Addison’s 3-1 Carpet Beetle Exterminator Near You in Toronto

You want…

• To quickly eliminate a carpet beetle infestation, stop the destruction of your fabrics and the irritation of your skin...

• An affordable, professional, honest and warrantied carpet beetle exterminator in Toronto, Ontario...

• An environmentally conscious treatment that is safe for the whole family, including your pets.

Carpet beetles are a common FALSE ALARM for bed bugs...Make sure you can tell these insect species apart!

Here’s what to expect:

• Answers to all of your questions

• A no-obligation quote over the phone in seconds

• Flexible scheduling with 24/7 same-day service throughout the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario.

• No hidden service fees or follow up costs.

Addison has...

• Decades of experience

• A trusted track record

• All-inclusive warranty

• Comprehensive customer service

• Rigorously trained technicians

• Tried and tested extermination methods

• The safest, most effective insecticides

Key Facts About Carpet Beetles in Ontario

• Carpet beetle larvae feed on natural fibres like cotton, wool, linen, silk, feathers or leather

• Carpet beetles do not bite humans or animals

• Carpet beetles are one of the most common false alarms for bed bugs

  Here’s a chart to help to tell carpet beetles apart from bed bugs

• As carpet beetle larvae develop, they shed wispy skins with long wiry hairs that rub against our skin causing irritated or itchy welts, dermatitis, or other bite-like reactions.

• Larva can cause significant damage to precious fabrics and and clothing.

• Carpet beetles can be gotten rid of with hot laundry and cleaning

Find out how to get rid of carpet beetles on your own

• If a carpet beetle infestation is severe or you have a severe allergic reaction to carpet beetles, call us to schedule professional consultation and treatment at your home or office in Southern Ontario

Step 1: Carpet Beetle Heat Treatment

Category:

• Physical

Equipment:

• Handheld heat treatment gun.

Method:

• Direct heat applied locally to beds, couches, chairs and any other area of carpet beetle concentration.

Strengths:

• Heat Kills Carpet Beetle Eggs.

• No damage to furniture.

• Instantly kills all carpet beetles and eggs treated.

• Avoids pesticide resistance.

Weakness

• No residual protection.

• Only kills the beetles and eggs that are visible and accessible to technicians.

• Not sufficient without other complementary carpet beetle extermination techniques.

Step 2: Carpet Beetle Powder Treatment

Category:

• Physical + Chemical

Equipment:

• Power duster

Method:

• A fine silica dust insecticide is injected into all crevices and wall cavities through electrical sockets and gaps underneath baseboards.

• Electrical items, such as a power bars, stored close to or underneath the bed are also treated with powder.

Strengths:

• Cuts up the carpet beetle and larval body.

• Coats the insides of the wall cavities to create a protective powder barrier around your home.

• No carpet beetles can spread to or from attached houses, adjacent apartments or condo units.

• Essential lasting protection.

• Fully approved by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, safe and non-toxic for humans and animals of all shapes and sizes.

Weakness

• Only suitable for crack and crevice treatment.

• Easily washed or vacuumed away.

Step 3: Carpet Beetle spray treatment

Category:

• Chemical + Residual

Equipment:

• Precision surface sprayer

Method:

• A fine mist of residual spray is applied to the backs, sides and bottoms of box springs, mattresses, bed frames, couches, chairs, baseboards, door jambs and floors throughout the home.

Strengths:

• Kills bed bugs on contact and remains active as a protective surface treatment to continue to kill carpet beetles as they come out of hiding.

• Keeps your home and furniture protected for up to 6 months.

• Fully approved by Ontario Ministry of Environment, safe and non-toxic for humans and animals of all shapes and sizes.

• Fully approved by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, safe and non-toxic for humans and animals of all shapes and sizes.

Weakness

•  If used improperly, may promote pesticide resistance

Beware of Discount Pest Control

These companies use low quality or low concentration surface sprays with only 10 to 14 days of protection.

• The tip off is when they offer to do a “follow-up spray” two weeks after the first treatment. While this may seem extra thorough, carpet beetles may remain hidden without feeding for up to four weeks and new eggs can hatch up to two weeks after that point.

• By this time the cheap treatment will have long worn off and the new population will be free to re-infest your home. These budget services can breed pesticide resistance in the pests in your home, making future treatments increasingly challenging.

This common dermestid beetle can cause significant damage to precious fabrics, an itchy dermatitis, and aggravated respiration.

How to Identify Carpet Beetles

There are several different species of carpet beetle that range significantly in appearance and colouration. With some difference in feeding and breeding habits, the methods of controlling these different types of carpet beetles is largely the same.

If you are interested to know more about specific characteristics, life span, appearance, diet and more,  check out our beetle identification chart.

Size, Shape and Colour

Adults:

• 2-5mm in length

• Range from brown to mottled to black colour

• two sets of wings

• some carpet beetles are capable of self-powered flight

• segmented antennae

Larva

• grub like shape

• up to 15mm in length

• wiry setae hairs cover their body

• furry appearance

• can shed over 20 skins in their lifetime

Foraging Behaviour and Characteristics

• Adults live mostly outdoors and feed on nectar

• Larva live inside and feed ona variety of materials including natural fibres such as wool linen, cotton, rayon, jute, leather and feathers.

