Prep: Important, Not Always Attainable

Preparing sites prior to bed bug treatment is key to eliminating the pests. The degree of prep required, however, has changed over the years and varies from company to company.

Most company locations today offer a low-prep option for bed bug treatment, reported 56 percent of PMPs in the 2023 PCT State of the Bed Bug Control Market survey.

Elite Pest and Termite Control, Pataskala, Ohio, doesn’t require residents to pull clothes out of closets or drawers and then launder and bag them. Instead, they are asked to clear the floor and bed and to pull items away from baseboards, so technicians have access to perform treatment.

“You still find people who don’t want to do a minimal amount of prep. That’s always going to be an issue,” admitted owner Brad Sparks.

If a unit is not prepared for service, he advises technicians not to perform the treatment. “In my opinion [prep] can make or break the service. Don’t compromise on the prep,” said Sparks.

Q36 Pest Control, Oak Ridge, Tenn., also requires minimal prep. If technicians notice an area that needs more attention after the initial treatment, they’ll ask customers to perform specific prep for that spot before the follow-up visit to help eliminate the pests faster.

“Communication is key in these situations. We help them understand what they can do to help speed the process up,” said Zack Yassu, director of operations for the company.

This is how Jaime Pilbeam, Superior Pest Control, sells customers on prep: The more they help, the faster and better the results will be, and the sooner his technicians will be gone.

“If you get the buy-in from the customer, you have effective treatment,” said Pilbeam, who recently spoke to the Rental Property Owners Association of Michigan about bed bugs. “Part of our job is education,” he reminded.

A customer’s willingness to prepare the site for treatment shows their commitment to solving the problem, said Randy Moffat, United Pest Solutions.

“My experience is, if I have somebody prep, we’re going to get better participation, which is going to give us better results,” he said.

Before any heat or chemical treatment is performed by Janssen Pest Solutions, Des Moines, Iowa, customers must sign a legal agreement and initial that they’ve received the prep sheet. This acknowledgment hopefully spurs people to act.

If not, “we do charge if there’s been no prep and it is high clutter,” said owner Nancy Janssen.

Scott Elsner, owner, Bay Pest Solutions, Green Bay, Wis., only takes on jobs if customers are willing to work with a third-party canine detection service and do the prep, the degree to which depends on the clutter and severity of the problem.

Good prep begets successful treatment, said Elsner. But “what we’ve been running into sometimes is people don’t want to prep the jobs properly and then they expect miracles,” he said.

PMPs said this is frustrating because they know their treatment protocols will eliminate the pests. “The only times that we have had trouble is when the customer hasn’t held up their end,” said Lee Ruble, owner, Q36 Pest Control.

Most issues with lack of preparation occurred in multi-family housing, said PMPs. This also was where most bed bug work was performed.

According to PMPs who participated in the PCT survey, apartments/multi-family housing (48 percent) and single-family homes (33 percent) generated the largest portion of bed bug revenue for company locations last year.