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Cockroaches how to get rid of them


How to Get Rid of Roaches

Few things are more frustrating than a roach infestation. These persistent pests will make themselves at home in your kitchen, bathroom, and other living spaces as they search for food. Unfortunately, they multiply fast and can spread diseases. If you’re tired of living with a cockroach infestation, then let's figure out how to get rid of roaches for you!!

Most Common Cockroaches in the US

When dealing with a roach infestation, it is important to know what type of roach you are dealing with. There are a few different species of roaches that are present here in Florida, but the most common are the German cockroach and the American cockroach. These two are what you'll most likely deal with the most.  

German Cockroach

The German cockroach is light brown and usually 1/2” – 5/8” in size. This is the most common type species of cockroach worldwide, and Florida is no exception. They're easily identified by the two dark, parallel stripes on their backs. They typically live in warm, humid places where food is easily found and readily available, so infestations are likely found in both residential and commercial kitchens. Like most cockroaches, they're difficult to kill, so having an exterminator on your side is helpful when getting rid of them.

American Cockroach

American cockroaches are darker and bigger at 1-1/2” to 2” and are the most common among the residential infesting roaches. These roaches are typically reddish-brown and have a figure 8 pattern on the back of the head. This species does have wings and can fly short distances. They can also bite, but their bites are harmless unless they become infected. You may first notice an infection of American cockroaches by seeing their droppings around your house. These droppings are small and have characteristic ridges on the sides.

What Attracts Cockroaches to Your Home

No matter the type of pest - whether it’s roaches, ants, termites, or rodents - they’re all most likely searching for food and water sources which they can easily find in your home. Roaches, in particular, are drawn to warm, humid climates like Florida.

Roaches are attracted to: 

1. Dirty dishes in the sink

Dirty dishes in the sink often have leftover food on them, which is exactly what cockroaches are looking for. Roaches are either in your home for one of two reasons: they're seeking shelter or they want food. Letting dirty dishes sit in your sink gives these pests food to go after.

2. Crumbs on the floors or counters

Leaving crumbs on your floor or counters is another source of food that cockroaches will be attracted to. The goal is to cut out any opportunity for these pests to find food in your home. This means wiping down your counters and sweeping the floor when you notice crumbs. 

3. Garbage

Garbage is yet another source of food, so be sure to take your garbage out consistently and keep your garbage can sealed so there are no access points. Some garbage bags even claim to give off a smell that wards off pests. 

4. Pet food on the floor

Pet food on the floor is a big cockroach attraction that is often overlooked. If you have a pet that often doesn't eat all of its food and leaves it lying around for later, you may want to invest in a sealable bowl or simply put the bowl up high where it's not easily accessible. 

5. Excess moisture

Cockroaches need moisture to survive. Dripping faucets or cracked shower doors are some of the most common things attracting cockroaches in residential homes. If you have a source of excess moisture in your home, make sure it's taken care of!

Get a Free Roach Control Quote!

How Roaches Enter Your Home

Roaches are attracted to your home for a variety of reasons (listed above), but attraction is only the first part. They have to actually be able to get INTO your home to wreak havoc. The most common way these sly pests enter your home is through cracks and crevices in doors, windows, and other areas of your house.

Here's how roaches enter your home:

1. Cracks and crevices 

Cracks and crevices in your windows and doors are some of the most common ways cockroaches will find their way into your home. The biggest problems we see with homeowners are doors that haven't been sealed properly or windows that don't close all the way.

2. Holes in vents and pipes

Another common way these pests will make an appearance is by coming through your vents and pipes. This is especially common with older vents that may have holes or that don't properly seal. Make sure you check your vents when you switch them out and keep an eye on leaky pipes under your sink for any potential entryways.

3. Hitching a ride onto items

While not as common, cockroaches have been known to hitch a ride onto things like old furniture if you're moving it into your home. Make sure you check that old table for pests next time you move it from your garage to your dining room. 

How to Get Rid of Roaches

If you want to get rid of cockroaches in your home, there are a few different effective methods.

Here's how to get rid of cockroaches in your home:

1. Thoroughly Clean Your Home

This may seem like a given, but roaches are attracted to dirt and filth because they’re always on the lookout for new sources of food. The easiest way to get rid of roaches is by making sure your home is clean. Make sure to do the following:

2.

Use Store-Bought Roach Traps

One effective method of eliminating roaches is the type of trap found in supermarkets or home improvement stores. The device uses a scent or other bait to attract roaches. When they investigate the bait, roaches become caught in a sticky substance, effectively trapped inside. One option is a glue trap to get rid of cockroaches. These roach traps are effective because the roaches get stuck in them so you can get rid of them. While effective, this isn't the best way to kill an entire cockroach infestation or nest, just if you have a few in your home. It can take up to two weeks to see results, so traps should be checked for dead roaches periodically.

