The mere mention of any cockroach is enough to make your skin crawl.
Unfortunately, they are prevalent pests that can be challenging to eliminate. If you find cockroaches in your business, home, or apartment in kitchen cabinets, attic, or bathroom areas, you must stop them as soon as possible.
Imperial Pest Prevention assists households in Florida, from Flagler County, Volusia County, Seminole County, and St. Johns County, in eliminating pests. Our staff provides skilled cockroach extermination services to assist you in reclaiming your area and returning to normalcy.
In this blog post, we'll discuss the quickest and most effective ways to permanently remove roaches and all you need to know about your options.
Let's dive in.
How to eliminate roaches in the home
What Kind of Cockroaches Do I Have?
There are more than 4,500 species of roaches around the globe, but only around 69 of them exist in the United States.
Even though most roach species have no desire to invade houses, there is a handful that will gladly set up business in yours.
Here is a summary of the indoor roaches you are most likely to encounter:
The German Cockroach
The German species cockroach is one of the most prevalent species in the United States alone. Due to their rapid reproduction (each egg case can produce 20-40 offspring), a single female cockroach in your home could have an infestation of more than 40,000 individuals in a single year alone.
Unlike other cockroach species, the female German cockroach carries her egg pouches until they are ready to hatch.
This implies that infestations are easy to spread and difficult to contain.
All cockroaches have large, flat bodies with long antennae and rear legs. Their wings are folded flat on their backs, most of which are either black or brown.
However, the German cockroach is often light-brown with two parallel dark stripes from the head to the wings.
Cockroaches with a brown band
Brown-banded roaches prefer warm, dry environments, frequently discovered within walls or electronic devices such as televisions and refrigerators.
This flying cockroach abhors water and avoids living in moist or damp environments.
They are approximately 0.5 inches long and often dark brown. Males and females have wings and abdomens with pale yellow bands.
The American Roach
Although the American cockroach is not the most frequent roach species in the United States, it is the largest.
American Cockroaches also have one of the most extended lifespans, approximately two years.
These roaches are called "sewer roaches" or "palmetto bugs." They range from 1 to 3 inches and are typically brown or reddish-brown with pale yellow margins.
What draws roaches to my residence?
You do not want any roaches in your home.
Besides giving you the creeps, roaches can cause allergies, transmit disease, and create an unclean living environment.
Fortunately, the first step in eliminating roaches is determining what initially attracts them to your house.
Here are some of the most prevalent offenders:
1. Food supplies
Cockroaches are omnivores, which means they will consume everything. They favor carbs, sweets, fatty foods, and meats in particular.
They are attracted to easy food supplies, like soiled dishes in the sink, pet food on the floor, and crumbs on the counter.
Also, roaches love rubbish, so take out the trash frequently and keep any garbage cans well covered.
2. Shelter
Cockroaches seek sanctuary in human dwellings.
Depending on the species, roaches may reside behind picture frames, in hollowed-out wood, in damp areas such as the sink, the toilet, or at the rear of your electronic devices.
As the outdoor temperature drops, roaches will move indoors.
Under large appliances, in the corners of basements, the attic, and in corners of basements are ideal places for them to live.
3. Location
If you're asking yourself, "Why do I have roaches in my clean home?
"We understand.
Solving a roach problem can be difficult, particularly if you've avoided popular attractants.
Unfortunately, some settings are more roach-friendly than others.
Species such as the American cockroach do not require filthy conditions to grow; they can enter your home through a broken window seal or an open door and begin to establish themselves.
4. Water
Cockroaches require water to survive and will enter even the cleanest homes to obtain it.
Leaky pipes, faucets, open showers, and pet water bowls are common insect attractants.
5. Landscaping
Roaches prefer to dwell indoors, but they will infiltrate your yard in quest of food, shelter, and water.
Water left in birdbaths, gutters, and flowerpots may attract roaches, as will bird seed and fruit plants.
How Roaches Get Inside Your House
The presence of food, drink, and shelter attracts roaches to your home, but how do they enter? The most common entry point for insects is through microscopic cracks and openings in windows, doors, and other locations.
Here are some of their preferred entry points:
1. Windows and doors with fissures and gaps
Cracks and cracks in your home's doors and windows are roaches' most common entry points. Doors that are not securely sealed and windows that do not close are ideal entry locations for cockroaches.
