KRF on-line bulletin board

KRF exterminates all units monthly on the second Tuesday of the month. The usual issues are roaches, ants, and mice – problems common to the whole geographic region.

As tenants, you can and should do your part to minimize conditions that attract these household pests. Mainly:

• Keep areas around your sink and stove clean, especially grease-free.
• Do not let dirty dishes accumulate in your sink or elsewhere.
• Be sure food is in covered containers (if you feed them. they will come).

More than that, if you see any bugs or rodents, or even any signs of bugs or rodents, let us know right away so we can treat them properly. You don't have to, and shouldn't wait, until the regular extermination day. The sprays and other remedies sold at hardware and other stores are only marginally effectice compared to the remedies we employ so the do-it-yourself approach is a waste of time and money.

Vigilance is a particular issue with bedbugs! These insects that are beginning to invade the area. Once they enter a building, they are very difficult and expensive to exterminate. Since your unit will have been free of bedbugs when you moved-in, and these insects are brought-in – they do not come in on their own like most other insects – KRF may charge you for the extermination; this is a multi-week process requiring considerable time and expensive chemicals, and the cost can easilr run $300 to $500 or more.

The most common ways they make their appearance are:

• In luggage brought by guests, especially people arroving from foreign countries that have bedbug issues.
• In newly acquired furniture, primarily upholstered items such as mattresses, box springs, couches, and padded chairs.
  • Used furniture is especially vulnerable to being infested.
  • New furniture can also be a problem owing to bedbugs in the store.
  • Do not bring used bed pillows into your apartment. "Throw pillows"for couches and chairs aren't as dangerous, but check them carefully for bedbugs before you buy them.
• Be sure to inspect any furniture you acquire for these insects before you bring it into the apartment.
• In the case of mattresses and box springs, it's a good idea to enclose these items in zippered plastic covers right away. Any bedbugs or bedbug eggs will die inside the covers and you'll never notioe them. Any bedbugs in the apartment will not be able to get inside to nest.