My Home is Infested With Cockroaches, How Do I Get Rid of Them?
Cockroaches seem to be everywhere, get into everything, and they always come back. Roaches tend to show up in kitchens and bathrooms first. The kitchen gets hit first due to food that is left behind and the bathroom because it’s damp and has drops of water in the sink and bathtub. To make things worst roaches are extremely fast and not to mention disgusting insects.
Cockroaches Are Everywhere
When I was in my early 30’s I purchased my first house, the house was located near a lake in northern California. Let’s be honest, purchasing a home in 2021 is extremely difficult, banks and brokers require a credit score of 700 or higher with a minimum of 5-10% down payment of the price of the house. The majority of mid-age Americans don’t have a 700 credit score; low credit scores seem to be more common these days. The 5-10% down payment was the worst. I had to work 2 jobs while buying the cheapest products at the grocery store for 4 years.
When I finally got the keys it was the proudest moment of my life. Even though the house needed work I was still excited to move in. I started with a fresh paint job that brought out the home-sweet-home feeling, while at the same time bringing out the brown color in the wooden floors.
Realizing My Home is Infested With Cockroaches
One night I came out to the kitchen from my bedroom and turned on the lights and the entire kitchen was infested with cockroaches. There were cockroaches on the counter, microwave, dishes, ground, walls, and sink. I thought I was dreaming it was a nightmare. I never felt so dirty, I grabbed the broom and started smashing as many roaches as I could possibly hit.
The next day I couldn’t believe what I had witnessed. My house was infested with cockroaches! We decided to go to the nearest hardware store and purchase a pack of cockroach traps, gels, sprays, baits, and everything I could get my hands on. I went home and went straight to work. I put the entire tube of poison gel all across the sink and bathroom and scattered traps all across the house. The waiting game begins. That night I was woken up by something crawling on my arm, I turned the light and my bed was covered with cockroaches and cockroach eggs. I grabbed the comforter, took it outside, and started to give it a good shake. When I went back into the room I decided I had ‘enough’. I go the vacuum and started sucking them into the vacuum.
How Do I Get Rid of Cockroaches?
Being restless and annoyed I had decided to call a professional exterminator the next day. When the exterminator started to inspect my house he noticed that the walls had a lot of gaps and cracks along the edges. Garry Bridges the exterminators says:
“Your house is infested with insects because you have gaps, cracks, and holes along the edges of your walls, the counters in the kitchen are not properly installed they have an inch gap that gives insects and rodents a safe way to enter whenever they please, you’re going to need to hire a professional inspector to inspect your house thoroughly”
Not only were cockroaches infesting my home I might have a rodent infestation too. It gets worst and worst by the day.
Hiring an Exterminator
When I found a local exterminator he went right to work. He inspected the entire house and the results shocked me. He gave me a list of the things that raised a concern. Here is the list:
- The countertops weren’t installed properly
- The bathroom had mold from the water sipping on to the walls
- The old heater connected directly to the walls had created so much heat over the years that it burned a hole exposing the crawlspace
- The water heater was so old it was leaking water onto the floorboards
- The windows needed to be updated because the window sealer was rotten
- And the list goes on and on
When the exterminator handed me the list my mouth dropped to the ground. I decided to inspect my house, even more, remembering an interesting article I read online by a company in southern California called Local Records Office, they talked about “Home inspection red flags” I put two and two together. Knowing that my property needs work I was surprised I needed this much, cockroaches were investing in the house because the property had so many problems that needed work ASAP.
Cockroaches Are One of the Oldest Insects in the World
Cockroaches are insects of the Blattodea family; part of this family also includes termites. Cockroaches date back to 320 million years ago surviving harsh conditions and excruciating weather. These in insects typically stand 12 millimeters tall and can squeeze through holes 3 millimeters wide- the height of the average rice grain.