Lots of replies but I'd might as well join in: It's a three stage process. 1. No later than the middle of August, (in Delaware) make sure the area you think the chiggers call home is mowed, and/or sprayed with a good outdoor insecticide spray. Then make sure you use something with deet in it to spray around your shoe tops, sock tops and pants legs. 2. Because you just realized you've got a dandy case of chiggers and had forgotten number one, you should try to kill the chiggers that may be still sucking at the feeding tube (?) they inject the digestive enzyme that causes the pimples and itch. I use something with deet in it to lightly spray my legs up to the knees at least.* (It is said that chiggers don't burrow in but insert a feeding tube.) 3. Now use a dilute solution of vinegar and water in a very small basin. (I use a cup and a half of vinegar that seems about the right for the amount of WARM water). The reason for this is to neutralize as best you can, the digestive fluid already in your skin. A little soap will help the mixture to penetrate. (hopefully) Take your time and give the solution time to work. Do NOT use a towel. Let it dry. *I used to take a shower with a cake of dog flea soap which seemed to help (as soon as I realized I had chiggers). This does nothing to immediately stop the itch, but at least it prevents more places that itch. It is best to remember to do number one, but I never do. I walk through weeds on my way to the compost heap and get chiggers almost every year. This year was bad I think because of the frequent rains.

I remember reading a short story in college (a long time ago...) that said the only way to avoid chigger bites was to run through the field naked. Idk, haven't done it, but they love me. I may be the only one out of 3 or 4 people in the exact same area who ends up with bites. I have found only one spray that kept them off of me and I let a friend use it for her freaking mosquitoes. I don't know why mosquitoes don't really like me, but chiggers LOVE me. Is there any known reason why some people are more likely to get chiggers VS mosquitoes? Or, am I the only fortunate one? One thing that a friend of mine swears by, and he mows lawns for his employment, is sticking dryer sheets in his socks. He looks odd, but he says he gets no chigger bites by doing this. I don't trust it, but anyone else had luck with this? Or even hearts of it?

I agree with y'all on the ticks, though I am not seeing as many yet as y'all are. It does seem like an early, busy start to the tick season. Our chickens eat a lot of them in the outdoor areas around the house, but the cats and dogs run through the fields and the woods and come home with ticks on them. Occasionally I find a tick crawling on me in the house that I suspect came indoors on an animal. An old folk method of preventing chigger bites, used by a very diverse group that includes some men as well as women, including electric utility linemen, hunters, hikers and Army Rangers (Google Army Rangers + pantyhose + ticks to read about them), is to wear panty hose or tights beneath your work (or play) clothes. The chiggers and ticks cannot get through the hose or tight material, but mosquitoes still can still bite you through it. There even are companies that make camo-patterned tights for men in an effort, I guess, to erase the stigma of wearing nylon stockings, even if you are wearing them for protective reasons. I don't think this is a great solution for us because who wants to wear them in our hot, sticky May and June weather when chiggers are so bad, but it beats being eaten up by chiggers.

Concrete topping over wood joists is quite normal in Canada in low-rise buildings. We see this quite frequently. The fix: everything vs. nothing. As you have guessed, the issue is UNDERNEATH the concrete. And to get at THAT layer your upstairs neighbors have to remove everything, jack out the concrete and then "fix" whatever needs fixing (sigh....guess how many times that's going to happen? Zero). And because the problem is your problem (it bothers you, not them) you will have to spend all the time/money investigating this issue. It is *possible you can rip down your ceiling (yep....throughout the ENTIRE condo) and investigate the problem from BELOW. I'm going to guess this isn't going to happen either (cost is going to be WELL over $15-$20/sf to remove, repair and replace ceiling). The fix that you could attempt without having to investigate the actual source would be to have a drop down acoustic ceiling installed with proper isolation channels and acoustic drywall/ceiling tiles. It is possible to do this for about $10/sf. If you have UNTEXTURED ceilings, it is *possible you can use GreenGlue+Acoustic drywall to create an acoustic barrier that will offer another 36 dB of insulation (5/8" acoustic drywall = 18 dB of insulation; GreenGlue sandwiched between the old ceiling and the acoustic drywall = 18 dB of insulation). This can be done for about $7/sf and will not lose ceiling height. My personal favourite is a "white noise" machine for the bedroom. The simplest option = fan. $15 from Home Depot. And no I am not being facetious. I am offer a cheap, simple (and often effective) solution to a sleep problem. White noise machines will do a tremendous amount for your sleep. Once you get a few months of decent sleep (yes...it takes that long to pay off sleep debt), you will begin to feel better about where you are. And eventually, if everything goes well, you will stop hearing the noises from above. All for $15. This would be my first stop. You can always add more materials to your ceiling and remove money from your bank account if the $15 fan doesn't work.