3. Use Store-Bought Baits

Another common way to get rid of roaches includes utilizing store-bought baits. Chemical baits disguise insecticide as a food source. Roaches ingest the insecticide and return to their nests, where they die. Other roaches eat them, spreading the poison to the rest of the nest. Place chemical baits near garbage cans and underneath sinks and cabinets in kitchens and bathrooms.

4. Spray Liquid Concentrates

Another product available in stores is a liquid concentrate designed to deter roaches. Once diluted, the liquid can be sprayed into cracks and crevices and other areas where roaches like to hide. You can also mop the floor and wipe counters with the solution!  If you're wondering how to get rid of roaches overnight, this will be one of your best bets!  

How to Get Rid of Roaches Naturally

If you want to get rid of roaches naturally, there are a handful of methods we recommend.

Here's how to get rid of roaches naturally:

1. Boric Acid

Boric acid is one of the best home remedies to get rid of roaches naturally. Mix equal amounts of boric acid, flour, and sugar to make a dough. Set balls of dough around the home where cockroaches can feed on it. The flour and sugar will attract the roaches while the boric acid will kill them. Simply place the dough where you know roaches are normally present, or under your refrigerator, stove, and the backs of cabinets and drawers. The boric acid will kill the roaches that will then become food for other roaches. While this is extremely effective at killing roaches, boric acid can be extremely dangerous for pets. If you have a furry friend around your house, do not try this at home.

Benefits of using boric acid:

2. Baking Soda

Baking soda, similar to Boric acid, is deadly to cockroaches. If you want to use this method to get rid of roaches, combine baking soda with something they would be attracted to, like sugar or onions. Place this mixture in high traffic areas and wait. You'll start to see dead roaches once they start eating the mixture. 

Benefits of using baking soda:

3. Citrus

While citrus doesn't kill cockroaches, it does deter them. If you want to take preventative measures before the cockroaches appear, mix citrus acid with some water and add it to high-traffic areas. Cockroaches will steer clear of this area as they don't like the smell. You can even leave a few citrus peels around your kitchen so the smell lingers.

Benefits of using citrus:

Pro Tip: Call a Licensed Exterminator

The truth of the matter is roaches are persistent creatures – even following all of these DIY tips, you may still have an infestation. If you have given these tried-and-tested tricks a try and it hasn’t helped, you probably need a professional exterminator to treat your home. Contact Anti-Pesto today for a free quote. 

An Important Note: DIY solutions are not guaranteed to work, especially against pests like cockroaches that can breed and multiply quickly. If you're serious about getting rid of a roach infestation fast, it is always best to work with a trained and licensed exterminator. 

How to Prevent Cockroaches

There are lots of methods used to ward off roaches, and we will discuss a few of the most successful strategies many people use to make their houses less hospitable for these cringe-worthy bugs.

Here's how to prevent cockroaches:

1. Nix Newspapers & Cardboard Boxes

Roaches adore cardboard boxes and newspapers. If these items are lying around your home, you’re inviting roaches in the vicinity into your home. Roaches love to breed in these items, so it is best to clear all newspapers and cardboard boxes out of your home. 

2. Clear Out the Clutter

One of the best strategies for roach control is to make sure your home is kept in tip-top shape, especially when it comes to items that are just lying around. Keeping your house free of clutter means there are less places for roaches to hide out during the day. With no cover for their midday scurrying, these bugs will have to work harder to hide their presence.

3. Seal Cracks & Install Door Sweeps

Roaches gain entry to homes by crawling in under doors and cracks in your home’s foundation. You may not even notice the easy access areas as they can be hard to see, but a professional should be able to identify entry points for you. Problem areas include:

We recommend you inspect these problem areas at least once a year and if you do notice cracks and holes, make sure to seal them. You can use caulk to seal small ones, while steel wool and foam are best to fill larger gaps, especially around pipes. For bigger openings around chimneys or attic vents, you can use a fine wire mesh to create a barrier.

learn more about how pests enter your home

4. Regularly Inspect and Fix any Plumbing Issues or Leaks

Moisture is a huge attractant for bugs – just like humans, they need water in order to survive. Oftentimes homeowners have leaks or water problems that attract bugs and they don’t even know. If you do notice leaks or plumbing issues, get them fixed as soon as possible. It's not a bad idea to regularly inspect the faucets, sinks, refrigerators, and appliances in your home to make sure they aren't leaking or producing excess moisture.

5. Don't Feed the Roaches 

If you leave treats like an uneaten dog or cat food lying around, you are bound to attract a bug or two. We recommend using a dog food dispenser and/or removing any food your pet doesn’t eat right away from the floor so that roaches don't have easy access to food sources.

Pro Tip: Get Professional Help

Because roaches are such a problem pest here in Florida, prevention can only get you so far. The truth of the matter is, most homeowners are going to deal with a roach infestation in their home at some point. While there are many things you can do to make your home an inhospitable environment for bugs, nothing prevents a pest infestation like employing professional exterminators from Anti-Pesto. 