2. Holes in Vents and Pipes
In addition to pipes and vents, roaches frequently enter homes through holes in pipes and ducts. You're inviting insects inside if you live in an older home with vents that aren't adequately sealed or have gaps.
Check your vents as you replace or service them, and keep an eye out for holes or other potential roach entry points in your pipes and plumbing fittings.
3. Utilizing Furniture and Other Items to Travel
Check for cockroaches before bringing used furniture or other objects into the home. These insects can burrow and conceal themselves in used goods before emerging inside your home.
How to Naturally Eliminate Cockroaches: Six Home Remedies
Natural solutions for cockroach control
you're lucky if you want to get rid of roaches without using chemicals such as bombs, foggers, or sprays. Several excellent home treatments will drive these pests away, and many of them are safe for children and dogs.
Here are a few we suggest:
1. The mineral Diatomaceous Earth
DE, or diatomaceous earth, is an excellent natural pesticide. DE's particles are sharp and dehydrating; they are composed of crushed, fossilized algae. When roaches come into touch with DE, their exoskeletons are damaged, and they die from dehydration.
Purchase food-grade DE and apply a little layer to all surfaces where roach activity has been seen.
Practical, inexpensive, and safe for children and animals
Cons: Messy, must be reapplied, must locate and dispose of dead roaches after each DE application.
2. Baking Soda as an insecticide
Baking soda is one of the fastest and easiest ways to eliminate roaches; you probably already have it in your cupboard. To make homemade roach bait, dice some onions and sprinkle them with baking soda.
Place this snack in a shallow dish wherever roach activity has been observed. When roaches swallow baking soda, their stomachs are filled with gas, causing them to burst.
Effective, non-toxic, and inexpensive
Cons: Pets may ingest the onion mixture (onions are harmful to canines), it's untidy, and dead roaches must be located and disposed of.
3. Boric Acid
Boric acid is a chemical that occurs naturally. It is a mixture of water and boron found in plants and fruits.
And while it is harmless to humans and animals, it is lethal to roaches. When cockroaches are exposed to boric acid, the acid adheres to their legs and wings. Bugs eating the powder affects their nervous and digestive systems, quickly killing them.
Spread a little coating of boric acid on a paper plate to eliminate cockroaches. Place an orange peel or a dollop of peanut butter in the center of the dish and place it anywhere you have observed roach activity.
Pros: Effective, inexpensive, natural, non-toxic, and simple
Cons: Can be messy, necessitates multiple applications or treatments, may not be suitable for households with pets or young children, and necessitates tracking down and disposing of dead roaches.
4. Borax
Borax is an easily accessible laundry detergent that is effective for roach control. Combining equal amounts of borax and white table sugar for optimal results works best. Dust the mixture wherever you have observed cockroach activity. When roaches swallow borax, they will swiftly become dehydrated and die.
Practical, inexpensive, and kills both adult and juvenile roaches.
Cons: Can be messy, requires reapplication, necessitates locating and removing dead roaches.
5. Citrus
Citrus is a delightful treat for humans, but cockroaches find it repellant. The smell of lemons, in particular, repels roaches. A few drops of lemon oil should be added to the mopping water. Humans will not notice the odor, but it will drive insects away.
Practical, inexpensive, and suitable for homes with children and pets
Negatives: It does not kill roaches; it merely repels them.
6. Essential Oils
Essential oils are a fantastic natural roach repellant. Purchase peppermint or lemongrass essential oil and dilute it with water for optimal results. Spray the mixture wherever you have observed cockroaches.
Pros: efficient, inexpensive, harmless to children and animals, non-toxic
Does not kill cockroaches.
How to Get Rid of Cockroaches Indoors: Five Traditional Methods
strips of glue for cockroaches
Looking for more convenient solutions to your cockroach infestation? Here are some of the quickest methods for eliminating roaches:
1. Utilize Glue Traps to Determine Problematic Areas
Glue traps are an excellent method for locating and eliminating roach infestations.
The trap's odor attracts roaches, and the glue catches them once they step on the sticky strip.
For optimal results, insert adhesive strips purchased from a store wherever you have observed roach activity, such as behind the refrigerator or under the sink.
