# I disagree with "Roachless houses simply don’t exist." **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2024, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316 "2024-10-27T21:45:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2024, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/81 "2024-10-28T14:18:45Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > one flea infestation that really sucked balls. Possibly literally - - ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2024, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/82 "2024-10-28T15:00:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I did once see an ugly roach-like bug in a previous house some years ago and was so upset that I captured it and took it to a pesticide expert. He declared it to be a strawberry root weevil, and it was the only one I ever saw. Suburban Detroit here. During the warmer months, we get a few strawberry root weevils every week. Small and slow-moving. totally harmless, and if it’s not terribly inconvenient, I’ll just toss them back outside. We’ve been in our current house for nearly 20 years, and never saw a roach until a few years ago. It was a big fuckin’ one, and we’re pretty sure it hitched a ride on a Costco delivery. If it didn’t actually come from Costco, then it probably came from the delivery guy’s car. Yikes. More recently we got a couple of roaches upstairs, nowhere near the kitchen. I finally realized a bathtub drain trap had dried out; I refilled it and have since been more vigilant about keeping unused and rarely-used drains properly filled, and we haven’t seen any more roaches. I think I’ve seen one house centipede in our basement. I’m glad that was the only one; they are nasty-lookin’. We had a couple of problematic ant infestations in recent years, but I’ve been more vigilant about laying down a poison-bait perimeter around the house on a regular basis, and now they’re very rare. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2024, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/83 "2024-10-28T16:00:27Z")
We have spiders, and mice. No roaches though. Been here for 32 years. We don’t have roaches. Never seen a single one. We are pretty remote. Was funny. About a month ago, one of our dogs (65 lbs) laying on the floor just chilling. A little spider started coming towards him. His eyes got big, he got himself into a sitting position, and then standed up and left. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2024, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/84 "2024-10-28T16:18:46Z")
Semi-rural western Washington. We gots no cock-a-roaches. No mice or rats, either, but it wouldn’t be unheard of. We’ve got spiders, stinkbugs, ants, yellowjackets. The latter two are the only ones I’ve paid an exterminator for. There’s also a gopher/mole/vole wrecking our lawn, big whoop compared to rodents inside the house (which I’ve lived with). Growing up near Portland, OR, the only real pest was carpenter ants, but they were ubiquitous. There were roaches galore when I lived in Silicon Valley. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2024, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/85 "2024-10-28T17:29:27Z")
Bay Area. Have never seen a roach in 28 years in the house, and I’m from New York so I know my roaches pretty well. Plenty of spiders, and ants come in once or twice a year. No mice. We do have possums, raccoons and skunks who traverse our yard, but they’ve never gotten in. We just had people in our crawl space to do brace and bolt for earthquakes, and they reported no guests. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/86 "2024-10-28T19:58:40Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Here’s Cecil’s advice from 1983: The cocoa and flour are unnecessary. Boric acid is better than borax. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/87 "2024-10-28T21:55:45Z")
I once visited Macao. As I walked up a narrow cobbled street, suddenly many hundreds of cockroaches came up from a grating and ran up the street, covering almost the entire width of the street, skittering around the feet of pedestrians and people who were seated at outside tables. Within seconds they had all dispersed and there were no more to be seen. I grew up in a whole country without cockroaches, so I never developed a disgust or horror of them. My wife grew up in Japan, where cockroaches are a common pest, and has a horror of them. She was quite affected by that experience in Macao. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2024, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/88 "2024-10-29T01:50:53Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > As I walked up a narrow cobbled street, suddenly many hundreds of cockroaches came up from a grating and ran up the street, covering almost the entire width of the street, skittering around the feet of pedestrians and people who were seated at outside tables. Within seconds they had all dispersed and there were no more to be seen. Horror movie stuff. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2024, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/89 "2024-10-29T03:52:43Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > I once visited Macao. As I walked up a narrow cobbled street, suddenly many hundreds of cockroaches came up from a grating and ran up the street, covering almost the entire width of the street, skittering around the feet of pedestrians and people who were seated at outside tables. Within seconds they had all dispersed and there were no more to be seen. Had Hemingway visited Macao, instead of Pamplona, he would have written about The Running of the Roaches. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/90 "2024-10-29T17:57:42Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@hibernicus](#): > > > > As I walked up a narrow cobbled street, suddenly many hundreds of cockroaches came up from a grating and ran up the street, covering almost the entire width of the street, skittering around the feet of pedestrians and people who were seated at outside tables. Within seconds they had all dispersed and there were no more to be seen. > > Horror movie stuff. Yep. _Creepshow_’s final segment, in particular. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepshow#“They’re\_Creeping\_Up\_on\_You!”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creepshow#%22They're_Creeping_Up_on_You!%22) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/91 "2024-10-31T09:39:08Z")