Pest Control as Low as $31/Month

Here at Anti-Pesto Bug Killers, we offer the highest-rated pest control in Tampa, Lakeland, Largo, St. Petersburg, and the surrounding areas. Our pest control programs start as low as $31/month and can protect your home from a variety of pests all year long - including roaches! If you are tired of sharing your home with roaches, our experts can help you.

This blog was written by Howard Bright, Owner of Anti-Pesto Bug Killers.

How To Get Rid Of Roaches In Your Home: A Complete Guide [2022]

Roaches: the name alone is enough to make your skin crawl.

Unfortunately, they’re common pests, and they can be difficult to get rid of. If you have roaches in your home or apartment in areas such as kitchen cabinets, the attic, or in your bathroom, it’s important to get rid of them fast.

Here at Smith’s Pest Management, we help homeowners throughout Northern California, from Marin to Monterey, get rid of pests. Our team offers professional cockroach control services to help you reclaim your space and get life back to normal.

In this post, we’ll share the best and fastest ways to get rid of roaches for good, and everything you need to know about your various options.

Key Takeaways

What Type of Cockroaches Are in My Home?

While there are more than 4,500 roach species in the world, only about 69 of them live in the U.S.

Although most species of roaches have no interest in invading homes, there are a few that will happily set up shop in your house.

Here’s an overview of the roaches you’re most likely to see indoors:

German Cockroaches


Image: LMBuga via Wikipedia / CC by SA 3.0

The German cockroach is the most common cockroach in the U.S. Because they breed so rapidly (each egg case can produce 20-40 baby roaches), even a single female in your home could produce a cockroach infestation of more than 30,000 individuals in a single year.

Unlike other roach species, the female German cockroach carries her egg pouches with her until they’re ready to hatch.

This means infestations spread easily and can be difficult to contain.

All cockroaches have flat, broad bodies with long hind legs and antennae. Their wings lie folded flat on their backs, and most are black or brown.

The German cockroach, however, tends to be light-brown with two dark, parallel stripes that run down the body from the head to the wings.

Brown-Banded Cockroaches


Brown-banded roaches love warm, dry areas, and are commonly found inside walls or electronics like televisions or refrigerators.

A flying cockroach, this species hates water and doesn’t like to live in moist or damp places.

They are about 0.5” in length, and tend to be dark brown. Both males and females have light yellow bands on their wings and abdomens.

American Cockroaches


 Image: Gary Alpert via Wikipedia / CC by SA 2.5

While the American cockroach isn’t the most common roach species in the U.S., it is the largest.

It’s also one of the longest-lived – with lifespans of about two years.

These roaches are sometimes called the “sewer roach” or “palmetto bugs.” They can reach 1-3” in length and tend to be brown or reddish-brown with light yellow edges around their bodies.

What Attracts Roaches to My Home?

Regardless of what kind of roaches you have in your home, one thing is certain: you don’t want them there.

In addition to giving you the creepy-crawlies, roaches can trigger allergies, spread disease, and create an unsanitary living environment.

Fortunately, the first step to getting rid of roaches is understanding what’s attracting them to your property in the first place.

Here are some of the most common culprits:

1. Food sources

Roaches are omnivores, meaning they’ll eat anything. They are particularly fond of starches, sweets, greasy food, and meats.

Easy sources of food – like dirty dishes in the sink, pet food on the floor, or crumbs on the counter will draw them in.

Roaches also love garbage, so make sure to take the trash out regularly and keep all household garbage cans tightly sealed.

2. Shelter

Cockroaches enter homes for shelter.

Depending on the species of roach, they may live behind picture frames, in hollowed-out wood, in damp places like beneath the sink or behind the toilet, or in the backs of your electronics.

As the temperature dips outside, roaches will venture indoors.

They love quiet, forgotten areas, and may live underneath large appliances, in the corners of basements, and the attic.

3. Location

If you’re wondering “why do I have roaches in my clean house?” we understand.

Solving a roach problem can be frustrating – especially if you’ve been careful to avoid common attractants.

Unfortunately, some locations are just more appealing to roaches than others.

Species like the American cockroach don’t need unsanitary conditions to thrive – they simply enter through a gap in a window seal or a door left open and start establishing themselves in your house.

4. Water

Like all animals, roaches need water to survive – and they’ll enter even the most sanitary homes to find it.

Leaky pipes and faucets are common attractants, as are open showers and pet water bowls.

5. Landscaping

While roaches love to live inside, they’ll also enter your yard in search of food, shelter, and water.

Standing water in birdbaths, gutters, and flowerpots will all attract roaches, as will food sources like birdseed or fruit plants.

How Roaches Enter Your Home

Shelter, food, and water attract roaches to your home, but how do they get in? The most common way roaches enter your home is through tiny cracks and gaps in windows, doors, and other areas.

