4 Tips to Fix Your Roach Problem
Roaches can be a tricky issue to deal with. Not only do they leave you feeling as if your home isn’t a clean and safe environment for you and your family, but they also can be incredibly difficult to get rid of. Unfortunately in almost all cases, if you’ve seen one roach in your home you’ve got several more to deal with. It can be difficult to determine if you have an infestation, as they typically hide during the day and come out at night. However, they will most likely leave behind evidence in the form of their droppings.
How to Fix a Roach Problem
If you’re pretty sure you’ve got a roach infestation on your hands, it’s important to take immediate action to get these nasty critters out of your house.
Here are our top four tips for solving your roach problem:
1) Find the Source
Before you can take out the roaches in your home, you need to figure out what causes roaches. If you spot one, follow it! You may be able to figure out the entry location that way. If you aren’t able do that, check your house for cracks and crevices. Roaches can enter through incredibly small spaces, so seal up any gaps that you find. Sadly, they can also enter through drains and vents, which you obviously won’t be able to seal up. But even if you can’t find their entry point, you will be able to figure out the general vicinity, as they will likely be concentrated in one area. If you can’t cut them off directly at the source, it’s time to move on to the next option, with a focus on the main area where you’re having the problem.
2) Kill Them Off
In order to rid your home of your roach problem, you must kill them – and kill them all. This can be an incredibly hard thing to do, and it takes time and effort. Since these disgusting little pests can live up to a month without food before starving to death, they are resilient creatures. Poisoning them is about the only thing that will truly get the job done. Here are a few of your best options:
- Use Cockroach Spray – When first trying to tackle the problem and do some immediate damage, you can give aerosol sprays a try. The issue with these sprays is that most are contact repellents, meaning you have to actually spray the roach directly to kill them. That’s great for the ones you can actually see, and killing them immediately will certainly make you feel better for the moment. But this won’t help with the ones that you don’t actually see with your own eyes.
- Use Cockroach Bait – Bait is a great way to kill off a large number of roaches. You can use boric acid in a powder form and dust it in the cracks and crevices that you can’t seal up, such as under your sinks and cabinets. You can also use a gel form, which will lure them out and poison them. It’s important not to use these gels near your food prep areas, and to keep children and pets away from them.
- Use Foggers - This is your more intense option. Foggers fill the air with pesticides to kill off a mass number of roaches. You can’t be home when you release the fogger, and it might not be the best option if you have kids and pets at home. However, it will get the job done.
3) Prevent a Future Infestation
Once you get rid of the problem at hand, it’s important to protect your home against future infestations. You should take every precaution inside and outside your home to ensure that roaches aren’t able to get in, and if they do, that the environment they find is not one in which they will thrive.
Aside from sealing up any cracks and gaps that you find from the outside of your home in, you should also make sure you have screens on your windows and doors. Keep shrubbery and bushes cut back from your home, and all dead vegetation should be removed.
On the inside, keep your home as clean and crumb-free as possible. Keep your pets food and water bowls put away other than at mealtime, as this is a big draw for roaches. Keep your trashcans clean and emptied regularly. Keep your food stored in glass, metal, or plastic airtight containers. Clean and put away dishes immediately after eating, and never leave dirty dishes in the sink. Keep baseboards cleaned and make sure crumbs aren’t gathering under cabinets. Food and water are the main attraction in your home for roaches, so it’s absolutely vital that you stay on top of things if you want to make sure the problem doesn’t immediately return.
4) Call the Professionals
After you’ve done all that you can on your own to treat and prevent your roach infestation, it’s time to enlist the help of professionals. Pest control professionals are able to user stronger chemicals than you can get at your local store, so if you haven’t been able to completely tackle the issue on your own they will be able to knock out the remaining stragglers. A professional also will know how to ensure the safety of your family and pets, which is incredibly important when dealing with such strong chemicals.