flea control in rental house

HELP.  We have a rental house.  Started bombing and spraying with (Walmart) over the counter sprays first of August (Bad infestation when renter moved out).  Then had the carpet steam cleaned, then had local pest control co. come and spray/bomb 2 times.  We vacume every day – still were gettin fleas so we at the end of August took out all of the carpet. (There is no furniture in the home).  Used sprays from the Co-Op.  Used Borax 3 times.  Now for over a week we have been using Precor 2000, Masterline Bifenthrin, and Martins IGR.  As we vacume each day we still get 3 or 4 fleas every day.  Scared to put back down new carpet.  How do we ever get rid of all these fleas.  We have sprayed every corner, cabinet, under the house and treated the entire yard (never seen any in the yard). Do you have any ideas or suggestions?  WE ARE DESPERATE!

Too bad you didn’t contact us sooner! If you had, I’m sure we would have saved you a lot of time and expense along with some frustration as well. At this time you need to read through our extensive FLEA CONTROL ARTICLE which does a great job of explaining why this pest is so persistent. As you’ll learn, trying to kill off an active infestation with no pet or person in the structure is near to impossible. Additionally, you’ll learn without a pet or person in the structure, there is no reason for the flea pupae to hatch out so they’ll basically just sit around waiting till someone comes around. Since no chemical can kill this stage, they’re basically in a kind of “holding phase” and this is the reason you keep seeing new ones every time you visit. Additionally, this waiting game can last 6-12 months so even though you’ve been hard at it for the past twp months, you still have a long way to go before they’ll be gone. The good news is you probably shouldn’t have to do any more spraying or treating. I’m sure you’ve killed all the larvae and adults. And since you can’t kill the pupae anyway, spraying doesn’t really serve any purpose at this time. But instead you should install 4-6 of our FLEA TRAPS. These do a great job of collecting fleas when no one is around. See just how good they work by watching the video we have posted here from a rental property that had a “lingering” problem:

www.flea.net/flea-traps/rental-property-with-fleas.html

Once in place, these traps will no doubt start collecting any rogue adult fleas as well help to cause developing pupae to hatch. Most importantly, if you make a point to visit the property as frequently as you can making sure to walk through it over and over, you can get all the pupae to hatch out which is ultimately what you need to happen in order to break this vicious cycle. Again, I don’t think you need to do anymore spraying nor would I install carpeting just yet. I’d only set out several Flea Traps and if you follow my directions of going through the house as often as possible, you should be able to get all the pupae to hatch out in the next 3-6 weeks. Once you see the traps aren’t collecting any new fleas and you are no longer finding fleas on you when you walk through the house, you’ll be ready to install the new carpeting. Once installed, I recommend treating it with our ONCE A YEAR FLEA POWDER so you’ll have in place a treatment that’s odorless, very safe to use and long lasting which will effectively prevent any return of this pest.

Here are direct links to the information and products listed above:

Flea Control Article:  www.flea.net/flea-control

Flea Trap in Rental House:  www.flea.net/flea-traps/rental-property-with-fleas.html

Flea Traps:  www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page22.html

Once A Year Flea Powder:  www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page23.html