Positives: Effective, safe for children and animals (as long as the strips are concealed), and quick-acting.
Cons: You must check the strips every few days or weeks and replace them when they become full of dead roaches.
2. Set Bait Stations
What kills cockroaches very immediately? Bait stations. These bait stations typically come in the form of a long tube and can be placed wherever you have observed roach activity.
The Bait's odor attracts roaches, which subsequently consume the poison. When the roach returns to its home and dies, the other roaches will consume it, spreading the poison throughout the colony.
Effective and quick-acting
Cons: Bait stations can be harmful to children and pets, will leave dead roaches around the property, and dead roaches may be devoured by non-target species such as birds and other animals, thereby poisoning them as well.
3. Caulk all points of entry.
If new roaches continually enter your home, glue strips and bait stations will be of little use in eliminating the pests. Consequently, use caulk to fill gaps and potential entry locations. Pay particular attention to spaces between walls or tiles, weather stripping that has worn out, and gaps in door and window seals.
Pros: Effective, secure, and economical
Caulk degrades over time; therefore, you must periodically inspect and recheck entry locations.
4. Use a Liquid Concentrate
Purchase a liquid roach deterrent concentration at your local home improvement store. This concentrated liquid is intended to be diluted and sprayed into roach hiding spots.
If you need a more comprehensive pest control solution, you can add a bit of the pest control concentrate to a mop bucket and mop your floors with the pest control solution. This option will deter cockroaches overnight and keep them from coming back.
Effective, quick-acting, and reasonably priced.
Cons: It contains toxic ingredients that can be harmful and not ideal for homes with kids and pets.
5. Hire a Pest Management Professional
For optimal results, hire a professional roach management firm such as Imperial Pest Prevention to eradicate the infestation permanently.
Professional pest control teams know how to locate and eradicate cockroach infestations safely and effectively while minimizing putting your kids, pets, or household at risk.
Positives: It is effective, safe, and durable, and it may eliminate roach infestations both inside and outside the home.
It requires a bigger initial expenditure than do-it-yourself alternatives.
Avoid Roach Bombs Whenever Possible as they typically are not safe.
When first learning how to get rid of cockroaches without an exterminator, some people turn to roach bombs.
Cockroach bombs, often known as "foggers," release a pesticide into the air via fog.
When the insecticide falls to the ground, it will coat indoor surfaces and kills target insects. Most cockroach bombs are designed to be strategically placed in the center of the target room and activated to disperse the pesticide.
Unfortunately, cockroach bombs/foggers are extremely toxic, and we recommend against using them for safety reasons. There are much safer and more cost-effective ways to eliminate your cockroach infestations.
Pros: Fast-acting insecticides
Cons: Toxic, can be flammable, most effective only for flying roaches, not the most suitable for homes with pets or young children. Pesticide bombs require you to vacate your home while the cockroach bomb is released.
How to Get Rid of Cockroaches Outside Your House
To prevent cockroaches in your house, you must start by limiting the number of cockroach population numbers outside of your home or business.
Here's how to eliminate cockroach populations outdoors:
1. Clean Up the exterior of your home
Remember: cockroaches need three things to survive – food, moisture, and shelter. While you can't eliminate all of these things in the outdoor environment, you can make your home landscaping less welcoming for cockroaches.
Here are a few tips for any cockroach removal:
Remove piles of wood, leaf piles, stagnant water, and underbrush that have overgrown.
Secure lids to all outdoor trash receptacles
Trim all foundation plantings back away from touching the house
Eliminate water sources by emptying standing moisture and water in pots, birdbaths, and landscape
Pros: Effective, cost affordable, makes your landscaping look beautiful.
Cons: It does not kill or get rid of roaches – it only makes your landscaping less appealing to them
2. Use Sticky Traps
Sticky traps aren't only for indoor use; you can also place them outdoors. Apply sticky traps down any place you see roaches entering your homes, such as cracks around doors, windows, or foundations.
If you're unsure where the cockroaches are coming from, apply the monitoring traps down in a few traffic locations and check the monitoring traps daily to identify high-traffic routes and populations.