Here are some of their favorite access points:

1. Cracks and Gaps in Windows and Doors

Cracks and gaps in your home’s doors and windows are the top way roaches make their way into your home. Doors that aren’t sealed properly and windows that don’t close entirely are perfect access points for roaches.

2. Holes in Pipes and Vents

Another common entrance point for roaches is through holes in pipes and vents. If you live in an older home with vents that have holes or don’t properly seal, it’s an invitation for roaches to come inside.

Check your vents when you replace or service them and keep an eye on pipes and plumbing fixtures for holes or other potential roach access points.

3. Hitching a Ride on Furniture and Other Items

If you’re bringing used furniture or other items into the home, check them for roaches, first. These insects can hole up and hide in used items, only to emerge once they’re safely inside your home.

How to Get Rid of Roaches Naturally: 6 Home Remedies

If you want to get rid of roaches without chemicals such as bombing, foggers, or sprays you’re in luck. There are a handful of effective home remedies that will send these nasty critters packing and many of them are not harmful to children or pets.

Here are a few we recommend:

1. Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth, or DE for short, is an excellent natural insecticide. Composed of pulverized, fossilized algae, DE’s particles are sharp and dehydrating. When roaches come into contact with DE, it damages their exoskeletons and dehydrates them to death.

Purchase some food-grade DE and sprinkle a light coating on any surface where you’ve noticed roach activity.

Pros: Effective, affordable, safe for kids and pets

Cons: Messy, requires re-application, you will have to locate and dispose of dead roaches after each DE treatment

2. Baking Soda

Baking soda is one of the fastest, easiest ways to get rid of roaches – and it’s probably something you already have in your pantry. To make a DIY roach bait, dice a handful of onions and sprinkle them with baking soda.

Place this appetizer in a shallow dish anywhere you’ve noticed roach activity. When the roaches consume the baking soda, it creates gasses in the roaches’ stomachs, causing them to burst.

Pros: Effective, non-toxic, affordable

Cons: Pets may consume the onion mixture (onions are toxic for dogs), messy, requires you to locate and dispose of dead roaches

3.

Boric Acid

Boric acid is a naturally-occurring compound. A mixture of water and boron, it shows up in fruits and plants.

And while it’s harmless to people and pets, it’s deadly for roaches. When cockroaches come into contact with boric acid, it sticks to their legs and wings. When they ingest the powder, it acts on the roach’s nervous and digestive systems – killing it rapidly.

To use boric acid to get rid of roaches, sprinkle a light dusting onto a paper plate. Put an orange peel or spoonful of peanut butter in the middle of the plate and place the whole thing anywhere you’ve noticed roach activity.

Pros: Effective, affordable, natural, non-toxic, easy

Cons: Can be messy, requires several applications or treatments, may not be ideal for homes with pets or young kids, requires you to track down and dispose of dead roaches 

4. Borax

Borax is a readily-available laundry product that’s excellent for killing roaches. For best results, combine equal parts borax and white table sugar. Dust the mixture any place you’ve seen roach activity. When the roaches consume the borax, it will dehydrate them and kill them rapidly.

Pros: Effective, affordable, kills both adult and baby roaches  

Cons: Can be messy, requires re-application, requires you to track down and remove dead roach bodies

5. Citrus

Citrus is a tasty treat for humans, but it’s a repellent to cockroaches. The smell of lemons, specifically, deters roaches. Add a few drops of lemon oil to the water you use to mop your floors. The scent won’t be detectable to people, but it will send roaches packing.

Pros: Effective, affordable, ideal for homes with kids and pets

Cons: Does not kill roaches – only deters them

6. Essential Oils

Essential oils are a great natural roach repellant. For best results, purchase peppermint or lemongrass essential oil and mix it with a bit of water. Spray the mixture anywhere you’ve seen roaches.

Pros: Effective, affordable, safe for kids and pets, non-toxic

Cons: Does not kill roaches 

How to Get Rid of Roaches Inside the Home: 5 Conventional Methods

Looking for more conventional options to solve your roach problem? Here are some of the fastest ways to get rid of roaches:

1. Use Glue Traps to Identify Problem Areas

Glue traps are an effective way to identify roach problem areas and resolve infestations.

The smell of the trap lures roaches in and, once they step on the strip, the glue traps them.

For best results, place store-bought glue strips in any place you’ve noticed roach activity, including behind the refrigerator or under the sink.

Pros: Effective, safe for kids and pets (as long as the strips are hidden), fast-acting

Cons: You must monitor strips for a few days or weeks and change and replace them when they become filled with dead roaches 

2.

Set Bait Stations

What kills cockroaches almost instantly? Bait stations. Typically, these bait stations come in a long tube and can be placed anywhere you’ve noticed roach activity.

The smell of the bait attracts roaches who then eat the poison. When the roach travels back to its home location and dies, the other roaches will eat it, passing the poison through the group.

