Why do houses in the US need to be fumigated and what happens during this process?

Question

I’m Irish, and have never seen this happen in any other country and have no clue what it is

In: 2

Answer 1

Basically, it’s a last line of defence against insect/pest infestations. One reason this is more common in the US is that there are many more detached houses, which, being on ground level, tend to have more bugs than a flat on the 3rd or 4th floor might simply because bugs tend to live near the ground where it is moist.

Another reason you don’t see this more often in places like Europe or Asia is that these places tend to have more multi-family apartment buildings and you can’t exactly fumigate one flat while the neighbours are still in their flat.

As to how the process works, its basically putting a giant plastic bag over the house and blowing poison inside until everything dies…