Before paying for any treatment, settle two questions: is it really bed bugs, and how many rooms are involved? A professional inspection answers both. If you rent out a Diablo house or cottage, it also gives you the written findings California law says you must share with tenants.
When an Inspection Makes Sense
- New bites keep showing up after sleeping in the same bed.
- Dark specks appear on the sheets or along the mattress edge.
- Someone came home from a trip or a dorm with bites.
- A used headboard, chair or rug arrived from an estate sale.
What the Technician Checks
The search starts where people sleep and sit and works outward: mattress seams, box springs, bed frames, headboards, nightstands, sofas, baseboards and outlet covers. In older Diablo homes, the technician also looks along trim joints, floorboard gaps and any enclosed sleeping porch.
How the Visit Goes
- Questions firstWhen the bites began, who sleeps where and any recent travel, guests or used furniture.
- Room by roomBedrooms first, then sitting rooms and spare rooms.
- Evidence shownAnything found is pointed out to you, often with photos.
- ReportA written list of affected rooms and the treatment choices.
Inspections in Diablo Homes
Diablo homes range from century-old summer cottages to large houses built in the 1990s, and a big home with many bedrooms takes more time to search well. Under AB 551, a landlord who rents out a Diablo home must give affected tenants a licensed operator's findings within 2 business days.
Before the Visit
- Leave the bed made as it is so the evidence stays put.
- Skip sprays and foggers until the inspection is done.
- Move stored boxes and luggage away from beds.
Questions About Inspections
Could these bites be from something in the hills instead?
Possibly. Diablo sits on the lower slopes of Mount Diablo, and mosquitoes, spiders and pet fleas all bite. A technician looks for the bugs, eggs, shed skins and stains before calling it bed bugs.
Nothing turned up, but the bites continue. Now what?
Ask for a K9 search or a return visit in about 2 weeks. In the first weeks, a colony may be only a few bugs that no one can spot.
How your call is handled: Bed Bug Control CA is a free referral service. When you call or send the form, you are connected with an independent, licensed pest control company that serves Diablo. That company inspects, quotes and does the work.