Pros: Effective, fast-acting

Cons: Bait stations look unattractive around a home, can be toxic to kids and pets, will leave dead roaches around the home, dead roaches may be consumed by non-target species like birds and other animals – poisoning them as well

3. Caulk all Entry Points

While glue strips and bait stations can be effective to get rid of roaches, they won’t do much good if new roaches are constantly entering your home. With this in mind, use caulk to seal gaps and possible entry points. Pay close attention to gaps between walls or tile, worn-out weather stripping, or gaps in door and window seals.

Pros: Effective, safe, affordable

Cons: Caulk wears out over time, so you must check and recheck access points routinely

4. Use a Liquid Concentrate

Purchase a liquid roach deterrent concentrate at your local home improvement store. This concentrated liquid is designed to be diluted and sprayed into cracks and crevices where roaches like to hide.

If you need a more comprehensive solution, you can also add a bit of the concentrate to a mop bucket and mop your floors with the solution. This option will deter roaches overnight and keep them from coming back.

Pros: Effective, fast-acting, affordable.

Cons: Contains toxic ingredients, not ideal for homes with kids and pets. 

5. Hire a Pest Management Professional

For best results, hire a professional roach management team like Smith’s to get rid of your infestation once and for all.

Professional teams know how to locate and eradicate roach infestations safely and effectively, without putting your kids, pets, or household at risk.

Pros: Effective, safe, long-lasting, can deal with roach infestations both indoors and outside the home

Cons: Requires a larger upfront investment than DIY options

Roach Bombs: Avoid if Possible

When wondering how to get rid of roaches without an exterminator, some people turn to roach bombs.

Also called “foggers,” roach bombs spray a pesticide into the air.

When the pesticide falls to the ground, it coats indoor surfaces and kills target pests. Most roach bombs are designed to be placed in the center of the room and activated.

Unfortunately, roach bombs are extremely toxic, and we recommend against using them. There are safer and more effective ways to get rid of your roach infestation.

Pros: Fast-acting

Cons: Toxic, flammable, most effective only for flying roaches, not suitable for homes with pets or young children, requires you to vacate the home while the roach bomb works 

How to Get Rid of Roaches Outside Your House

If you want to prevent cockroaches in your house, you have to start by limiting their numbers outside your home.

Here’s how:

1. Clean Up

Remember: roaches need three things to survive – food, water, and shelter. While you can’t eliminate these things in the outdoor environment, you can make your landscaping less welcoming for them.

Here are a few tips:

Pros: Effective, affordable, makes your landscaping look beautiful

Cons: Does not kill or get rid of roaches – only makes your landscaping less appealing for them

2. Use Sticky Traps

Sticky traps aren’t only for indoor use – you can place them outdoors, too. Lay sticky traps down any place you see roaches entering your home, such as cracks around doors or windows, or foundations.

If you’re not sure where the roaches are coming from, lay the traps down in a few locations and check the traps daily to identify high-traffic routes.

Pros: Effective way to identify roach routes

Cons: Unsightly, time-consuming

3. Place Bait

To decrease the number of roaches entering your home, kill them with bait before they get inside.

Since roaches like to keep the top or side of their bodies pressed against something as they walk, your bait stations will be most effective when placed next to outbuildings, ledges, corners, fences, or the foundation of your home.

Pros: Effective, fast-acting, long-term solution

Cons: Toxic, can be dangerous for kids, pets, and other animals

4. Spray Pesticide

One of the more effective ways to get rid of roaches is to spray a pesticide around the perimeter of your yard and home. These sprays are long-acting (many last three months or more) and will kill roaches on contact.

Pros: Effective, long-acting

Cons: Toxic, can be dangerous for kids, pets, and other animals 

How do Exterminators Get Rid of Roaches?

If you hire a professional exterminator to get rid of roaches, what can you expect?

Here’s how our team at Smith’s Pest Management does it:

Step 1: The Inspection

Our cockroach control experts will arrive at your property to inspect the infestation. We’ll look for areas where the roaches are accessing your home, and sources of moisture or food that may be enticing them.

We’ll also identify the species of cockroach you’re dealing with and formulate a plan for cockroach control.

Step 2: The First Treatment

Based on the information we gleaned during our initial inspection, we’ll develop a treatment plan for your home. Since cockroaches can be a difficult pest to eradicate, we take a two-step process to get rid of them.

Depending on the severity of your infestation, our preliminary treatment may include baiting, monitoring, trapping, or spraying the cockroaches or providing education, cleaning and sanitization services, or insect growth regulators.

During this step, we’ll place cockroach monitors to gauge activity.

Step Three: The Follow-Up Visit

Once we’ve deployed our initial treatment, we’ll check our monitors and deploy additional treatments, as needed. The result is a complete end to your infestation, as quickly as possible.

How Do I Keep Roaches Out of My House?

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Keep roaches out of your home in the first place with these simple tips:

1. Clean the House

First things first: start by removing everything that could attract roaches.

Any homemade roach killer you employ will be more effective if you make your home as unwelcoming as possible before using it.

