Booklice in new build

[Emmyyyx]

We moved into a new build January 20 and over the last week found booklice all in the main bathroom and then my sons room which is the room next to it!

Went on a hunt around the house and found multiple in all rooms - I’m killing loads every day, hoovering all the time, bleached all skirting and bathrooms!

It’s making me ill as I’m constantly on the hunt for them and constantly crying about it (I am pregnant so hormones won’t be helping)

Bought 2 plug in dehumidifiers and hygrometers and loads of disposable dehumidifiers and whacked the heating up the last 3 days but it’s not something I can do constantly!

I know they are harmless but it’s the fact they breed so quickly I feel if I’m not constantly on the go getting rid of them then my house will be over run.

Anyone had these in a new build and managed to get rid of them??? My partner tells me when the house dries out they will go but I can’t cope with another year of this!!

There must be some booklice success stories somewhere in the world! Or a pest control person who can confirm someone, somewhere has successfully got rid of them

I really wish so too, I’ve had quite a bad day with them. Places I thought I’d eradicated them, and then I found them again. I just want to cry all the time, having a baby to care for and then checking everywhere multiple times a day when baby is napping is really exhausting me.

I don't want to tempt fate by claiming any success but having battled with them for more than 12 months now we have gone from around 50 per day all around our new build house to less than 10 per week now, sad I know but have been keeping a record of quantity and places found in a diary since 1st Jan this year. I'm not sure if numbers will increase has the season progresses so we are continuing with the daily checking routine and taking action as and when required for now. We have taken so many actions to try to eradicate them (can list them if anyone is interested) but have no idea if this has reduced the numbers or if they would have reduced any way.

Yes please share any info you can, would be greatly appreciated!

Here are most of the actions we have taken. Obviously we are no experts and it is advisable to fully research some of these with regard to health and safety. Not all these actions have been carried out all at once, it has taken us over 12 months so don't over do it and try to keep mind and body well rested.

1. Carry out regular checks (x3 per day) of walls, skirting boards and around doors and door frames using torch/inspection light. This includes top of doors and frames.
2. Any 'suspicious' object found double checked using x10 magnifying glass. Any confirmed finding recorded in diary so local hotspots can be identified over time.
3. Thorough check of hotspot areas to find access points or crawl paths, any holes or cracks found thoroughly sprayed and then filled in.
4. Sprayed known sites with Zero In Ultra Power bed bug and dust mite killer (yellow and blue spray can) at least twice per week even if nothing there at the time. This seems to kill booklice and comes with a micro tube sprayer to get into small holes without creating too much overspray. Research the safety of using this chemical (Cyphenothrin) before using.
5. Large gaps around internal door frames filled with decorator's caulk.
6. We identified 2 internal doors (bathroom and adjacent bedroom) as being a real problem source so replaced these with new ones.
7. Remaining doors removed, 4mm holes drilled in the bottom edge, sprayed with Ultra Power and then holes filled in along with any other small cracks in the wood. Also removed handles/latches and sprayed inside.
8. Problem areas around walls/ceilings/skirting boards drilled and sprayed too. Need to drill 4mm hole through the plasterboard 12.5mm thickness to get the spray tube into the cavity behind. Check for wires and pipes before drilling.
9. Removed some electrical wall sockets to spray inside, make sure power is turned off.
10. Checked floors in wet rooms using wet wipes and examined findings. Sprayed corners of problem floors with Zero In bed bug and dust mite killer (water based blue container - Cypermethrin) and left to dry. Again research this chemical before using.
11. Constant use of dehumidifier (12litre/day) with a target of 45% RH. Moving it around the house as needed. Our old one stopped working so purchased a new smart one from Meaco and 1 week in it's performing well. A report in the ESOA from August 2011 concluded that booklice do not survive at levels of 43% RH at any temperature. Be aware that low levels of Relative Humidity may not be good for humans long term.
12. Always remove coats/shoes just inside back door and brush off clothing when coming in from spending time in the garage as they may be in there too.
13. Always seal food containers in plastic bags once opened.
14. Vacuumed all around carpet/skirting board junction at least once a week using crevice tool.
15. We have recently purchased a UVC light bulb to help disinfect rooms but it appears that this can be very dangerous so not recommended and we are reluctant to use it just yet.
16. Removed bark mulch from under kitchen window and a strip of lawn turf from under lounge window to deter incoming Liposcelis (barklice/booklice) through window vents. (even when closed)

Personally we have decided not to open windows and doors for ventilation as we suspect this invites more to come in, found 1 yesterday on outside kitchen window ledge along with loads of springtails.

This is an exhausting list, literally, hope it helps.

Thank you so much for taking the time to put this list together. Yesterday I started keeping a diary, I found 8 in total over the 3-5 checks I did, 6 on Hotpress door and 2 bedroom door. Today, I found 26 over the course of the day, feeling so disheartened, just when you think you’re winning 😭 17 Hotpress door, 2 bedroom door (these ones weren’t moving) but found 2 skirting landing and 2 bedroom skirting, 2 living room skirting that were moving!

i would actually be “ok” if it was just those 2 doors as they’re easy to check but it’s when I find them elsewhere it sends me effing crazy! The dehumidifier has been right by the Hotpress door for 3 days, how the hell are they surviving.

