People dislike roaches, and with a justifiable reason. The undesirable pest feeds and contaminates anything and everything they touch, spreading diseases and causing allergies. This is a homeowner’s nightmare. When people find roaches crawling all over their apartment, they quickly head out with their credit cards to the nearest supermarket to grab spray, gel, powders, and traps they can find.
Dealing with roaches can be exhausting. Even if your home is clean, roaches can still invade your home if you have dirty neighbors. The battle to keep them off is never-ending. Unless you take the right steps to ward them off, they will keep multiplying even if you use all sorts of insecticide.
Read: 13 Effective Ways to Keep Spiders Away From the Balcony
7 Effective Ways to Get Rid of Cockroaches
After research, I have carefully selected the most effective way to get rid of roaches from the neighbors and make your home unlivable for them.
1. Be Selective With Your Neighbors
If your neighbor’s apartments are filthy, their pest problems may become yours. Pest infection is an unpleasant experience for every homeowner, but it is made worse when the source isn’t directly from you.
If you have a neighbor who doesn’t take out the trash often or leave dishes in the sink for too long, then you are likely not safe from roaches, as they can find their way into your home.
If your neighbor’s place is cockroach heaven, this can put you in a tight spot. You must survey the surroundings before you sign that deal with your realtor. You can call an exterminator to clean your apartment or have a discussion with your property manager. If the situation continues, try having a conversation with your neighbors to tackle the issue.
2. Catch and Kill Cockroaches
Use traps like sticky traps and glue traps to catch and kill roaches after you have blocked all their entry points and route of escape. When doing this, you need to be careful because roaches can bite. Many roach traps may contain toxins that are harmful to children or pets, like victor insect traps. Others, like sticky traps, are non-toxic and less harmful.
Put out roach baits like MaxForce. Roaches carry the bait (slow-acting neurotoxin) back to share with other roaches. The poison used in MaxForce is non-toxic to humans but can be harmful to fishes and bees, so avoid using this roach killer product near aquariums.
3. Find Their Hiding Places and Kill
Roaches enter the home through cracks in the wall’s hole, on the floor, and under the door. Once you have discovered their hiding points in your home, it is time for you to attack them. However, do not use products that are toxic to animals if you own a pet. The best product for the roach control is diatomaceous earth.
Diatomaceous earth is a soft sedimentary rock crumbled into a fine white powder and crystals of limestone. It kills insects like cockroaches, ticks, bed bugs by destroying their exoskeleton, so it loses water. It absorbs fat and oil from the outer layer that covers the roaches. So, you can use diatomaceous powder to prevent young cockroaches from becoming big ones.
Diatomaceous earth powder is non-toxic to humans and pets, but it isn’t exactly pleasant either. If it touches your bare skin, enters your eyes, or you accidentally breathe it in, it can cause some bodily reactions. You must wear a mask, glove, and goggles when applying it in the areas affected by roaches. Use the “food grade” diatomaceous earth powder. It is non-toxic and safer to use.
Before spraying this powder, remove all electrical outlets and light switch covers. Spray slowly in their hiding places to prevent the air inside from home from being dusty. If you have health conditions like asthma, it is advisable to use a respirator to avoid inhalation of dried dust that can trigger allergic reactions.
4. Use Poisons on Them
An effective way to get rid of roaches is to use poisons on them. If you have a large number of roaches in your home, no amount of spray or traps will get rid of all of them. This makes a living indoors impossible. In situations like this, consider using poisons to wipe out many of these undesirable pests at once.
A roach poison like Suspend SC forms a protective barrier when applied around your home. The product stays in the topsoil for 90 days and has to be reapplied to keep bugs out.
Suspend SC does a great job in eliminating roaches. However, the active ingredient is not safe for people. It can kill a roach within a day, depending on how healthy the roach is. Do not allow the product to come in contact with your bare skin, especially if you have a cut. Using it needs wildlife and in your home is dangerous too. The benefits of this product outweigh the risks.
5. Block Their Freeway
Plug apparent holes in the walks with steel wool to prevent roaches from getting out. Caulk cracks underneath the skinks and bathroom with silicone sealants since they gather around water sources. If they cannot see an escape route, they cannot contaminate your apartment. Once you have taken care of every hole in the bathroom and kitchen, inspect every room in your home carefully.
Read: 6 Effective Ways To Get Rid of Wasps From Your Home
6. Keeping Them Out of Your House
Roaches are attracted to places with plenty of food and water. If you have comfortable housing with plenty of food, the cockroaches are there to stay. The best way to get rid of them is to always seal leftover food in an airtight container with tight and impenetrable lids, use sealable plastic bins or inexpensive freezer bags.
Dispose of the trash bags frequently (every night, if possible). Clear out all kinds of clutter and piles of clothes, newspapers, and magazines to destroy any breeding spot for their eggs. Keep the under of the refrigerator and stove clean always.
It is essential to clean the ceramic stovetop every day to eliminate food spillovers and specks of dirt. The burners should be wiped after every use to remove all food crumbs from the surface.
7. Control the Birth of Cockroaches
After you complete these six steps to get rid of roaches, you can take extra precautionary measures to keep them out. Hydroprene is a good insect growth regulator to stop the population of roaches in your living space. It prevents the roaches from maturing.
