This morning I saw 3 huge cockroaches, one by the kitchen sink, a dead one by the bathtub drain, and yet another in the bathroom sink.
What on earth is going on? Did they just all decide to get into my apartment though the drain system last night? My apartment won’t win a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, but it is far from a pig sty.
I put stoppers in all the drains to hopefully prevent any more from getting into the apartment.
What should I do about this? I don’t want to go scream at the landlord until I understand what caused this overnight surge in roaches.
Weather wise, it has been hot and dry over the past couple of weeks. I’m guessing the roaches were after the water since they were all right in a drain.
Aw, people who aren’t from the South are really cute when they see a roach.
Aside from getting a cat (very useful for the big ones) the classic combination of boric acid and roach traps really does work, although if you have a heavy infestation it might take a little while - couple weeks, and that was with a sudden huge influx of the little awful ones that are hard to get rid of.
As you’re in an apartment, are you sure your neighbors didn’t just spray or something? When I was a kid and we lived in a condo we’d trade them back and forth with the neighbors.
The BEST way? Move. And disinfect every single item you own.
Contact the landlord, and tell him that you have been invaded by roaches from your neighboring, renovated apartments. Chances are the landlord has a contract for an extermination service, and will just schedule your place next.
The little stinkers love the drains. They also can get into just about ANYTHING, so keep all foodstuffs sealed up and put away.
I’ll second the boric acid. Wonderful stuff for undermining roaches. Put it along baseboards, behind furniture and large appliances, and anywhere pipes enter the house, if you can get to them.
If you have kids and/or pets, make sure you’re putting the powder where they can’t reach it.
On an aside, the large roaches tend to fly at you if they feel threatened.
Yes, and they will often get under your shirt causing all sorts of uncontrolled flailing. Luckily, the large ones don’t generally live indoors.
Boric acid is the way to go. I usually see about one a month, but I have gone as long as six months without seeing one. The ones I do see are pretty slow.
I don’t think boric acid is dangerous to anything without an exoskeleton - am I not right? Because that’s why I got rid of my quarterly bug guy - didn’t trust him with the cats.
Wait, that was wrong. I didn’t trust his chemicals with the cats. I’m sure he is a young man of upstanding character.
Wait, that was wrong. When I said “upstanding” I meant that he was… oh, forget it.
I’m skeptical of roaches entering the house through drains. It is much more likely they entering elsewhere but hanging out around the drains as a source of water.
Be sure to check the weather stripping on all doors and windows. Roaches can squeeze through surprisingly small cracks. Also check any places where water pipes or electrical conduits pass through the wall.
Like most household vermin, roaches like to hug the walls and they like narrow spaces. Place your traps/poison accordingly.
Roach hunting tip: If a roach hides from you while you’re trying to squash it, you can flush it out by banging on or around its hiding place. They will flee rather than hunker down if you shake their hiding spot.