I know how you feel, my heart sinks when i find one but i am not giving up yet!

We had a real problem with the hollow core doors in our house, i don't know if it could be the same if you have solid hotpress doors? After several months i discovered they were falling out of the bathroom door. Firstly we took the door outside, drilled a few holes and then tapped it to see what came out. Along with wood chippings there were numerous booklice. I then sprayed inside with Ultra Power, filled in the holes and any other gaps in the wood. We then sealed the door completely with polythene sheet and sellotape before refitting it. This did reduce the number found around the house but more live ones appeared inside the polythene. In the end we had 2 new doors fitted (bathroom and spare bedroom) -about 3 months ago. Since then there has only been 2 or 3 in the bathroom. I still find them in other parts of the house but so far this week only 3 found in 3 different rooms.

The dehumidifier should help as it will dry out the air in the house but i guess it takes time for solid materials to dry completely.

I also have a theory that they could be carried around the house by us on socks, clothing etc. That would explain why random odd ones are found elsewhere especially on skirting boards.

The ones not moving could be old exoskeletons. These things grow by casting their skins before becoming adults.

Just back on this after a while as it was fuelling my anxiety around this. But if anyone is interested here is my story: around February I noticed a book louse in my shower. Then another 10 or so that week appeared in my bath. Pest control confirmed booklice and said run a dehumidifier for a week and they will go (haha)

I then suspected they were coming from the loft as I gutted my airing cupboard that backs onto my bathroom and sure enough about 100+ dead ones.

I got a property survey and the surveyor confirmed the loft was in his words 'swarming'. (Previous owner) had triple insulation and no roof vents in the void. It was an absolute hot bed.

Got 10 vents put in and ALL my insulation removed

Helped greatly but still seeing a few. Also the clear ones appeared (seem to be a different species) on my books and on a baby tooth I left on the window sill.

We moved to my mums in April as plan is to get a whole house spray and DE drilled into walls.

I'm sure I have now seen 3 at my mums house and started to DE her skirting now.

Just a wee tip that pest control told me re applying DE. Pop on some goggles and get a paint brush and flick the DE onto the skirting so it's not detectable as they will just walk round it.

I'm also trying ventilation only ATM and have ditched the dehumidifier for now.

I'm in Scotland, not in a new build. Hang in folks. And don't let this wear you down xx

hello. Thank you for sharing your story.
how is it going? Does DE kills them?

I believe it acts as a kind of talcum powder based substance that dries out and dessicates their bodies. Its made from crushed fossils so there must also be something in it that works. Not sure! Could be wrong x

Ummm... I do read DE kill all kind of insects, just not so sure it actually work or not. I am thinking to apply DE instead of pesticides too because I have a cat, so i do not want to apply too much chemicals. I read that you also found them in ur mums. Did you bring them with you to her house or they were already there before? I been avoid going to my mums because of them.... afraid that i would bring them with me.....

I know a few people who have had success with DE as an adjunct, but imo a multi approach is needed. As for my mums house, I'm not sure. I'm keeping an eye on things atm. I also wash everything at 60. I know it's not great and it ruins clothes but my kids soft toys get washed once every 3 weeks at 60 for sure.

Thank you for sharing this. I never go in my loft, am thinking I should.

i’d like to pay a professional to go round not just the loft, but whole place assessing for leaks, damp, lack of ventilation, and pest issues. Do you know what kind of professional does that? Is it a property surveyor? Thank you

Hi, I used Peter Cox property management who also partner with Rentokil as a separate division but they don't seem to talk to each other and Rentokil pest control are separate from Rentokil property management. I know..confusing. I knew my problem was in the loft so I only asked him to check there. I guess you could ask them. Another company that may help is Wise property care. For surveys you are generally paying in the region of £200.

I also made enquiries with Envirovent as I was interested in a whole house vent system. They definitely do mould surveys, but the guy in spoke to said they only come out and do this if you are going ahead with the system as a lot of people were wasting their time (between the lines) even though their website does state they do the free surveys. So ive let that one go after he never replied to my email enquiry re the vent system.

Hope that helps. Also i was worried they wouldn't go up in my loft as it wasn't floored but the guy from Peter Cox went up no bother

Thank you, this is super helpful.

I found this success story which is reassuring https://www.reddit.com/r/pestcontrol/comments/x8egeq/we_need_advise_about_booklice_and_springtails/

Could I ask advice on removing 2 of my internal doors? They are by far the worst places in my house for these things - I see on average around 5-6 a day in the rest of the house but our bedroom door and Hotpress door are the worst by far.

I’m on maternity leave and can’t really afford new doors at the minute and my husband is reluctant to throw more money at these things in case it doesn’t help, probably spent about £450 in savings already. I can live without my bedroom door tbh as it’s always open anyway but if I take them off and it doesn’t help 😭😭😭😭

The pest control guy said it’s just new ones hatching and to keep spraying with Zero in Ultra and running dehumidifier.

