Lakeview, Craigslist, Bed Bugs
Wow. I just saw this Craigslist post, thanks to Gapers Block (many, many thanks to Kaylee as well!), which reads
$750 / 1br - RE: $750 / 1br - Hot Lakeview Location on quiet street (1335 W. Fletcher)
I was a previous tenant in this unit. I didn’t know any better at the time but I survived the winter in this dump with NO HEAT!!! That’s right, there was no heat save for one furnace in the living room that is meant to keep the pipes from freezing and still you can see your breath. This apartment should actually be declared illegal by the city and shame on the landlord for trying to pass it off as habitable. In fact, I think I should call housing inspectors to make sure no one has to potentially freeze to death like I did. I wonder why it’s suddenly available again in February? Hmm…
P.S. Aside from frequent ants and house flies in the summer, I also had the pleasure of experiencing bed bugs for the first time. Below is a picture of what bed bug bites look like. Still want to live here?
*Picture omitted.
Lakeview, are you prepared do deal with bed bugs? If not, ask your alderman, and all of the aldermen in the City of Chicago to introduce, support, and pass legislation to control the spread of bed bugs in our city. ASAP.
Once again, we give our wholehearted thanks to Gapers Block– and to our fellow Chicagoans– for spreading the word.
Bed bugs are easy to kill off! I used no poisons. Just get some food grade diatomaceous earth. It’s cheap and safe. Be careful not to continuously breath it (silica), but it is not poisonous. It is used in animal feed. Its basically crushed up tiny fossilized water plants –like sea shells.
To insects, diatomaceous earth is a lethal dust with microscopic razor sharp edges. These sharp edges cut through the insect’s protective covering drying it out and kill them when they are either dusted with it or if it is applied as a wettable powder spray. If they ingest it, it will shred their insides.
They are easy to kill. The problem is that they crawl (they do not fly) behind everything — book covers, light switches, etc. I heard of someone throwing all their books out — on directions from the pest control company. I can’t do that. So,I washed clothes in cold water and hung them up to dry. The laundry soap is enough to kill them. I also washed my bed frame with soapy water (dish soap). That kills them. Many people on the web say they are hard to kill. Not true. It is hard to kill them all and so they just reproduce and come back. But if you put diatomaceous earth on your mattress and get a plastic cover. Then put it around affected rooms — near he wall and around your bed posts, between mattress/box spring etc. and leave it there for a few weeks, this kills them. If you spray poison, you will kill them, but the ones that survive will reproduce. If you use diatomaceous earth and leave it out for an extended period of time, they will walk through it in an attempt to suck your blood. Bammo! There dead!
Also, I found them, because I would stick a book under my bed and then one time I picked it up to read in bed and there it was! So I put some diatomaceous earth on my book shelves. It was not appealing, but it got them and I can keep my books.
Now when I travel for work. I isolate everything that comes back. The suit case goes into a large plastic tub with diatomaceous earth sprinkled around the bottom. Everything that comes out goes directly into the wash. I don’t want to get these things again.
The key is, is that they crawl and don’t fly. They are attracted to your body heat. I also put vaseline aroud my metal bed posts and kept the sheets/blankets from dragging on the floor or touching the wall. The only way for them to get to dinner was through a mine field.
Good luck.
Thanks, Mike Anonymous, for your interesting, informative, and, yes, gross information of your experience with these ugly, nasty bedbugs! Unfortunately, due to the power of suggestion, ever since I started reading these stories, I have been itching, yet I am pretty sure I don’t have the monsters…and hope I never encounter them, especially since I am one of many people who go to a conference at Halloween, at the Sheraton NS, which has recently had an infestation of them. Does anyone know if the colder weather will make it better or worse?
Hi Julie, apparently the indoor temperature that is comfortable for people is comfortable for bed bugs, so infestations happen year-round. However, there are some indications that there is seasonality to bed bug complaints, higher in the summer. I don’t think this is well understood. There are other factors of course, with more people moving and traveling in the summer, etc.
You should learn to inspect your hotel room; it’s a solid modern skill to have.