Hydroprene destroys the roaches’ exoskeleton and prevents them from molting. By doing this, they cannot grow more extensively than the average size. If they are adult roaches, hydroprene prevents them from reproducing. The young cockroaches live their expected lifespan but can breed no roaches to replace them.
How Do Roaches Get to Your Home?
Roaches are assumed to live in dirty, unkempt surroundings, but this doesn’t mean they don’t lurk around the clean environment.
There are several ways a roach can enter your home:
- Access to wet or damp areas
- Access to low-light spots (roaches are active at night)
- Access to entry points such as spaces under the door, cracks on the walls, and crevices underwater sources
- If you stay in a roach-prone environment
- If your neighbors’ surroundings are filthy and roach-infested
Roaches are attracted to damp areas, standing water, and all water sources in your home. Even if your house is cleaned thoroughly, if you start in a damp location, these roaches will have an affinity to your home.
Roaches are also active at night. They tend to build their breeding space in dark areas. If you have any room in your home that doesn’t receive light, the pests should turn that place into their home.
Cockroaches also enter your home through cracks and crevices. If you stay in a roach-prone area, you could still be visited by the pests. Roaches even enter through spaces under the door, refrigerators, and sinks.
Areas like New Orleans, Houston, Miami likely experience these roaches problems. Based on a survey, these cities in the southern part have the worst roach infection.
If your neighbor can’t control their roach problems, you will likely be affected. You can choose to have a conversation with your neighbor to discuss the roach problem and eradicate it. We will discuss this in the next section.
Can You Get Roaches if Your Neighbor Has Them?
Cockroaches lurk around areas that have plenty of food, water, and adequate shelter. Despite having a well-maintained apartment and surroundings, if your neighbor (or neighbors) apartment is filthy, you are likely not safe from roaches. The roaches from their apartment may enter yours.
To answer the question, yes, roaches from your neighbors’ apartment can enter yours. If your community doesn’t see roach infection as a problem, some may likely find their way to your home.
Can I Sue My Neighbor For Roaches?
Yes, you can use your neighbors for roaches that come to your apartment. However, the efforts you put into the case may be futile if you don’t have substantial proof that it came from their source. This article will talk about how to prevent roaches from coming in from your neighbors’ apartment to yours.
Dealing with roaches coming from the neighbors’ apartment is stressful for every homeowner. It feels awkward for some people to directly confront their neighbors about this problem – depending on their existing relationship.
People end up suing their neighbors because of this problem if they refuse to tackle it after several conversations. If you chose to go legal, ensure you have proof to back up your claim so you can have a shot at winning the case.
What Keeps Cockroaches Away?
Essential oils like peppermint oil, cedarwood oil, and cypress oils repel cockroaches. Roaches hate the smell of crushed bay leaves and coffee seeds. Combine powdered sugar and boric acids and sprinkles in their entry points to keep them at bay. That is a more natural way of reducing the roaches in your home.
1. Roach Repellents
Another way to ward of cockroaches is by using natural remedies that prevent this past from crawling your entire home. Oils like Peppermint oil, cedarwood oils, and cypress oils are effective in keeping cockroaches off.
The smell of crushed bay leaves and steer coffee seed grounds are natural repellants for cockroaches. Try combining powdered sugar-acid as a natural way to kill them. This is a non-toxic method, and it doesn’t affect the children and pets.
2. Leaky Faucets
Roaches are naturally drawn to watered areas. The best way to heal them off is by making sure everything is clean and dry. Check all washing areas, sinks, bathtub to make sure they are no leaks. Also, keep the dishes washed and dry every night. Seal your toothbrush to ensure they are dry. Repair all leaky faucet and dripping pipes as soon as you notice one.
3. So Many Entry Points
The most effective way to keep roaches out is to keep them from entering your home. Keep your yards and garden (if any) clean. Refurbish your home exterior and seal all cracks and holes in the foundations. Eliminate any debris and refuse. Use a caulking gun to check the window frame and close up any small crevices. Next, keep everything in your home sealed and tidy to avoid any infestation.
4. Food Sources
Cockroaches are prone to food sources. If you have any chance of eliminating them, consider starting from your food sources. Keep all leftover food sealed in an airtight container. Keep all your dining tabletops clean and free from food crumbs. This will minimize the chances of infestation.
Wipe all cabinets, appliances, and storage equipment to keep them clean. Also, disinfect your ovens, stove too and other food preparation appliances after every use. To prevent roaches from including your home, seal off every food opportunity.
Bottom Line
Roaches have several entry points. Some of which may come from your property without you knowing it. Others may come from your neighbor, who keeps an unkempt environment.
Regardless of where these pests come from, you have to do something to make sure they don’t extend their stay on your property.
Regardless of their entry point, it is vital to make sure they do not find your home desirable and liveable. The essential thing to note is that roaches stay in dark and damp places surrounded by water.
If you stay in damp areas, regardless of if your home is well-maintained, your apartment is still prone to these pests. Rooms in your home that don’t receive a generous amount of light can shelter house roaches. And soon enough, they can crawl up to every area of your home and make living uncomfortable.
Roaches can cause allergies and bring diseases. They contaminate foods they come across and render them unfit for consumption. Because of these reasons, getting rid of them should be a requisite.