Tyler asked 5 years ago
Hello, thank you much for creating this website! It has been a huge help with my flea problem! My home was heavily infested with fleas from the previous tenants. I finally seem to be gaining control after fogging with a nylar fogger in each room 17 days ago followed by spaying with Precor Premise Spray 10 days ago after finding out about the product on this website. The home is all hardwood floors which seems to be my challenge getting the products to make it where the larve and cacoons have hidden. As of the last few days I’m trapping only about 1 – 3 fleas a day which is a huge improvement from before. Some things I am wondering about if you could help with it would be greatly appreciated!
– Is it possible to have all fleas gone before the end of September with daily vacuuming and treating the home once a week for the next few weeks. The first treatment of nylar fogging was on August 23rd and the first Precor treatment was on August 29th.
– the weather is cooling down which I thought may cause the fleas to stay in their cacoons. Would it help them emerge if I turned the heat up to 80 degrees farenheight instead of keeping the home temperature in the lower 70s / upper 60s?
– I mopped one room with hot soapy water, around 150 degrees Fahrenheit water, before the second treatment. This actually seemed to make a big difference by either killing the fleas with high temp water or washing some of the Precor down into the cracks of floor. I did this in the room which was the worse and have only trapped a few new fleas there since. Does this sound like a good idea on hardwood floors, to mop with hot soapy water after vacuuming and before an additional treatment? I know it removes the residual chemicals so I was sure to spray again as soon as the floor dried from mopping.
– Do you think a water based pump spray, with IGR and adulticide, would work better then an aerosol on older hardwood floor to seep into the cracks of floor where aerosol may just sit on top surface? I heard this may be the case and that many pros use the water based instead of aerosol on hardwood floors for this reason
– And most importantly, If I’m vaccumimg and setting up traps in each room every day, and don’t see any new fleas for a few days or a week, is it safe to say all the fleas are gone or could new ones still emerge after there being no new fleas for a few days or a week? There has not been any animals in the house since I started treatment and it seems that if there is a few days or week of no fleas, there wouldn’t be any more to show up after since no host has been present the entire time? There were cats and dogs in the home before I started the treatment. I heard it’s possible to end a flea infestation in 21 days with weekly treatments and daily vacuuming.
Sorry for all the questions, this flea situation is very stressful especially knowing all the fleas need to be gone before the end of this month when someone else is supposed to be moving into the home. Thank you for this website and all of your help!
Tyler
Adam Retzer Staff answered 5 years ago
Tyler,
I apologize I couldn’t get to your question sooner, as it needed a timely response.
It may be possible to get rid of the majority of fleas in 5 weeks, especially if the host was removed before you arrived. With the previous tenant’s pet gone, you will only be dealing with the last generation of fleas (they can’t reproduce on human blood).
It sounds like you’ve taken all the steps I would suggest.
Heating or cooling the home probably won’t do much. Fleas develop in protected niches that have their own micro-climate that is generally protected from surrounding conditions.
Mopping with hot water was a good idea for trying to force cocooned adults to emerge. I’ve never thought of that before.
Sprays are typically recommended over aerosols (especially over foggers) for the reason you described, and the treatment can be directed exactly where you want it.
I wouldn’t say the fleas are completely gone if none are trapped for a week. Quiescent adults can remain in their sleep-like state for up to 5 months. You may see a flea here or there until then.
