Fumigation: when gas treatment is needed and how it works

What the price depends on

Fumigation is charged per cubic metre of treated volume, not per square metre of floor. A loft under a high roof, a warehouse or a shipping container is therefore priced by volume. The price also depends on how easily the space can be sealed, which pest you’re dealing with and how long the gas has to stay in. Rates are in the table.

Sheeting and sealing materials, a repeat treatment and disposal of infested items, where needed, are agreed in the offer.

What it costs and how to book: handyman services in Warsaw.

Fumigation, spraying and fogging

People often call any insect treatment fumigation, but these are different methods. Spraying puts the product on surfaces the insects walk on. Cold or thermal fogging fills the air with fine droplets that settle on surfaces. Fumigation uses a gas, which gets into cracks, furniture, timber and packaging and reaches pests where a liquid never would.

It’s used against woodworm and other beetles in timber structures and furniture, against pests in grain and stored goods, and to treat shipping containers. An ordinary flat with cockroaches usually just needs insecticide treatment without gas, and the specialist will tell you so after an inspection.

Safety and permits

Fumigants are highly toxic to people and animals. Only firms with the relevant permits and trained staff work with them; a general handyman does not do fumigation. Ask for the offer to name the firm, the product and its permits.

Nobody stays inside during treatment: no people, no pets, no plants. The space is sealed and warning signs go up on the entrances. You can only go back in after it’s been aired and the specialist has measured that no gas is left. If the space shares walls with neighbours, as in a block of flats, the treatment is agreed with the building administration so the gas can’t reach the people next door.

How fumigation works

1. Inspection: which pest, where it is and what volume needs treating.
2. Choice of product and exposure time, taking temperature and material into account.
3. Preparation: people and pets leave, food is taken out, gaps and vents are sealed.
4. The fumigant is released and warning signs go up on the entrances.
5. Exposure under the specialist’s supervision.
6. Airing and measuring the gas concentration, and only then is the space handed back.
7. A repeat treatment if needed, since gas works less well on some stages of the pest’s life cycle.

Common mistakes

• Booking fumigation of a flat for cockroaches when ordinary pest treatment would have done.
• Going back in before the specialist confirmed the gas was gone.
• Leaving food, medicines or an aquarium inside.
• Not warning the neighbours and the building administration.
• Treating furniture for woodworm but leaving the infested beam next to it.
• Picking a contractor without permits because they were cheaper.

What to prepare

• Photos of the signs: holes, wood dust, the insects themselves.
• Room dimensions including height, as the volume is worked out from them.
• Somewhere for people and pets to stay during treatment.
• Food, pet food, medicines, cosmetics and plants all have to come out.
• In a block of flats, agree the treatment with the administration.

Frequently asked questions

How to order

Describe in the app what the pest is, where it is and what volume needs treating, and add photos. Firms and specialists near you will send offers with their own price, timing and permit details. Choose a contractor by reviews and paperwork; only that contractor sees your address.

You pay the contractor directly and they issue the invoice. They stand behind their own treatment and will put right any shortcomings of their own. Pests coming in from an untreated space next door, and hidden damage to the timber, are not on them.

Carry out fumigation and hold the permits? Create a tradesperson profile so treatment jobs in your town can find you. You work for yourself, set up however suits you.