Why heat, in Michigan’s words
The state’s bed bug manual, written by the health department with MSU Extension and the pest industry on the working group, calls circulating dry heat “the only non-chemical treatment currently available that is effective against bed bugs in all of their hiding places,” and “one of the only bed bug management methods that has potential to be used alone.” It also names the way heat fails: it “can fail if all locations in unit do not attain upper lethal temperature (~120F).” Our job is the word all. How we get every location there →
Three services
Whole-home heat
Heaters, air movers, probes in the mattress seam and the sofa frame, a hold timed from the coldest reading. One day, no residue, a residual dust in the voids after.
Heat →Chemical program
For caught-early single rooms and for buildings treating in rounds. Non-pyrethroid products, encasements, and the follow-up MSU says a conventional program “will usually require” about two weeks later.
Compare →Landlord and building service
Adjacent-unit inspection, same-day multi-unit treatment, and a treatment agreement built on the state manual’s own template.
Landlords →Who is responsible: the owner, mostly
Michigan’s Housing Law is direct: “The owner of every dwelling shall be responsible for keeping the entire building free from vermin,” while “the tenants shall be responsible for the cleanliness of those parts of the premises that they occupy and control” (MCL 125.474). Inside Grand Rapids, the city’s adopted property maintenance code adds that the owner must eliminate pests “prior to renting,” handles shared areas in multi-unit buildings, and shares responsibility with an occupant whose failure caused the infestation. Outside the city, Kent County’s regulation flips the default to the occupant. Three jurisdictions, three answers. The statutes, quoted →
Every job leaves a record
- Inspection findings by room, with life stages present
- Heat: the probe log — locations, peak, hold time at the coldest sensor
- Chemical: products, locations, and the scheduled follow-up date
- A report a tenant, a landlord, Code Compliance or a court can read
Guides
Why Grand Rapids ranks
Three years of Orkin lists, read honestly.
Resistance and foggers
Why the spray from the hardware store does not work here.
Preparing for treatment
MSU Extension’s list, and the heat exception.
After treatment
Why treatments fail, and the two-week rule.