# Advice for flea infestation in empty rental house.



## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

You really need to call in the professionals. Once they get into the walls and cracks between the baseboards and flooring. It is hard to get them out.


----------



## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

Yrs ago I was told to put a couple of moth balls in the vacuum bag so that any you vacuum up will die.


----------



## BrowneBearLLC (Apr 8, 2015)

I myself would go with a couple of bombs and then look at other options


----------



## craig11152 (Jun 20, 2015)

BrowneBearLLC said:


> I myself would go with a couple of bombs and then look at other options


:thumbup: I agree. While you can't go wrong with a pro, they are going to do essentially the same thing. Bomb it once, bomb it twice, then call a pro if they are still alive.


----------



## tireshark (Aug 17, 2014)

Thanks guys. I spent a lot of time reading reviews and methods last night, and i decided to order this stuff:

Precor 2000 Plus

It has fantastic reviews, and i read 3 or 4 reviews that said when they had previously called the exterminators for fleas, they showed up using only this product. It's supposed to kill both the adults and the eggs.

Precor 2000 Plus


----------



## indigo (Dec 14, 2009)

Had a nasty flea infestation a couple years ago -- called in the pros. Took 3 or 4 treatments soaking all floor surfaces, wood, carpet, everything, with progressively diluted Onslaught. Worked very well and I haven't seen a bug of any variety inside the house since.

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/onslaught-insecticide-p-376.html


----------



## Gustavas (Oct 4, 2014)

precor 2000 + worked well for me. Alpine flea worked better. 

Steam clean your carpets, use alpine flea as labeled, problem gone.


----------



## FrankL (Jun 9, 2010)

indigo said:


> Had a nasty flea infestation a couple years ago -- called in the pros. Took 3 or 4 treatments soaking all floor surfaces, wood, carpet, everything, with progressively diluted Onslaught. Worked very well and I haven't seen a bug of any variety inside the house since.
> 
> http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/onslaught-insecticide-p-376.html


Another good one at domyownpestcontrol.com for fleas and other bugs is Talstar P which is a cheaper than Onslaught. You can buy that and a 1 gallon sprayer for about $40. The 3/4 gallon is $38 but will last forever and kills 75 other bugs. 3/4 a gallon bottle will make about 96 to 192 gallons. You could spray the inside and the perimeter of the house outside (about 192 times).

I would use Talstar P and also bomb the house.


----------



## Gustavas (Oct 4, 2014)

FrankL said:


> Another good one at domyownpestcontrol.com for fleas and other bugs is Talstar P which is a cheaper than Onslaught. You can buy that and a 1 gallon sprayer for about $40. The 3/4 gallon is $38 but will last forever and kills 75 other bugs. 3/4 a gallon bottle will make about 96 to 192 gallons. You could spray the inside and the perimeter of the house outside (about 192 times).
> 
> I would use Talstar P and also bomb the house.



Talstar would be great for outside, but be careful, it's only labeled for crack and crevice for indoor use. domyownpestcontrol.com also caries alpine flea... so I would get that for inside, safer, plus it will not only kill the fleas but leave down an insect growth regulator to prevent future infestations.


----------



## Seattle2k (Mar 26, 2012)

Indoors, I use Alpine IGR, Flea Stoppers (for carpets), and Diatomaceous Earth (crack/crevice, behind and under baseboard, etc). Outdoor treatment, I use Bifen LP/Wisdom/Talstar outside.


----------



## tireshark (Aug 17, 2014)

Here's an update on how things are going. 

I had sprayed Precor2000 on July 15 but still had a lot of fleas 7 days later... I would get 7-10 on me when i walked around for 5-10 minutes. Decided to switch to an insecticide that i could mix up and spray.

I ordered Permethrin SFR 36.8%, which was the cheapest i could find... $22 for a 32 oz. Also ordered Martins IGR... much more expensive at $15 for 4 oz.

Mixed them together in one gallon of water -- 1 oz of IGR (as directed), and 2-3 oz of Permethrin 36.8 (1.5 to 2 times the emulsion concentration directed).

Sprayed first application on July 28... 2 gallons in total, 1 inside the house and 1 around the perimeter/doors/windows and in carport. Monitored nightly with a flea trap, and vacuumed entire house every day. 

Trap had 0 fleas for first few days, but an increasing number after that. Before my next application i was up to 7-10 fleas in a night (way down from catching 30-60/night when i started, but still too many).

Sprayed 2nd application 6 days later on August 3. Similar results as before... caught 0 for the first few days, and increasing numbers after that. Numbers varied more, ranging from 2-9 per night.

Sprayed 3rd application 8 days later on August 12. Thankfully i never found more than 1 flea per night after this application.

Sprayed 4th application yesterday, August 18.

As you can see it's been quite a battle, but im hopeful that the end is drawing near. Most sources i have read say to treat once every 2 weeks, but i went ahead and did it about once a week to make sure they were getting hit hard.

I rarely find them on me when i am working in the house now, but i want to monitor it for another week or two to make sure they are eradicated before i rent it out.

Really surprised that they hung on so long considering that no one is living there, and that there is zero furniture or carpet in the house. Cant imagine how bad it might be if the fleas had furniture/clothes/people to hide on. 

As to the effectiveness of the chemicals i used, who's really to say i guess. Maybe another chemical combination would have knocked them out faster, or maybe it would have taken longer. Heck, i imagine some of the population dropoff could be attributed to a lot of them getting old and dying off since the house has been empty for almost 1.5 months now. At any rate, things are progressing in the right direction and i am very thankful for that!


----------



## FrankL (Jun 9, 2010)

Anybody ever try Conquer for fleas? It is supposedly really good and works on indoors too. 

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/conquer-liquid-insecticide-p-70.html

Or Fenvastar?
http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/fenvastar-ecocap-p-2633.html
*Active Ingredient: *Esfenvalerate 3.48%

I know hot steam can kill bedbugs and eggs. Can a carpet steamer running high heat (not a cheap rental unit) kill fleas and their eggs with hot steam? 
Esfenvalerate 3.48%
*Active Ingredient: *Esfenvalerate 3.48%


----------



## Gustavas (Oct 4, 2014)

I have a truck mounted steam cleaner. Even Running at 250 degrees at the truck, 220ish at the wand, and then dropping off real fast as it's sprayed though jets, I wouldn't count on it killing any pests. It still helps out a ton with fleas though, in a couple of ways.

Physical removal of all life stages of the fleas, and the larva that's left is deprived of it's natural food source (adult flea poo)


----------



## cleveman (Dec 17, 2011)

I had an infestation 2 years ago and I messed around for a month with bombs, spray, soapwater/light traps, etc.

I got an exterminator in there and $130 later, it was as clean as a whistle.


----------

