What a real heat treatment is
Electric heaters and fans raise the whole treated space into the 130s°F and hold it for hours while technicians move furniture and track probe thermometers placed where bed bugs actually hide — baseboards, the floor-wall junction, box-spring frames. Virginia Tech’s extension entomologists put it plainly: the air temperature “is not relevant”; what matters is that “these cracks and crevices must reach 122°F.” That is the standard we treat to and the number on your report. How the day goes →
Homes and condos
Whole-home heat in one visit, minimal prep, a residual barrier afterward if you want belt-and-braces.
Heat treatment →Apartments and rentals
Unit-by-unit heat with the paperwork Tacoma’s rental rules and Washington’s landlord duty make useful.
For landlords and managers →Not sure it’s bed bugs?
Bites can take up to two weeks to react, and some people never do. Here is how to tell.
Signs →Who pays: the Washington question
Washington’s Residential Landlord-Tenant Act makes a landlord “provide a reasonable program for the control of infestation by insects, rodents, and other pests at the initiation of the tenancy” and, except in a single-family residence, “control infestation during tenancy except where such infestation is caused by the tenant” (RCW 59.18.060(4)). The tenant, in turn, must “assume all costs of extermination and fumigation for infestation caused by the tenant” (RCW 59.18.130(2)). Which side of that line you are on is the first question, and we answer it on the phone before quoting. The decision table →
Price it before you call anyone
Pierce County operators who publish prices start whole-home heat around $1,200, with a three-bedroom Tacoma home typically $1,800–$2,400. The estimator turns your square footage and bedrooms into a range so no quote surprises you, including ours.
Talk to someone who has seen it before
Describe what you found. Inspection and a flat quote; no pressure, no fogger sales.
Call (253) 683-8516Guides
Preparing for heat day
Less than you think. Over-cleaning scatters them.
Why foggers fail
The state health department’s words, not ours.
After the treatment
Encasements, the dryer, and the follow-up that catches stragglers.
Where we go
Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, University Place, Fife, Federal Way, Gig Harbor.