Here are a few items to check off the to-do list:

2. Get Serious About Storing Food

If you want to keep roaches out of your house, eliminating food sources is critical. One of the best ways to do this is to store food in airtight glass or plastic containers.

Store perishables in the refrigerator, and avoid leaving fruits and vegetables out on the counter.

3. Clean Kitchen Appliances

Remember: roaches love fat and grease, and your kitchen is a great place to find these tasty treats. With this in mind, keep the stovetop, dishwasher, and other cooking appliances clean.

Pay special attention to areas like the drip pans under stove burners, the backsplash, and your garbage disposal.

Additionally, make sure you’re wiping counters and tables after you cook each night. To add an additional layer of protection, add a few drops of lemon oil to your cleaning water. The scent of citrus will keep cockroaches from coming back.

4. Get Rid of Newspapers and Cardboard Boxes

Roaches love newspaper and cardboard boxes because they make excellent breeding and nesting material. To prevent roach infestations, recycle or get rid of old newspapers and used cardboard boxes as quickly as possible.

5. Seal Cracks and Entry Points

Roaches can squeeze their small bodies through tiny gaps and cracks. To prevent them from gaining access to your home, seal cracks in the home’s foundation and install door sweeps to block gaps under doors.

You’ll also want to check for gaps around windows, and around holes used for gas, plumbing, and electric lines, and crawl space vents. Use caulk or sprayable foam to seal these cracks and keep your home roach-free.

6. Fix Leaks Right Away

If you have plumbing leaks in your home, fix them as quickly as possible. Even a tiny pipe drip is enough to provide roaches with the moisture they need to survive.

In addition to fixing leaks, regularly inspect sinks, refrigerators, appliances, and faucets to ensure they’re not leaking or producing excess moisture.

Are Roaches Taking Over Your San Francisco Bay Area Home? We’re Here to Help!

Our team is here to help you get rid of roaches permanently. We provide top-quality pest control services to residential and commercial customers in Northern California – from Marin to Monterey.

Don’t settle for living with roaches – call our team for fast, effective roach control services: (408) 871-6988

How to get rid of cockroaches in an apartment forever

December 22, 2021 Likbez Do it yourself

At night you went into the kitchen for a bite to eat, but instead of a cake, you found only crumbs and mustachioed swallows rushing in all directions? Congratulations, it's cockroaches! But you should not be afraid, but read: how to make traps, what to buy at the pharmacy so that the insects leave, and how to wash the floors so that they never return.

How to understand that there are cockroaches in the apartment

  1. Black dots. If small dark balls appeared on dishes, kitchen shelves, wallpaper, alas, they were left by cockroaches. This is what their products look like.
  2. Specific smell.
  3. Clutches with eggs in corners and crevices. If you find them, you can, of course, be glad that your apartment has officially received the status of "cockroach-friendly", but this also means that the insects will have to be removed twice. First, the main number of pests will be destroyed, then the hatched offspring. nine0012
  4. Personal meeting. Cockroaches are curious and sociable creatures, therefore, if you do not pay attention to the alarm bells described above, sooner or later they themselves will make contact. Most often, black (up to 3 cm in length, kitchen) or red (up to 1.3 cm in length, Prussians) cockroaches start up in houses.

Why did they come to you

  1. You have a lot of delicious food. Cockroaches also like to eat. Only if you are eating sandwiches in front of the computer, they are content with little: leftover crumbs. And they also have enough open garbage bags or buckwheat scattered in the kitchen drawer. nine0012
  2. You have plenty of water available. A good dinner should be washed down. Therefore, puddles at the sink and a leaky shower cabin will come in handy.
  3. Your neighbors have plenty of food and water. No matter how hard you try to exterminate pests, all efforts can be broken by the stubbornness of your dirty neighbors. If you can’t agree with them, it’s enough to seal your own home: eliminate cracks and cracks.
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Effective remedies for cockroaches

Folk methods

Boric acid is the strongest poison for cockroaches. Getting into the digestive tract of an insect, it affects its nervous system. The cockroach is paralyzed and dies of suffocation. It is best to use boric acid in powder, you can buy it at any pharmacy.

Ammonia has a strong smell that cockroaches don't like. Therefore, they tend to leave the premises treated with this substance as soon as possible. To get rid of cockroaches, add ammonia to your water to clean floors, shelves, walls, and ceilings. nine0003

Freezing. Cockroaches are cold-blooded creatures. They cease to multiply and weaken at temperatures below +7 °C. However, this method can only be applied in winter, preferably in hard frost. It is enough just to leave the windows wide open for a day (or better for two). It is necessary that all rooms freeze to -10-15 °C.

