Can bed bugs travel from one apartment to another through walls? Let’s find out.

Bed bug presence will be a nightmare for most homeowners simply because these pests are difficult to get rid of. This even makes it more difficult when such infestation is in an apartment building.

Such multifamily housing creates all sorts of challenges as you’ll soon find out.

Do Bed Bugs Travel Through Walls?

Due to the difficulties involved in tracing bed bug infestations in such dwellings, it becomes necessary to consider ways through which bed bugs spread. Can they travel through apartment walls?

This is a possibility we’ll be discussing to find answers.

How Do Bed Bugs Spread in Apartment Buildings?

Sometimes, bed bug presence in an apartment building can be inexplicable. Your unit may have been fumigated for bed bugs before you moved in but you eventually notice that the problems remain.

While it’s common to fault the last fumigation as not being effective, it may actually not be the case.

Bed bugs could move or travel from one apartment to the next. If so, how does this happen? Multi-occupancy buildings may be interconnected in more ways than you can imagine.

One of such possible connections includes tiny cracks on walls that you may not notice.

Also, there may be interconnected pipes between such walls which provide easy passage to bed bugs.

  • Bed Bugs Can Travel through Apartment Walls

Here, you get to find out the cause of your bed bug problem even when you’ve had your unit or apartment recently fumigated. In the case of tiny cracks on walls, such may seem surprising because these cracks don’t appear visible.

The tiny size of bed bugs enables them easily fit through crevices and cracks. This includes the tiniest found on walls. However, cracks are just one of the possible routes for bed bug spread.

They’ll readily use electrical wires as access points to move from one apartment to the next.

Pipes in walls also serve as ready highways for bed bugs to travel freely between one unit to the next. When such problems aren’t addressed, a lasting solution is hardly found.

At best, you’ll have relief for a short period of time until these bugs return with a bang.

Why Do Bed Bugs Move through Apartment Walls?

As part of measures to curb bed bug presence in apartment buildings, you’ll need to know why they move.

When an occupant dealing with bed bug infestation problems moves out without taking care of their pest issue, it doesn’t automatically solve the problem.

Bed bugs will remain alive for months within an empty apartment or unit. Now, they might only begin to move when they sense human activity on the other side of the wall.

We earlier said there may be tiny cracks on your walls that may have remained unnoticed for a long.

These bugs could easily access the next unit through such cracks. As discussed above, these bugs can also use electrical wiring as well as pipes embedded in walls to travel from one point to the next.

The objective is to find sustenance that is guaranteed by human presence.

Another major reason why bed bugs travel through apartment walls is when infestations get worse.

When a severe infestation breaks out in one of the apartment units, it becomes a breeding ground from where adjoining apartments are infiltrated.

Is There A Way To Prevent Such Movement?

Having clearly identified the migratory behavior of bed bugs through apartment walls, the next logical action to take is to find ways to prevent it. Several actions can be taken to avoid such problems.

One of them involves moving out of an infested apartment building.

Another involves calling a professional pest management company for treatment. DIY prevention is out of the question as what you can do is very limited.

The pros understand bed bug behavior and also know their movement patterns.

Taking on such responsibility by way of DIY treatment can be overwhelming.

  • Moving Out

When you weigh the level of discomfort experienced from the continuous travel of bed bugs through apartment walls, it becomes tiring. As long as they remain bed bugs won’t stop.

Plus, oftentimes than not, DIY treatments don’t do much.

Here, you have the option of moving out to a safer location. However, there’s the fear of transferring your existing bed bug issues to your new abode. Here, you’ll need to speak with a pest management specialist.

A more reliable way of handling your movement is arrived at.

  • Calling for Professional Help

In any case, the services of a reputable bug management company will be required. The recommendations of the specialist may be to treat or fumigate the entire apartment building.

This brings us to the question of who is responsible for such treatment.

The tenancy agreement between the landlord and tenants will have to be revisited. This should be clear enough to both parties to avoid disagreements or misunderstandings.

Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case as disagreements are rife between tenants and landlords.

What Makes Bed Bug Infestation in Apartment Buildings Challenging

When it comes to rising cases of bed bug infestations within multifamily housing units, it becomes difficult to pinpoint where or what, or who exactly is responsible. However, certain actions encourage bed bug spread.

Such include confusions on whose responsibility it is to take action.

Other problems associated with its spread include proximity, clutter pileup, poor cleaning standards, and transfer to new tenants. Let’s explain some of these points as follows;

  • Confusions on Responsibility

This was discussed above as being common between the tenant and the landlord.

Such problems arise when tenancy agreements aren’t clear or when the tenants don’t fully understand the terms stated.  

  • Proximity Issues

The nature of apartment buildings makes bed bug infestations to be very challenging. The closeness of units or apartments makes it easy for bed bugs to move from one point to the next.

  • Clutter Pileup

There’s always lots of clutter in apartment buildings. These mostly consist of personal belongings like shoes, furniture, toys, books, etc. With more clutter comes greater challenge in solving bed bug problems.

Bed bugs will travel through apartment walls easily using cracks, electrical wirings, and pipes embedded in walls. There’s little you can do about that in terms of DIY control. You’ll need to let the pros handle the job.

It’s also important to state that getting rid of bed bug problems in apartments isn’t impossible.

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