Thank you so much for leaving a comment. It’s always encouraging to get feedback and questions. And, it’s really nice to know that what I’ve written is helpful.

I’m currently in the process of writing an ebook that collects together everything I learned and organizes it into a systematic approach to dealing with roaches that doesn’t involve filling your home with poisons.

The website is http://www.CockroachAssassin.com and there are a couple SPECIAL REPORTS there that I’m giving away to people who sign up for the announcement list.

The bug bombs you mentioned are generally counter productive because the roaches just retreat from the area until the dust settles and then move right back in. Over time they will actually develop immunity to the poison as they reproduce.

The most effective thing you can do is seal off their travel paths so they can’t move through the walls, cut off their food and water sources (water being the most important), and then capture the rest with glue traps and get them out of the house ASAP.

The problem with my ‘cat lady’ is that she has dementia. She doesn’t have any family to care for her, so it is hard to get any social services intervention. It’s a tough situation, but we are working with the city and the building management to help her get the care she needs (which at this stage is probably a nursing home.) If she were my mother, I wouldn’t let her live the way she is.

I wish you the best of luck with your own bug control efforts. Please come back and leave a comment to let me know how things worked out for you.

The Go-To Guy!

My suggestion to you about dealing with the cat lady is to print copies of this blog series and send them to everyone else in the building (maybe making judicious deletions of the parts regarding your neighbor) with a note that, “If you, too, are struggling to get rid of the bugs, here’s what worked for us”. My guess is that your upstairs neighbor is embarrassed by the untidy state of her apartment and/or afraid that someone will force her to get rid of her cats. I’m glad you’re making progress in your own apartment.

Roaches love warmth and moisture - so your paradise is theirs as well.

While you probably can’t seal off your home in the same way I did, it is still important to seal the cracks between walls and cabinets, walls and floors, and round plumbing pipes wherever possible. You want the roaches to have to travel along the outsides of the walls where you can strategically place traps to catch them.

Another thing you can do is dust Diatomaceous earth along the ground on the outside perimeter of your home and underneath it if you have a crawlspace under the house. This will help to kill roaches (and most anything else) trying to get in. Diatomaceous earth clumps together when when wet, which reduces it effectiveness, so you will need to reapply it from time to time.

Finally, make your house inhospitable to roaches. A solution of 1 tablespoon of Tobasco sauce and 1 quart of water sprayed on kitchen surfaces at night will deter the roaches from crawling on them. Cedar in drawers and closets will also repel them. Bay leaves have a similar effect so you can spread them around in likely roach hiding spots.

TimeMist makes a product that mists a bug repellant/killer in short bursts at regular intervals like an air freshener. The mist is made from Pyrethrum which is a harmless (to humans) plant derivative that rapidly breaks down in the air but drives bugs away like crazy. It can be place in kitchens or baths or around any places where you are having significant problems. This is a solution used by many commercial food services and restaurants. The specific product I am referring to is available through the Cockroach Eradication Center Store.

I hope these ideas are helpful as you develop a specific pest management strategy for your home.

The Go-To Guy!

Unless you are planning to get rid of everything you own, there is a good chance that you will end up bringing a few with you. It’s very important that you make your new home as unfriendly to roaches as possible before you move in.

Clean the new house thoroughly before moving anything in. Focus on kitchen, bathrooms, and any places where food is stored or where the air will be humid (laundry rooms, basements, etc.)

Next seal every crack and crevice with silicone caulk. Focus on the insides of cabinets around water pipes and drains, and all of the baseboards and moldings in your house. Use steel wool and expanding foam insulation for filling in larger gaps. This will make it hard for roaches to find places to live and move around the new house.

For the first few weeks in the new place, place glue traps along the baseboards in every room. Any roaches that come in with your belongings will quickly look for a new place to settle in and the traps will catch them before the find a home.

Now, there are a few things you can do to keep roaches in your existing place from hitching a ride.

- Wash and dry all of your clothes and immediately place them into sealed plastic bags before packing in boxes. Run heavy coats and blankets through a hot cycle in the dryer to kill roaches that might be living in them (check the labels to see if they can stand the heat.)
- Roaches don’t like Bay Leaves or Cedar. Get some dried bay leaves from the grocery store or some cedar balls or block from the hardware store. Place them in every box before you seal it up.
- Get rid of old magazines and books. Roaches love the paper and glue.
- Inspect your kitchen appliances before packing. Roaches can live in the motor housings. Replace any that you suspect of infestation.
- Don’t pack the boxes too early. Roaches like boxes and if you leave them laying around they’ll try to get in. Once you get to the new place, unpack boxes quickly and remove the cardboard from the house immediately.

