Another condo board issue... bed bugs

[THE SCUD]

I have a new home and I've spent a few hundred bucks on stuff like the deck and yard stuff.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Super Nintendo Chalmers

Just to throw fuel on the fire.

http://www.globalmontreal.com/health...224/story.html

If it were me, I would rather have the bedbug problem dealt with.

Don't see how that is throwing fuel on the fire? The article talks about people trying to get rid of them without calling a pro, and improperly using the chemicals themselves causing illness and one death.

[Sliver]

edit: old houses are expensive to maintain/upgrade

[THE SCUD]

It appears you are actually building a new home inside of an old one

[mykalberta]

90%+ of that is home improvement (new rug, yard work, appliances etc) not home maintenance.

I live in a condo and there is no way I would be spending on maintenance (things that break that make the home unlivable) on a 7 year old home that I spend on a 7 year old condo.

If you purchase an old home, the one time costs are home improvement, either you got a break on the purchase price knowing you would need to preform some upgrades or you purchased it as livable to some, but you wanted to upgrade somethings - that is not maintenance.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I miss having a new house sometimes. Here is my list of things I've done to my 1969 house (and I've even deleted a couple things off of this prior to posting). The crazy thing is the house was in pretty awesome shape when we bought it...but these older houses take a crap ton of work:

Good for you if you've got the cash to save yourself the hassle, but man could you benefit from some DIY work.

That said, your list is huge. No way you could get a quarter of that done if you had to do it all yourself.

I was considering hiring out some interior painting. Your $7,500 quote has scared me right off that idea

[Raekwon]

Originally Posted by Super Nintendo Chalmers

Just to throw fuel on the fire.

http://www.globalmontreal.com/health...224/story.html

If it were me, I would rather have the bedbug problem dealt with.

In 2010, she and her husband used nine cans of insecticide fogger one day, then the same amount two days later, without opening doors and windows to air out their home afterward. She also covered her body and hair with another bedbug product, and covered her hair with a plastic shower cap.

I think you are safe if you don't do this . . . .

[bizaro86]

I don't have anything to add about what your condo board's rights are, but I suggest you look into diatomaceous earth for bed bug control, as an additional protection. It's a mild abrasive (non-chemical mechanism) that punctures to bugs when they touch it and causes them to dry out.

You should probably still let them do the chemicals, but I'd look into this as a way of protecting yourself that should be pet friendly/non-toxic.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

90%+ of that is home improvement (new rug, yard work, appliances etc) not home maintenance.

I live in a condo and there is no way I would be spending on maintenance (things that break that make the home unlivable) on a 7 year old home that I spend on a 7 year old condo.

If you purchase an old home, the one time costs are home improvement, either you got a break on the purchase price knowing you would need to preform some upgrades or you purchased it as livable to some, but you wanted to upgrade somethings - that is not maintenance.

I can see what you're saying, but there can be a blurry line between upgrading and maintaining on some of these older houses. Maybe any house for that matter. Sure they're technically one-time costs, but there is a never-ending list of one-time costs so it's not like you reach the finish line ever.

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Good for you if you've got the cash to save yourself the hassle, but man could you benefit from some DIY work.

That said, your list is huge. No way you could get a quarter of that done if you had to do it all yourself.

I was considering hiring out some interior painting. Your $7,500 quote has scared me right off that idea

The $7500 included installation and painting of baseboards throughout the house, painting of the ceiling upstairs and down, painting interior shutters, which was a ton of work, and then of course every wall. Yeah, it wasn't cheap but it's a pretty wicked paint job...I think we got good value out of it.

What I'd save in money with DIY I'd lose in stress and quality. There are a ton of semi-true excuses I could make, including a lack of time, but it basically comes down to I don't enjoy that type of thing. I like small, bite-sized projects (most of which I don't have on my list, which is more for significant expenditures).

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Sliver

What I'd save in money with DIY I'd lose in stress and quality. There are a ton of semi-true excuses I could make, including a lack of time, but it basically comes down to I don't enjoy that type of thing. I like small, bite-sized projects (most of which I don't have on my list, which is more for significant expenditures).

Everything you do yourself for the first time takes at least 4 times longer than a professional, I'm convinced. Like I say, without feeling guilty for spending money on trades, I'd hire almost everything out. That said, after staining a bunch of crap this summer, painting is now the first one I will never do again if possible.

Any rough idea of how much of your quote was for baseboards? I'd need just the walls, and I'm hoping that was a large chunk of your quote I'm probably not doing it for a year, just curious though.

[Finny61]

The heat method.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/...megadrop_story

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Everything you do yourself for the first time takes at least 4 times longer than a professional, I'm convinced. Like I say, without feeling guilty for spending money on trades, I'd hire almost everything out. That said, after staining a bunch of crap this summer, painting is now the first one I will never do again if possible.

