Roaches. Insidious little beings that can survive the apocalypse. Seriously, they can. As you can see here, they outlived dinosaurs.
There is nothing that makes a person dislike their own home, more than cockroaches do. They come out at night and roam the place, looking for food. There are many people struggling with them, who find themselves scared to go to the toilet in the middle of the night.
Is your hair standing up, while you remember your night time encounters with these vile villains?
Well, then let’s see what you can do about it, because millions of years of evolution, and a few hundred years of industrial revolution, gave us the upper hand and we can reclaim our roaches free space.
How to get rid of roaches in an apartment
Before starting this adventure you need to obtain the answer to a few questions.
- Where are the roaches coming from?
- What are they eating in my apartment?
- Am I the only one in this apartment building with this problem?
- How much am I willing to invest?
The answer to these questions will lead you to the solution you need. So, let’s explore them a bit.
Where are the roaches coming from?
If you just moved in your apartment and the roaches were already there, they were there first and you need to move.
Just kidding. If this is the case, you will have to assume that the infestation is pretty big, and you will need to work a bit more to get rid of them.
Usually, roaches roam buildings, and most apartments in your building will have the same problem. So, your unwelcome guests may have colonies in the basement and sometimes even in the walls.
They enter homes through pipes, drains, and holes in the walls. Some of them just use the window or the front door just like a burglar would.
The difference between a burglar and a cockroach is that the burglar doesn’t usually reproduce in their victims’ homes. Roaches do and that is another way in which they were already there.
Roaches eggs can survive unhatched for a very long time, so when trying to get rid of them, you must also destroy the eggs.
You will need to identify the entry points and learn if they have a nest in your home.
What are they eating in my apartment?
Cockroaches are very resourceful when it comes to food. They can get into cupboards, drawers, bags of food and they feed on the smallest things.
For this step you must learn if there are places where they obtain more food, if you have breadcrumbs or other food items that get in cracks on the floor or other hidden places.
Liquid food that is spilled in a hidden place is a source of food too, so you need to identify all loose calories in your home.
Another food source that they absolutely love is pet food. The little kibble that a cat leaves could feed a cockroach family for a month.
Am I the only one in this apartment building with this problem?
It rarely (never) happens that just one apartment in an apartment building has an infestation.
Roaches are like plague, they spread all over the place and those who don’t think that they have a problem, are most likely in denial.
You should take the cockroaches problem to the building administrator, and all the neighbors should be involved. It takes a mutual effort to eradicate them.
How much am I willing to invest?
The simplest and most effective way to get rid of cockroaches in an apartment is to hire someone to do it for you.
You should start by deep cleaning your house, or pay someone to do that too, and then have a professional come and complete a disinsection.
All your neighbors should do the same, and the basement and attic need to be addressed too.
However, there are cheaper ways to get rid of cockroaches in the apartment and we are going to show you how to do it, step by step.
Step 1 – Clean
No matter what you do, you must make sure that you clean the apartment like a pro. This means that you need to move your furniture and clean behind and underneath it.
Also, you should know that roaches love the oven, so under the oven you may find a lot of their eggs. The same is true about other appliances, especially those in your kitchen.
Empty all cupboards and drawers, and throw away any opened food bags, like flour, rice, sugar and cereal. Clean and disinfect everything and place pet food in containers that have a sealing lid.
Step 2 – Water
Roaches need water to survive. They will live a long life without food, but they will dry out in a couple of days if they have no water.
Check if all your plumbing is in order, and make sure that you leave your home, including your bathtub and sink, dry.
Step 3 – Go for the kill
There is no way around it. You need to kill them, and kill them all. The more you throw at them, the more chances you will have of them not returning.
If you show any mercy, meaning that you will not completely destroy every single cockroach or egg, they will come back.
What to use to kill the cockroaches in your apartment?
You can use one or more of these techniques, but we recommend that you use all of them, as long as they are safe for your household.
Insecticides
There are many spray cans on the market, choose one that is active for the type of roaches that invade your home.
Spray directly on the roaches and their eggs and also spray entry points like drains and where the pipes enter your apartment.
Do not use them when you have pets. They could become intoxicated and that could be a very serious health threat.
Baits
These come in multiple forms, but gel baits seem to work best.
Placing a drop of gel in places that are difficult to access by children or pets, but that are loved by roaches, will cause the bugs to take home the poison and destroy their nests.
Place a bit of bait behind and underneath the refrigerator, the oven, the dishwasher and in other places that you think roaches may congregate.
There are some homemade baits that sometimes work.
One recipe involves mixing one part flour, a bit of sugar and one part boric acid. The bugs will come for the flour and sugar, and they will bring home the boric acid which is poisonous for them.
Professional Pest Control
This is the most expensive option, but in the long term using them and some gel baits might be the best solution.
Remember to always keep your apartment clean of anything that might be considered food by a cockroach.
We know that you always do that, but you don’t think like a roach. For example, a roach thinks that a bar of soap is food, so you might want to switch to liquid soap.
The fight against apartment cockroaches is real, and it has gone on since the beginning of time, and we are happy to tell you that it can be won.
