Got Fleas???
After evicting my first tenants (more to come on this in a later column), I spent many hours in the apartment cleaning, painting, and repairing. But now that I can look back on it, there is at least one other thing that I wished I would have done... After evicting my first tenants (more to come on this in a later column), I spent many hours in the apartment cleaning, painting, and repairing. But now that I can look back on it, there is at least one other thing that I wished I would have done...
I never noticed the flea's the entire time that I was preparing the apartment to be rented. I have since come to find out that fleas can sometimes hide out in the carpet and not show their faces if their is not a lot of activity going on. This is why I believe that I did not notice the fleas before I moved the new tenants in...
The new tenant noticed them soon after moving in. I tried to take immediate action to resolve the issue. After talking with a veterinarian, it appeared that the spray was the best way to remove the fleas. First I vacuumed the entire place then used a flea spray with a growth inhibitor. This seemed to help some, but the tenant reported the fleas where still around less than a week later. For my next attempt I tried the flea fog (flea bombs), however this returned the same results as the spray. After receiving the call that the fleas were still in the home, I decided it was time to call in the professionals. I hired an exterminator to remove the fleas for good.
Before hiring an exterminator it is a good idea to make sure that they "guarantee" that the fleas will be removed. If the first attempt does not do they job they should be willing to treat the apartment again for free (or a minimal cost). Also, shop around, I found a big difference in price between some of the local exterminators.
This was a great learning experience for me and hopefully you. First always thoroughly check your apartment for any pests after a tenant vacates, especially if they had pets while in the property. Secondly it would have been much cheaper and less time consuming to hire the professional in the first place. But these are the kinds of things I knew I would run into with my first rental unit. As long as I learn from these experiences the time and money spent will be well worth it. Hopefully you all can learn from my experiences as well.
Another good reason to absolutely forbid pets, IMO!
Jules