Good luck with your move and I wish you a roach-free transition.

The Go-To Guy!

I’m very sorry to hear about your situation. Dealing with a roach infestation along with small children and pets is extremely challenging (I know first hand about the small child part, anyway.)

There is hope!

First, the cleanliness of your home has little to do with the problem. Roaches can go 6 months without food. They eat paper and glue (like the kind used to bind books) and many other things besides crumbs in the kitchen, so it’s hard to starve them out.

Living in a duplex house means that part of the problem can be your neighbors too.

The first thing you need to do is close up the holes they use to move in and out of your house. This is a tedious job, but you will see dramatic results from doing it. Buy several tubes of clear silicon caulk and a caulk gun from your local home center or hardware store (Walmart should have this too.) You also need to get some plain steel wool and some expanding foam spray (it is commonly used for insulating your home.) Also, look for outlet insulation pads for your electrical outlets and switches. (These are foam pads that go underneath the switch and outlet covers to seal off drafts.)

Go to the pest control area and load up on glue traps. I cleaned out the local drug store twice when I first began dealing with my problem.

When you get all of these supplies, here is what you do. Starting with the kitchen and bathrooms, you need to seal every crack and crevice in the walls and cabinets. Roaches only need a tiny opening to get in and out of your home. If you fill them all in, the roaches can’t get into your house to begin with. So, use the caulk to fill cracks and gaps in all of the moldings around the floor. Use the spray foam to fill in gaps around electrical boxes (remove the covers, seal any cracks around the outside of the boxes and place the insulation pads over the outlet before replacing the covers.)

Spend plenty of time on the spaces under sinks. There are usually large openings around water and drain pipes. Pack large openings with steel wool and then spray in the foam. If your cabinets have backs on them, there is probable a hole cut to allow the pipes to come through. Use the spray foam to fill in the gaps between the backing and the wall.

Caulk and seal every seam on the insides of your cabinets next.

Once the kitchen and baths are done, move on to the other rooms and focus on the floor boards and around windows, air conditioners, etc.

Roaches need water much more than food, so look for leaks when you are under the cabinets and fix any you find.

This is going to be time consuming and tedious, but the results will be dramatic. We notice a dramatic drop in roach activity overnight and this step was the beginning of the end of our problem.

Once you are finished sealing up the cracks, place the glue traps along the walls in the kitchen and bath. Put them against the back splash on the counter top at night until you get the infestation under control. This will help you catch the roaches that are still inside after you cut off their travel paths.

Roaches breed fast, so they can develop immunity to poisons - that’s why the stuff you get at the store loses effectiveness over time. Poisoning alone will not work. The roaches will simple avoid the poisoned areas and return when you stop.

If you and the kids can get out of the house for a few days, you can also set off a couple of bug bombs before you start with the sealing project. If you choose to do this, follow the instructions on the bombs very carefully to protect the kids.

After you finish this first step, put boric acid under the fridge and stove for long term control - only in places the kids and pets can’t reach. Boric acid works slowly, but it very effective and has very low toxicity to humans.

Roaches don’t like moth balls, so you can place one or two behind the stove and in the cabinets under the sinks to deter them from entering. These are toxic, so read the directions and use sparingly.

One last tip. Roaches in the kitchen drove me and my wife nuts. We discovered a home made spray you can make that deters roaches. You mix 2 tablespoons of Tobasco sauce with 1 quart of water and put it into a spray bottle. At night, we mist down the counter tops, the stove, and the area on the floor around the baby’s high chair. This is pepper spray, so it’ll irritate your nose and throat until the mist completely settles out of the air - that’s why we only do it just before we go to sleep (and why I always end up doing the job!)

I hope this helps you deal with your problem. Please write back and let me know how things worked for you.

The Go-To Guy!

I’m glad we didn’t have to do anything as drastic as call the health department. The co-op does have regular pest control service in the building, but residents have to sign up for the bug guy to come into their apartment. Our upstairs neighbor won’t let him in!!!

I hope you get a handle on your infestation.

The Go-To Guy!