I lived in Taiwan for 10 years. It doesn’t matter what you do, the country is infested with them and no matter how hard you try to keep your place clean, they just poor in from everywhere. Here in Hokkaido, the winters keep them under control. I’ve never seen any since we moved here a year and a half ago. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/92 "2024-10-31T10:08:01Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Plenty of spiders, and ants come in once or twice a year. No mice. We do have possums, raccoons and skunks who traverse our yard, but they’ve never gotten in. We just had people in our crawl space … Infestations of people are the worst! I hope you used the humane trap-and-release method. Remember, the people you consider an infestation in your crawlspace can become great scientists and musicians when released into their natural habitat! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/93 "2024-10-31T17:00:25Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Infestations of people are the worst! I hope you used the humane trap-and-release method. Remember, the people you consider an infestation in your crawlspace can become great scientists and musicians when released into their natural habitat! Thread winner! **🏆** ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/94 "2024-10-31T17:24:40Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > For those of you who used to have roaches, but no longer have them could you share your extermination techniques? I moved. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2024, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/95 "2024-10-31T18:02:02Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > as well house centipedes and silverfish. These are mine. I’m tolerant of the centipedes (gnarly-looking as they are), because they eat the silverfish. I’m another ages ago transplantee from NYC to the SF Bay Area and I haven’t seen a roach in a home since I moved here, but I have seen them in a couple of restaurants. When my now fairly ancient cat (pushing 19 years) bites the dust, I’ll replace my carpets and might try nuking the silverfish or at least more aggressively go after them with poison baits. But for the nonce they’re a pretty minor annoyance and not an every day or even every week sighting. ---
**Author:** ![Jaguars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaguars/32/5879_2.png) [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/96 "2024-11-07T23:14:45Z")
We moved into a new flat. My flatmate came down to the kitchen the first night to find dozens of roaches wandering the floor. After some panicking, wailing and gnashing of teeth, we decided that we’d make a go of it, so I did a bit of research into extermination and got started. In doing so, I learned a disturbing amount about administering a successful genocide, chiefly that the key to effectiveness is using many different techniques, and that you can knock out the population pretty quick but the survivors will stick around for a long time. We took off the doors and shelves off of the cupboards to deny them shelter, sealed the joins of the units to deny them mobility, left the lights on overnight to deny them dark places, and left the dishwasher in the garage after wrapping it in plastic and bug bombing it. Food and cutlery was kept in sealed boxes. We put bait station in the corners, drano down the sink, and lines of borax around the edges of the tiles. The kitchen got a deep clean every week. We used sticky traps and late night patrols to gauge where they were and focus our efforts. This went on for about two months, by which time we had a pretty good idea where they were (mainly near where the dishwasher had been, with some around the downstairs bathroom.) As time went on we were able to restore normality slowly, putting in a few drawers etc in areas that had shown no activity for a decent length of time. By the time we moved out seven years later we probably saw one once every two months and they were generally small, so we considered that a victory. This is in contrast with the childhood home, which I lived in for 22 years and never saw one. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/97 "2024-11-07T23:54:10Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Infestations of people are the worst! I hope you used the humane trap-and-release method. Remember, the people you consider an infestation in your crawlspace can become great scientists and musicians when released into their natural habitat! 😉 I don’t know about that. Give them some piecework to do, and they can be very profitable for you. Just make sure the space is soundproofed adequately. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/98 "2024-11-10T14:51:37Z")
No roach sightings here yet. There are periodic invasions of tiny ants in the kitchen, for which strict hygiene is relatively effective (ant traps are next to useless). Snakes getting into the house and/or garage - now there’s something we (and ESPECIALLY) Mrs. J. can do without. All have been non-venomous so far, mostly of the snakus garterianus type, but I do not enjoy transporting or hurling them to new locations (nor do they favor the experience). ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/99 "2024-11-10T15:05:51Z")
House invaders that have been sighted. It’s been years but until we reroofed we’d get a bat usually warmer months and Once in middle of a very cold winter but we had to make sure it went out the open window. Sorry bat. Also every spring an occasional bee, wasp, earwig, centipede, mouse , vole, roly pollie. In teams of three or more ladybugs, black ants, spiders. Black ants require defensive tactics. They’d stealthily invade my baking cupboard going for sugar and honey. Now I store that stuff in containers. Never roaches or silver fish here. I’ll never forget when I lived in SFLA spending the night at a friends house for their birthday party. The sheet cake was left on the kitchen counter after we went to bed. Midnight snacking called us to the kitchen when we flipped on the lights… pandemonium shrieking, hordes of German roaches everywhere. I couldn’t wait to go home. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316/100 "2024-11-10T21:29:43Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > There are periodic invasions of tiny ants in the kitchen, for which strict hygiene is relatively effective (ant traps are next to useless). I spray them down with cleaning vinegar, mop them up, then put boric acid where they are coming in. Works a charm, and not deadly to pets or kids. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-disagree-with-roachless-houses-simply-don-t-exist/1009316.md?page=4)