Anyone who removed internal doors, did they move on to other doors or did it help?

Are you sure they’re coming out from the door? Not the doorframe or skirting?

Yeah they’re not coming from door hinges but they’re coming from the latch (the side attached to the door) and sometimes door handles, never find them on the doorframe and haven’t had the door in the Hotpress closed tight as the dehumidifier is wedged in between. Strangely haven’t see any on the other side of the doorframe where the latch clicks into when the door is shut.

Noticed a small hair line crack on Hotpress door that they were coming from and caulked it. Then the bedroom door there’s a little notch in the wood at the top of the door that I’ve just filled in today. Worried they’ll start coming out the bottom of the door though.

We removed 2 of our doors and stored them in the garage wrapped in polythene for a few weeks. This did seem to reduce the numbers found in the bathroom especially. It was quite easy to remove them, only 9 screws attaching hinges to door frame.
We went ahead and got 2 new doors fitted. They are 4 panel hollow core doors. There are a few different sizes so care required when measuring. They were about £50 each from Jeld-Wen via B&Q. We hired someone to fit them at a total cost of £135 and painted them ourselves in situ.
As i may have mentioned before i cut up one of the old ones before burning it. There were numerous booklice inside it.
Since removing these 2 doors the number found around the house has reduced to about 10 per week, although the recent hot weather seems to be slowly increasing the numbers. 6 found in the last 4 days.

I haven’t posted on here for ages, partly because it felt like booklice had taken over every part of my life. My anxiety was through the roof and I spent most of my evenings either bug hunting or scouring threads on the internet for a cure.
I’m just over 2 years in to living in my new build. Booklice are still around, although no way near on the scale they were before. They seem to appear at the same time of the year and are more prevalent July onwards (for me anyway). I find them mostly either on the skirting boards or in corners of the room and ceilings and the most I ever find are one or two at a time.

Anyway… I was just about to write a birthday card I had placed on my dinner table a few minutes earlier. I opened it and to my surprise there was quite a large booklice crawling on the inside. I thought it was a bit weird, but squished it and carried on. When my partner got in from work, I picked up the card again for him to sign his name and told him about the booklice (don’t think he believed me). To my surprise, as I looked down there were a further 2 crawling on it. The only other items on my table were my wicker/jute style placemats.
I placed a large white piece of paper on the table and gave each placemat and cup placemat a tap. Low and behold quite literally hundreds of booklice fell out of them.
I’ve bagged them straight up and placed them in the bin. My skin is crawling!!
I know this probably is not the source of them all, however I advise you to check any wicker/jute items you may have across your home as they could possibly be adding to the problem.

just to add- we don’t use the table often, and we have no children so there’s not as if there’s lots of spillages/ moisture on the table often.
Link to the type of placemats we had.

Yeah I second this, I had them in my baby’s wicker toy box, a jute foot stool and a wicker changing mat basket thing, it was like £200 worth of stuff and I had to bin it all

How’s everyone doing for booklice? Had a kinda meltdown as I discovered them at my mums today quite a few in every room
they’ve never had them before and no idea where they’ve come from
perhaps Iv transported them somehow? Unsure anyway for my own selfish reasons looking forward to cooler weather
has anyone numbers decreased?

We bought a 1950s house. Complete refurb, back to brick type of job with extension etc.

Young family with a toddler.

I only find booklice downstairs and upstairs bathroom, around skirting and in my garage. Bedrooms upstairs are all clear. I only find a few. I got a damp meter (do your research before using them coz loads of false positives due to salts and metals and old fire places etc), discovered a leak on soil stack (boxed in), probably been there ever since installed, such a small leak but obviously over a very long time (many many years as neighbor said previous owner complained about mold on the stack side of the wall many years ago when we first got the house). Sorted out the leak and then discovered another leak on tap in toilet.

I reckon they start off somewhere and then spread out. In my case I think they started off by the soil stack and spread downstairs.

I used the critter kill 16g permethrin bomb in garage. Killed everything in there inc spiders etc. Couldn't find a single booklice previously loads. Will do another bomb 2 weeks later and kill any eggs that would've hatched. I also painted the floor of the garage with liquid dpc to stop any humidity or damp coming in from outside through concrete floor.

I've used these bombs in the past to get rid of bird mites in a previous house. Did the job perfectly. I also got rid of a wasp net with them, let the bomb off right next to the hive.

Once I am confident I've sorted out all leaks. I will do the same permethrin bomb downstairs and bathroom.

Has anyone used these bombs on booklice? There is a residual effect from it. People get prescribed this stuff for scabies and headlice, even pregnant women.

I have used them permethrin bombs before I discovered I had a leak
reduced them but didn’t get rid
I still have the booklice but better than before at the moment anyway

I think the 16g grams is better instead of the 3.5g, just more permethrin and even though it says somethijg like 120m3 treatment area for 1 bomb but I'll use 1 per room (60m3), so much more concentrated. I am going to do 1 treatment every week for 3 weeks when I start. That way any eggs that have hatched after first or second treatment etc will be treated.