so the seam is checked first because it is the part that travels most between homes.

A wooden bed frame and its slats seen from below

Frame joints and screw holes

Beds in the older mud built houses are usually local hardwood with loose joints, and the wide screw holes give the insect a hiding place that a quick look will not reach.

An upholstered headboard fixed to a bedroom wall

The headboard and the wall behind it

Here the headboard is usually fixed straight onto a mud wall full of hairline cracks, so we check behind it and any flaking paint that has bonded to the wall itself.

What the bedding shows

In houses that share guest bedding between relatives, the marks show up faster on the shared sheets kept for visitors than on the household's own bedding, which gets washed more often.

A fabric sofa and the seam of its cushion

Sofas and armchairs

The receiving majlis in these houses sees heavy use whenever relatives call, which is often here, so the padding of the seating is checked before the rest of the furnishings.

An open suitcase on a luggage rack in a room

Luggage and second hand furniture

As some of the mud built houses come down for replacement, old furniture leaves them and pieces are sometimes reused in another house in the same quarter, so it is checked before it moves 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.

The character of Harat Al Sarahin

Mixed district: shops at street level with homes above them

In Harat Al Sarahin the shops below are often a small grocer or bakery under an old family house, so an inspection has to reach the storeroom and the stairwell next to the bedroom above, not just the flat itself.

Questions about this district

Our house is due for replacement, could bed bugs travel with us to a relative's house?

Yes, the check covers the bags, cushions and bedding you carry with you to the relative's house before the move, because the insect travels with personal belongings rather than with the building itself.

We lend guest mattresses to relatives' houses for occasions, is checking one mattress enough?

No, if a mattress moves between several houses for occasions then every house that received it needs checking too, because the infestation can travel with each round of borrowing.

Our walls are mud and very thick, could bed bugs hide inside the cracks themselves?

Deep cracks in a mud wall rarely make a lasting home for the insect on their own, since it needs to stay close to where you sleep, but we still check any crack near the bed or the headboard.

There is an abandoned mud house next to us waiting to be replaced, could it be a source?

An empty house rarely keeps bed bugs alive for long once there is no one to feed on, but if anyone goes in to check on it or store things there, they can carry the insect out again without meaning to.

We are giving away furniture from our old house to relatives before it comes down, is that risky?

Yes, checking the furniture before it is handed over is better than checking it after it reaches another house, especially padded seating and old wooden bed frames, which can carry an infestation without showing any obvious sign.

Our old roof is built from palm trunks and timber, could bed bugs hide up there?

Bed bugs need to stay close to where you actually sleep, so a high roof is rarely where an infestation starts, but we still check any beam or timber close to the head of the bed or fixed against the headboard.

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