Trap will help if there are not so many cockroaches. It can be made at home. A jar with a wide neck, a deep enameled or glass bowl, grease the inside with oil, fat or petroleum jelly, and crumble the bait on the bottom: cookies, bread, sugar. Insects will be drawn to the smell of delicious, and then they will not be able to get out. You can also use a plastic bottle as a dangerous container: cut off the neck and, turning it over, insert it back like a funnel. nine0003

Leave the trap overnight in the kitchen or bathroom and in the morning be sure to kill the pests. They can be poured with boiling water or sprayed with insecticide.

Chemicals

The market is rich in various specialized products: from sprays and crayons to nanotechnology lamps and traps. The main thing when working with such things is to carefully follow the instructions and do not forget about gloves and a protective mask.

How to get rid of cockroaches forever

If you live in a private house, it will be enough to thoroughly poison insects once, and then regularly take preventive measures so that in the future insects do not come to visit. nine0003

But if you are a happy homeowner in an apartment building, you can't do without actions coordinated with your neighbors. Agree with all residents and carry out pest control at the same time. Otherwise, it may happen that a cockroach landing from another floor will again and again enter your neutralized apartment.

Preventive measures

  1. Keep your home in order. One single cleaning is not enough to destroy pests, it is necessary to clean it regularly. Store food in airtight containers, remove crumbs from the table, and keep an eye on areas where pets eat. It would be a good idea to audit kitchen drawers for spilled cereals. It is advisable to wash the dishes immediately after eating, and not store them in the sink with the remnants of the meal inside. nine0012
  2. Take out the trash. Do not keep trash in a cabinet under the sink or store overflowing bags at the front door. Get in the habit of regularly walking to the trash cans (or the garbage chute), and put a container with an airtight lid in the kitchen.
  3. Repair leaks promptly. Whereas cockroaches can survive for weeks without food, they cannot live even a day without water. Therefore, it is necessary to regularly check potentially dangerous places (toilet bowl, sinks, pipe joints) for leaks. In addition, do not forget to dry the surfaces in the bathroom after active bathing. Well, it’s better not to abuse the sailor’s way of washing floors (this is when a bucket of water is poured onto the deck at once). nine0012
  4. Repair cracks. If your neighbors are not clean, take care of the inaccessibility of your apartment. Examine the walls, ceiling, corners of the room: there may be cracks. They deserve to be patched up. And close the ventilation holes with a special fine mesh through which insects cannot crawl.

Are you worried about whiskered pests? How do you protect your apartment from cockroaches? Share your tips in the comments.

step-by-step instructions with expert advice

Most pest control experts will tell you that if you see a cockroach in your apartment, there's a good chance it's not alone. This brethren breeds very quickly, but hides cleverly. It is enough for a female cockroach to lay a special capsule - an ootheca, in which there are 30 - 40 eggs, and in a couple of weeks you will have a ready-made colony.

In our country, there are mainly two varieties of cockroaches: red cockroaches - among the Prussians, and black ones. Redheads are most often found in houses, they are smaller, more thermophilic and, fortunately, live many times less than their black counterparts - about six months. The second can live 2-3 years. nine0003

Causes of cockroaches in the apartment

Cockroaches can get into the apartment in two main ways: either they are brought in, or they come by themselves. You can bring in cockroaches with old furniture or things that you took from an apartment where there were mustachios. You can bring them from the store, so purchases should be washed thoroughly. Cockroaches can "come" to pets. But most often the insects come by themselves, especially if you have the right conditions for them.

They usually enter apartments from neighbors who lead a marginal lifestyle, as well as from basements or entrances equipped with a garbage chute. Tenants of high-rise buildings suffer from the invasion of these insects more often. In many ways, the reason is precisely in the garbage chute, and if waste is also taken out intermittently, then this is just a paradise for cockroaches. nine0003

When it starts to get cold, cockroaches move to where it is warmer - to apartments. They especially like kitchens, because it is also humid there, you can find food waste - their main delicacy. If you have a pet - a dog or a cat - cockroaches will register even more willingly, because where a pet is, there is its food, which is easy for a cockroach to find.

Effective ways to get rid of cockroaches in an apartment

There are several ways to get rid of cockroaches in an apartment once and for all, but it is important to understand that the choice of method depends on the size of the problem. In other words, if there are still only a few insects, you can try to deal with them on your own by buying a poisonous gel or a trap. If there is already a whole colony of them, it is better to call specialists, otherwise there is a high risk that you will only temper uninvited guests with purchased insecticides. nine0003

Caulk all the cracks and carry out a general cleaning

Efficiency: average

The Prussians love unsanitary conditions and garbage, so the first step towards getting rid of cockroaches in the apartment once and for all is a general cleaning. This should not be a one-time action, you will have to clean up all the time, you need to be especially careful about food waste. At a minimum, remove food from the tables so that cockroaches cannot feast on it.

