Ask for bed bug fumigation in the UK and you will usually be offered something other than gas. True fumigation fills a sealed space with a toxic gas, and the Health and Safety Executive treats it as specialist, dangerous work. For a home, most firms that advertise fumigation mean an insecticide spray or fog, steam, heat, or a mix, typically £250 to £850 for a spray programme and £500 to £2,400 for heat.
A free matching service, not a pest control firm. We find a bed bug exterminator near you and tell you who they are before anything is shared. How it works
| Job | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Insecticide spray or fog A programme of two or three visits, whole home, 1 to 5 bedrooms | £250 to £1,200 |
| Steam with insecticide First room, with extra rooms charged on top | About £450 |
| Heat treatment Usually one visit, whole home | £500 to £2,400 |
| Gas fumigation Specialist work for a sealed space; few firms offer it for homes | Survey first |
| Extra follow-up visit If bugs are still seen after the programme | £50 to £150 |
Spray ranges from Fantastic Services (30 September 2026), MyBuilder (21 August 2026), Checkatrade (May 2026) and Bed Bug Hunters' price list; steam from Checkatrade (£450 plus £65 per extra room); heat from MyBuilder and Fantastic Services. Read 26 October 2026. No UK price guide lists gas fumigation for homes, so we do not give a figure. A guide, not a quote. The cost calculator works out a range for your home.
Ask for these six points in writing. Two quotes that cover them can be compared line by line.
Spray, fog, steam, heat or gas, and why that method suits your home. "Fumigation" on its own is not a method.
Which products are used, where they are applied, and how long people, pets and fish must stay out. Southwark Council, for one, asks people to stay out for at least four hours after a spray.
Spray and steam treatments usually need two or three visits a week or two apart, so eggs that hatch after the first visit are dealt with.
What to wash, bag, empty and move before the first visit. A good firm gives this in writing.
Whether rooms next to the affected ones, or the flat next door, will be checked. Bed bugs move between rooms.
Membership of a trade body such as the BPCA, insurance, and for any gas fumigation the operator's certificate of competence.
Want bed bugs gone without guessing at methods? Tell us about the property and we will find an exterminator who covers it.
Ask for a free quoteThe exterminator confirms it is bed bugs, finds the rooms involved and recommends a method.
You wash bedding and clothes hot, bag them, empty bedside units and clear the floor around the bed.
Mattress seams, bed frames, skirting and other hiding places are treated. You stay out for the time the firm gives.
One or two more visits treat bugs that hatch from eggs. The firm tells you what to look for in between.
Not strictly. Fumigation means using a gas. In everyday use, though, many UK firms call any whole-room insecticide treatment, including sprays and foggers, "fumigation". Ask each firm which method they mean.
It can be, but it is specialist work. The Health and Safety Executive describes fumigation as a dangerous process with potentially fatal consequences, and professional users need a certificate of competence. Most homes are treated by other methods.
For a spray or fog, you usually leave the treated rooms for a few hours. For heat, you are out for most of the day. For a gas fumigation, the space is sealed and nobody goes back in until the operator says it is clear. The firm will give you exact times.
The British Pest Control Association says self-treatment is unlikely to work, partly because professionals have products the public cannot buy. Foggers can also push bugs into new hiding places.
Most spray-based programmes are two or three visits. Heat is usually one visit, sometimes with a check afterwards. Your exterminator will give the number in the quote.
As a guide, £250 to £1,200 for a spray programme depending on the size of the home, and £500 to £2,400 for heat. London prices run higher. Use the cost calculator for your home.
Three short steps: where, what and who. The more you tell us now, the better the exterminator can plan the first visit.
This is a free matching service, not a pest control firm. We find a bed bug exterminator who covers your area and name them to you first. Nobody calls you until you say yes.