Preface
If you suspect you have bed bugs, where should you look in your home to confirm their presence? What are the common places bed bugs like to hide? In this article, we answer these questions to help you determine whether or not you have bed bug in your home. While we hope you don’t find any, catching an infestation in its early stages is the best way to address the problem without sacrificing your peace of mind, incurring high costs, or risking your belongings.
Main Hub: Your Resting and Sleeping Area
Given their name, it is obvious that bed bugs are most commonly found on and around the bed. However, inspecting only the surface of the bed is not enough. Bed bugs are nocturnal and prefer to hide in dark, undisturbed areas. You are unlikely to find them crawling on top of your sheets. Instead, look underneath the sheets, along mattress seams and piping, behind the headboard, on the bottom side of the box spring, and on the bed frame including the wooden slats.
The same applies to other resting areas, such as couches or reclining chairs where you spend a lot of time. You will likely not find them on the surface, but rather hidden within seams, around staples and screws, and underneath cushions.
Below are some pictures that illustrate what this looks like in practice. Also, in this recent article, you can find a short guide on how to inspect these common areas for bed bugs and what signs to look out for.
Next: The 6 foot Radius
The next common place bed bugs hide in your home is within a 6-foot radius of your sleeping or resting furniture. Bed bugs prefer to stay close to their host, so their hiding spots will vary depending on what is located within this range.
Most commonly, this includes nightstands beside the bed, as well as nearby shelving, picture frames, and wall hangings. Bed bugs also hide along baseboards and within the carpet in this area. There are often gaps between the baseboard and the wall, as well as between the baseboard and the floor, and cracks or other openings can provide ideal hiding spots. In the carpet, bed bugs are typically found where the carpet meets the wall, along seams, and around furniture legs, such as where the bed frame meets the carpet.
In addition to furniture, baseboards, and carpet, bed bugs can also be found in electrical outlets, along electrical cords, inside books, and within stored clothing, such as in bed drawers or nearby closets.
If you are interested in seeing videos of bed bugs found in various places of a home you can also visit out TikTok profile.
Final Thoughts
This outlines the main areas you will find bed bugs if you actually do have any. If you do not find any in these areas and you still suspect that you have them, or if you are experiencing bites, it is best to call a bed bug control expert for a professional inspection.
Whether you live in Toronto or elsewhere in the GTA, early detection through a thorough bed bug inspection is the fastest way to protect your home, furniture, and peace of mind.