But it is not enough to create uncomfortable conditions for them, and cockroaches can live for quite a long time without food. If they make their way to you from the outside, you need to cut off these paths: caulk cracks, hang a ventilation grill, make sure that there are no openings in the bathroom and toilet through which they can come. nine0003

However, not all passages can be covered. If you have an alcoholic neighbor who carries all sorts of junk home, it will not be difficult for cockroaches to come from him through the door or loggia. So, probably, we will have to look for joint ways to solve the problem. Similarly, if cockroaches crawl from the basement or garbage chute. In this case, getting rid of them in the apartment will not work without the help of the management company. According to part 1.1 of Art. 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation of the Criminal Code are required to maintain the common property of the owners of the house in accordance with sanitary and epidemiological standards, which means they must starve out insects in the basement and entrance. nine0003

Boric acid

Efficiency: medium

Boric acid is really poison for cockroaches. This tool can be easily bought at a pharmacy, and it costs less than fifty. Boric acid works well if you get cockroaches to eat it. To do this, you can mix the powder, for example, with bread and leave overnight in open places. The cockroach will feast on it, and then bring poison to its relatives.

Funds from the store

Efficiency: medium

You can find a variety of insect control products in stores, such as traps. The principle of their action is as follows - inside the trap is an appetizing bait for a cockroach. It is poisonous, therefore, by eating it or simply hitting it with its body, the cockroach receives a dose of poison and becomes its source itself. It is assumed that the poisonous Prussian returns to the colony, where it infects everyone and dies itself. This is a good option if there are still few cockroaches.

- If you see a cockroach at home or in an apartment, the best thing you can do is buy special traps / houses for cockroaches on the same day or the next and place them throughout the apartment. Traps are sold in packs of 5, which is enough for a small one-room apartment. If you have a house or a large apartment, take 2-3 packs. Most of the traps are installed in the kitchen, preferably behind the kitchen unit, behind the refrigerator, in the toilet and bathroom next to the riser. In the rest of the rooms - in the corners, behind the furniture (where you see fit), - advises exterminator Dmitry Grachev .

These traps do not have a chemical smell, so they do not cause discomfort. But if there are a lot of cockroaches in the apartment and their ranks are replenished from the outside, it will be difficult to overcome them with traps alone. The same goes for gels.

Exterminators

Efficiency: high

- If you see small individuals along with ordinary cockroaches, then this means that your apartment is already a breeding ground for insects, and the best thing to do is still use the services of professionals - explains exterminator Dmitry Grachev .

One of the most effective methods of getting rid of cockroaches in an apartment in the arsenal of exterminators is a cold fog generator. With its help, toxic substances are sprayed around the room, penetrating into the most inaccessible nooks and crannies. Not a single individual can escape from such a fog.

But this approach also has disadvantages. For processing with cold fog, the owners will have to leave their apartment for a while. Specialists will make it look like a gas chamber for cockroaches. After such treatment, you will have to carry out a number of manipulations - wash surfaces, dishes, wash clothes - everything on which the poisonous fog has settled. nine0003

Aerosol spraying also helps to get rid of cockroaches in the apartment. It acts in a targeted way: they spray baseboards, crevices, hard-to-reach spaces in the bathroom and in the kitchen - only those places where cockroaches can live. This is less effective than fog, but it will also cause less trouble for the owners.

- In any case, the problem of cockroaches must be discussed with neighbors from above, below, on the floor. Because it is the inconsistency among the residents that contributes to the fact that insects, after they have been poisoned, can return to the treated apartment. The residual effect of any drug, no matter how expensive it is, is two months, notes exterminator Dmitry Grachev .

Popular Questions and Answers

How can you tell if there are cockroaches in your apartment?

The surest way is to face one of them. If you see a cockroach in the kitchen, do not panic, try to find out if there are other relatives in the apartment.

To do this, check all the nooks and crannies: look behind the baseboards, in the gaps between furniture and walls, in the bathroom. It’s not a fact that you will be able to find something, because cockroaches are great at hiding and prefer to go out only at night. nine0003

— In addition to a live cockroach, wings or parts of their chitinous cover, for example, on a table in the kitchen, as well as empty or full ootheca or their waste — small black grains, can be a cause for concern, — Irina, director of the cleaning company Chisto, explains Komarova .

What harm do cockroaches cause?

Cockroaches can spoil life in several ways. Firstly, they like to arrange housing for themselves in electrical appliances, where it is warmer, so it is not difficult for them to spoil the equipment. nine0003

- These insects on their paws carry any infection - mold, pathogenic bacteria, and so on. All this can migrate to your table, dishes, food. There is direct harm to health. In addition, cockroaches provoke allergies and even asthma. Many have probably heard that they can crawl into their ears, which is also very unpleasant, Irina Komarova clarifies.

What deters cockroaches?

- Among the folk remedies that are believed to repel cockroaches, we can mention dry herbs (tansy, wormwood), ammonia, vinegar. However, it is important to understand that scaring away is not the same as getting rid of. If the cockroaches in the apartment have already divorced, you cannot expel them with one wormwood, you need to act comprehensively: call exterminators, close all the cracks from where insects can enter the apartment, and start cleaning regularly,” says Irina Komarova.

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