• Larva of some species are common in bird or rodents' nests

• Some species can feed on meat cheese, decaying animal carcasses and other animal material

Reproductive Habits

• Pregnant carpet beetle mothers will make their way indoors in the spring and early summertime

• Mothers lay a batch of eggs on a feeding source with adequate shelter such as: linen closet, under a mattress or box spring, chest of drawers

• Batches consist of anywhere from 1 to over 50 eggs, which can hatch in as little as 5 and as many as 25 days

• Carpet beetles can have extremely long larval development stages, the black carpet beetle can stay in the larval stage for up to 3 years.

• Since the larval stage of development is the most destructive and invasive, a long larval development means a higher degree of nuisance

Sightings

• If you are seeing an abundance of live adult beetles, larvae, or larval skins

• Look for them around beds and closets, around window sills and in kitchens and bathrooms

Check out our beetle comparison chart to see if a specimen of a beetle or larva matches the descriptions.

Skin or Respiratory Reaction

The most common false alarm we get for bed bugs is an individual who is experiencing skin irritations from carpet beetle shed larval skins.

• Skin reactions can range from a small rash to large painful welts

• larval skins are shed on mattresses, box springs, inside clothing or accessories

• wiry setae hairs on these skins rub against human skin and cause dermatitis reaction

• the shed carpet beetle larval skins can accumulate with astounding abundance

• the wispy skins can also be inhaled and cause an aggravated respiratory tract

• The larval skins have even been linked to the development of rhinitis and respiratory asthma.

Damage

• carpet beetle larvae can leave holes or chewed tracks in clothing.

• If you are finding holes in wool sweaters cotton shirts or furs and you have not seen moths flying around your home it is likely a carpet beetle issue.

• Some carpet beetles are capable of digesting wood and will form extensive galleries inside of furniture or other wood in the home.

• Their exit holes are visible, approx 1.6-3mm in diameter, with a gritty coarse frass beneath them.

• The galleries are a series of tunnels 1-2mm in diameter through the inside of wood furniture and beams.

Openings or holes

• Carpet beetles can enter a home through any open vent or hole.

• Many adult beetles are adept flyers and can enter the home in the warm season through an open window or door on higher floors buildings.

• Carpet beetles lay their eggs on a reliable food source in a sheltered environment

• Most carpet beetles will make their way indoors in early-mid spring time to find a suitable place to lay their eggs.

Picked up in Public

It is also possible to pick up larvae, eggs or adult carpet beetles in public locations such as:

• laundromats

• waiting rooms

• public transit

• schools and universities.

Carpet beetles are common in many households and can persist at low levels for long periods without becoming a nuisance.

If they have ample feeding sources and shelter to reproduce in a rapidly, however, carpet beetles can become an irritating and costly pest in a short period of time.

No, carpet beetles feed on a variety of plant and animal materials, fabrics, linens, food waste and even dust particles.

• Adult beetles feed on nectar and pollen outdoors

• Larvae are active eaters as they fuel rapid growth and pupal metamorphosis

• In some species, the larval stage lasts a week or less, the black carpet beetle, one of the most common infesters in North America, can remain in its larval form for up to 3 years.

• Common food sources for carpet beetle larvae include:

  • structural wood, soft wood,

  • any animal product

  • any natural fibres including wool, cotton, rayon, furs or feathers

  • Plant products like grains, wheat, seeds, oats, rice, nuts, beans, dried fruit

  • pet food

  • cardboard, glue, seed borne micro funghi, and the shed skins or carcasses of other insects.

Beetles and Weevils are commonly found in rodent, bird, and wasp nests. Removal of nests can be crucial to eliminating the source of an infestation

Carpet beetles and be extremely damaging to household fabrics, furniture and can cause significant structural damage to wooden support beams or decks.

Carpet beetles are not associated with the transmission of  pathogens to humans.

They can, however, cause allergic irritation, respiratory irritation, structural damage and economic loss.

The inhalation of debris from the wispy larval skins has been linked to the development of rhinitis and respiratory athsma.

Frequent cleaning, close monitoring, and home remedies can help prevent carpet beetle populations from growing to a nuisance level.

Carpet beetles can survive in remote locations, on little more than dust and condensation.

Once carpet beetles infest a home in large numbers, however, you must pair home efforts with ongoing monitoring and a professional pest control treatment.

Home remedies that will reduce the number of carpet beetles:

Laundry

• launder your sheets at least once a week on a hot wash and a hot dry cycle

• launder your entire wardrobe on a hot wash and a hot dry cycle

• keep all clothing in sealed plastic bags or bins until you use them

Maintenance

• no holes in window screens

• weather stripping on all doors and windows intact

• all dryer and heating vents leading to the outdoors are sealed with tight mesh vents

Elimination of infested material

• throw out fabrics or items that you know are infested

• Put items in the freezer for at least 5 days

• launder items on high heat wash and high heat dry

• dispose of grains, pet food or other food items that are infested

• seal up all food in air tight tupperware or bags

Inspection

• As part of our service a trained Addison technician will identify and seal up potential entry points or bring more critical structural issues to your attention.

Preventative Insecticide treatment

• carpet beetles can gain access to the home in so many ways Addison offers a quarterly preventative treatment plan.

• This treatment plan will offer you complete protection against a variety of insects including bed bugs, cockroaches, carpet beetles, ants, meal moths and other invasive pests.

• This program includes

  • application of a preventative insecticide treatment 3-4 times/year

  • conduct regular inspections for potential new entry points or structural insecurities

  • revisit your home whenever you need a further inspection or treatment at no extra charge

Give us a call for a free no obligation quote a preventative program.