Background: in March my daughter was staying at her ex-boyfriend's and got a bit on her ankle. We thought it was a spider bite. She then started getting bites on her hands & feet once in a while but she thought it was hives, as she often gets them. By mid-May, she got bites on her face and back with big welts. I checked her bed and found a male bed bug. I didn't really know how to check for signs, just did some quick research here and I didn't check her box spring. I have an old Shark small steamer and I steamed her box spring, mattress, the baseboards, furniture in her room. Washed and bagged clothes and put pillows and duvets and sheet in the dryer every couple of days for an hour. My son did his room. I did my room as well the next day. But not as thoroughly. I washed blinds in tub. I put encasements on all the beds box and mattress. I had a pest control guy come but he barely checked and seemed to think I didn't even need spraying and I had it under control. He put traps on my daughter's bed with food quality diatomaceous earth. We put it around my bed which has a wooden frame and around my son's bed who insists on having his box and mattress on the floor. Neither of us had had any bites.
I never saw the kind of infestation in the pictures. I did get bites a week later while gardening so I felt them in the evening. I had a lot of weeds. This weekend again I pulled weeds and felt bites. Once my daughter felt a bite mid morning on her finger but it went away within an hour. We thought it a hive since her previous reactions had lasted and been very itchy. But???
About three times, I thought I saw a nymph on the beds. I need new glasses and only have an old iPhone camera. Looked like a yellowish crumb. Today my son found a late stage nymph on his bed.
I'm virtually unemployed due to PTSD, though trying to get back on my feet, my kids too are struggling to find decent jobs and I have a huge house which I will have to sell in the coming year. I've already gone into debt to pay for the encasements and in my opinion shit inspection. $300 to help put on encasements mostly. A few little glances. I will borrow again to pay for heat treatment if I have to. Is it worth it? The idea of going into more debt for something that can cause damage, only sort of work makes me ill. Do I instead invest in the powerful dry steamer and just steam like hell every few days around the house, wash sheets, vacuum, ever corner and crevice? Do I have to worry about the garage too?
Have seen no signs on the traps in my daughter's room. Yesterday she said she got bitten by a mosquito at work. Killed it. But????
I guess I need to finally get new glasses as well or a magnifying glass... I never did see signs of a major infestation but if I'm finding nymphs, it could be I just didn't see it. And if heat treatment is the way to go, does anyone know someone in the Greater Toronto Area who is good, whose treatment has been effective for the long run, not just a month? I'm basically very anxious and can't think clearly. So any advice would be much appreciated. Oh, my house is detached.