Pros: Effective way to identify cockroach routes and activity
Cons: Traps are unsightly and can be time-consuming
3. Place Bait
To reduce the number of roaches entering your home, kill them before they arrive with Bait.
Since roaches prefer to keep the top or side of their bodies rubbed against something as they walk, the most effective placement for your bait stations is near outbuildings, ledges, corners, or the foundation of your home.
They are effective, rapid-acting, long-term remedies.
Toxic substances can be hazardous to children, pets, and other animals.
4. Spray Pesticide
One of the most efficient ways to eliminate roaches is to spray a pesticide around the yard and home's perimeter. These sprays are long-lasting (many are effective for at least three months) and kill roaches on contact.
Effective and long-lasting
Toxic substances can be hazardous to children, pets, and other animals.
How do Pest Control Experts Eliminate Cockroaches?
What can you anticipate if you employ a professional exterminator to eliminate roaches?
Here is how the Imperial Pest Prevention crew does it:
First, the Inspection
Our cockroach exterminators will visit your home to assess the issue. We will search for entry points where roaches are entering your home, as well as potential food and water sources.
In addition, we'll determine the species of cockroach you're dealing with and develop a control strategy.
Step 2: Initial Therapy
We will build a treatment plan for your residence based on the information collected from our initial examination. Due to the difficulty of eradicating cockroaches, we employ a two-step method to eliminate them.
Depending on the degree of your infestation, our initial treatment may involve baiting, monitoring, capturing, or spraying the cockroaches, as well as offering education, cleaning, and sanitizing services or insect growth regulators.
During this step, we will install cockroach activity monitors.
The third step is the follow-up visit.
Once the initial treatment has been administered, we will check our monitors and deploy more treatments as necessary. As rapidly as possible, the infection will be eradicated completely.
How can I prevent roaches from entering my home?
suggestions on preventing infestations
A precautionary ounce is worth a pound of cure. These simple tips will prevent roaches from ever entering your home.
1. Clean the Residence
Remove any potential roach attractants as a first step.
Any homemade roach killer you use will be more effective if you first make your home as uninviting as possible.
Here are some tasks to cross off the list:
Immediately after usage, clean and store all soiled dishes.
Remove any crumbs and spills immediately.
Empty standing water sources, especially pet bowls.
Take out the trash every day, especially before bedtime.
Regularly sweep and mop the floors, including underneath and around major appliances.
Do not leave any pet food out for extended periods of time.
Be Serious About Food Storage If you want to keep roaches out of your home, it is essential to eliminate their food sources. One of the most effective pest control treatment methods is to keep food in sealed plastic or glass containers when storing it.
Avoid leaving any fruits or vegetables on the counter and store perishable items in the refrigerator.
3. Clean Kitchen Equipment
Keep in mind that roaches love fat and oil, and your kitchen is an excellent area to find them. Clean the stoves, dishwasher, and other cooking appliances accordingly.
Pay particular attention to the drip pans beneath the stove burners, the backsplash, and the garbage disposal.
Also, ensure that you clean countertops and tables each night after cooking. Add a few small drops of lemon oil to your solution of cleaning water to increase its protective qualities. The citrus odor will prevent cockroaches from returning.
4. Dispose of the newspapers and cardboard containers.
Newspaper and cardboard boxes are favored by cockroaches as good breeding and nesting material. Recycle or discard old newspapers and cardboard boxes as soon as possible to prevent pest infestations.
5. Seal all cracks and entryways.
Roaches can fit through the tiniest openings and crevices. Seal fractures in the home's foundation and install a door sweep to fill gaps under doors to prevent pests from entering.
Check for gaps around windows and holes used for gas, plumbing, electrical, and crawl space ventilation. Use caulk or sprayable foam to plug these cracks and prevent cockroaches from entering your home.
6. Repair Leaks Immediately
Fix any plumbing leaks in your home as soon as possible. Even a minute pipe trickle is sufficient to supply roaches with the necessary moisture to survive.
In addition to repairing leaks, routinely inspect sinks, refrigerators, appliances, and faucets to ensure they are not leaking or producing too much moisture.
If you suspect a cockroach or other insect problem, it is best to hire the services of a professional pest control company who is licensed and insured. If you reside in the Daytona Beach, Fl. greater areas, contact us, we can help.