Any rough idea of how much of your quote was for baseboards? I'd need just the walls, and I'm hoping that was a large chunk of your quote I'm probably not doing it for a year, just curious though.

Honestly, the baseboards wasn't a huge chunk of it. Probably less than $1K. I'm sure you could find a happy medium between who I hired and some hack so don't let that price scare you too much.

Another thing this guy did was take off every door and closet door in the whole house and paint them in my garage. I doubt most painters would be as extreme as this dude was and that added to the cost.

I'm just saying don't let that price scare you off looking into painters - it was definitely on the high end. And for reference, I live in a 1400 sf bungalow (about 2100 finished square feet), so adjust that price up or down based on the size of your place.

Sorry for the world's lamest hijack, Pylon.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by pylon

So some filthy pig in our building has bed bugs. The company is coming out on Friday to spray their unit. The condo board is insisiting on inspecting all other units in the building, and spraying them if they find evidence.

Firstly, I don't have them in my unit. No bites, no blood on sheets, etc. I am also at the farthest point in the building from the affected unit. I have a few issues though.

They have stated, that any unit not occupied on a weekday, will be locksmithed to be inspected. And the inspection includes rifling through my drawers, looking through my things etc. There was 4 days given for the inspection, and I am working. I have a massive issue, allowing anyone in my place unnattended, with or without the supervision of a neighbours. However, I cannot get out of work Friday, so I have no choice there as they have met the 48 hour notice requirement.

That being said, with or without bedbugs in my unit, I absolutely will not consent to spraying of chemicals in my place, period. My problem is, this company has a blank cheque to spray, and of course they are going to want to spray all units, regardless, to maximaize their profits. Unfortunately, the board is too stupid to realize this.

What recourse do I have? I am planning on leaving a key, I can accept that, but I am planning on also posting a notice on my front door, and on the door in every room in my condo. "The spraying of any chemicals, or any treatments unauthorized by the owner of this unit will result in a lawsuit filed agaimst XXXX spraying company, and the Condo Board of XXXX building."

And I am dead serious, this is not an idle threat.

There is serious health risks with bed bug treatments chemicals, in fact there have been numerous deaths as a result in NY state. I am not prepared to allow a third party, arbitrarily spray carcinogens in my home, and endanger me, an my dogs health.

Anyone with knowledge on this type of matter, thanks in advance.

Are you serious?

Do you know what bed bugs are? Do you have any idea how tough they are to get rid of and how disruptive they can be to your life? If you're worried about health concerns, try seeing what the inability to sleep does to your health.

You're trying to obstruct your condo board from doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing?

The simple truth of the matter is chemicals are the only effective way of dealing with an infestion like this. Even then, you'll probably need to use other methods such as heat, plastic wrapping of matresses/furniture, etc.. to deal with them on top of the chemicals. Can you imagine how choked you'd be if your unit got infected, because someone didn't like the idea of chemicals? They aren't indiscriminately spraying every unit, only the units with bed bugs in them.

If I were you I'd write a thankyou letter to your condo board for properly dealing with this problem. You have no idea how lucky you are. Most crooked renters will try and cheap out as much as possible in these situations.

[simonsays]

Originally Posted by pylon

Firstly, I don't have them in my unit. No bites, no blood on sheets, etc. I am also at the farthest point in the building from the affected unit. I have a few issues though.

That being said, with or without bedbugs in my unit, I absolutely will not consent to spraying of chemicals in my place, period. My problem is, this company has a blank cheque to spray, and of course they are going to want to spray all units, regardless, to maximaize their profits. Unfortunately, the board is too stupid to realize this.

What recourse do I have? I am planning on leaving a key, I can accept that, but I am planning on also posting a notice on my front door, and on the door in every room in my condo. "The spraying of any chemicals, or any treatments unauthorized by the owner of this unit will result in a lawsuit filed agaimst XXXX spraying company, and the Condo Board of XXXX building."

And I am dead serious, this is not an idle threat.

There is serious health risks with bed bug treatments chemicals, in fact there have been numerous deaths as a result in NY state. I am not prepared to allow a third party, arbitrarily spray carcinogens in my home, and endanger me, an my dogs health.

Sorry to paraphrase but I only wanted to address the above. A couple of years ago one of my friends had an infestation in his building. After a month or two the strata took action and hired one of these extermination companies to come in and get rid of the bedbugs. Everyone except 2 occupants agreed to this procedure, the 2 that refused threatened legal action if their suites were sprayed. 3 months later the bedbugs were back.

I know that they did eventually get rid of them but pest removal isn't some scam where they maniacally charge by the liter of chemicals sprayed (well they probably do, but that wouldn't be their largest cost associated with the project). Let the tradesmen do their jobs and take your dog and your stash of recreational drugs to either a hotel or a friends house for a night or two.

It's better than being that guy who everyone in the complex hates because he doubled their anti-bedbug budget (and is filthy for housing bedbugs).