How To Tell If You Have A Cockroach Infestation In Your Home
Cockroaches are rarely seen until an infestation has reached large numbers. There are a few reasons why this is the case. Here are just a few of them.
- Roaches hide in tight spaces. They'll hide in places that would surprise you, like the gap between hardwood floors and subflooring. You can have thousands of roaches right underneath your feet and not know it. It's gross but true.
- Many pest cockroaches are nocturnal insects. If you work during the day and sleep at night, you're asleep when roaches are active. But, even when you wake up at night to grab a drink from the refrigerator, you're not likely to see them. Most roaches will quickly hide when they hear you coming.
- Cockroaches don't need to come out of hiding to get a bite to eat. They feed on insects, both alive and dead. They feed on dust, which is dead skin cells. They eat hair, waste, drain clogs, rotting organic matter in trash receptacles, and other gross things hidden in your home.
When you go looking for warning signs, you have to inspect hidden places. The signs you're looking for are black fecal matter, shed cockroach exoskeletons, egg cases or broken casings, the scent of cockroach pheromones, and damage caused by cockroaches. What damage do cockroaches cause? They chew on paper, fabrics, and other items that contain cellulose. When you see wallpaper that has been defaced, roaches are the likely culprits.
- Look in cabinets underneath sinks. Be sure to move items aside and check near the back.
- Pull your oven out and inspect your wall, floor, and other surfaces.
- Use a flashlight to check under your refrigerator.
- Pull items off your pantry shelves and inspect walls and surfaces.
- Look behind items on your pantry floor.
- Inspect nooks and crannies in your bathroom.
- If you have a jetted tub, inspect cabinets and voids in the structure around your tub.
- Inspect voids above drop-down ceilings.
- Inspect storage rooms and check between boxes. You may also see damage to your cardboard boxes.
- Check the insulation in your attic.
Cockroaches in Tampa are mysterious when you don't know where to look for them. Now that you have an idea where they hide, perhaps those roaches won't be quite so mysterious.
Cockroaches are rarely seen until an infestation has reached large numbers. There are a few reasons why this is the case. Here are just a few of them.
- Roaches hide in tight spaces. They'll hide in places that would surprise you, like the gap between hardwood floors and subflooring. You can have thousands of roaches right underneath your feet and not know it. It's gross but true.
- Many pest cockroaches are nocturnal insects. If you work during the day and sleep at night, you're asleep when roaches are active. But, even when you wake up at night to grab a drink from the refrigerator, you're not likely to see them. Most roaches will quickly hide when they hear you coming.
- Cockroaches don't need to come out of hiding to get a bite to eat. They feed on insects, both alive and dead. They feed on dust, which is dead skin cells. They eat hair, waste, drain clogs, rotting organic matter in trash receptacles, and other gross things hidden in your home.
Why It Is Considered Dangerous To Have Roaches In Your House
Most people know that cockroaches are dirty insects, but they don't stop to think about how roaches make people sick. We mentioned one way already. They pick up harmful bacteria and spread them around. Roaches don't do this on purpose. It happens passively. They expose themselves to dirty things all the time. They're attracted to dirty things. They are as comfortable feeding on the unmentionable organic matter in your garbage disposal drain as they are feeding on the toothpaste in the bristles of your toothbrush. Sorry. We know how gross that is, but you need to know. Cockroaches eat rotten food, dead animals, feces of animals and humans, and many other filthy things. As they do this, they pick up bacteria, parasitic worms, and disease-causing pathogens.
Another way cockroaches impact health is by spreading allergens. There is a direct link between cockroaches and asthma. A recent study confirmed that cockroach infestations increase hospitalizations for asthma. These hospital visits sometimes end in tragedy. If you have a family member with asthma, you should have this on your radar.
Why It Is So Difficult To Get Rid Of Cockroaches On Your Own
When you go after the cockroaches in your home, there are two possible outcomes. Both are bad. You may put a lot of money and energy into capturing cockroaches and see that you are having no success stopping your infestation, or you may think you've gotten rid of the roaches in your home when you actually haven't. While it is super frustrating to see that your hard work is not paying off, it is worse to think you've won the battle (when you haven't) because it allows cockroaches to continue to impact your health and damage your property. So, what is the deal with roaches? Why are they so hard to control?
- There are many home remedies that promise to control cockroaches but they just don't work at all. Step one is to avoid solutions that use common household items.
- There are several all-natural methods shared on the internet. We would encourage you to steer clear of these as well. It isn't that they don't work—because some of them do. The problem is that they are commonly misapplied. One example is borax powder. Do borates exterminate cockroaches? Yes. The problem is that roaches avoid powdered surfaces. If you don't apply the powder correctly, you won't have any success controlling cockroaches.
- Some people use sprays to eliminate cockroaches. Can you exterminate cockroaches with sprays? Yes. But this only addresses the symptom, not the source. You can spray roaches every day and never stop your cockroach infestation. These products don't get all the cockroaches that are hiding in your home.
- Some people turn to bait to control roaches. Unfortunately, cockroaches are adaptable insects. When they detect food that is dangerous, they avoid it. In some cases, they even change genetically. When this happens, their offspring are born with bait aversion. There are some German cockroach populations that are almost entirely immune to bait products, making German cockroach infestations much more difficult to control.
DIY cockroach control often fails because cockroaches are more robust and resilient than expected, or the control methods are misapplied. It is hard to explain how to apply cockroach control products correctly because there are so many challenges. Our recommendation is to let a service technician handle cockroaches for you.
Contact The Experts For Total Cockroach Control For Your Home
Cockroach pest control is hard work and there are many challenges. If you live in Tampa, contact Haskell Termite & Pest Control for a cockroach treatment. We'll perform a detailed inspection and evaluate your cockroach problem. Based on our findings and your input, we'll select a treatment plan that works for you. We'll guide you through the treatment process by preparing you for your treatment day, performing the required treatments, and following up to make sure no cockroaches remain in your home. In many cases, we'll use fogging units that disperse a residual material and perform other pest maintenance to get complete control of roaches. If you have a large infestation in your home, we may suggest fumigation. When you get a fumigation treatment, it is like flicking a reset button. One day your home is filled with cockroaches; the next day it isn't. The gas used in fumigation works its way into the pores of your home and gets cockroaches in the hardest-to-reach hiding places. A fumigation treatment also exterminates German cockroaches that are immune to conventional treatment products. After the treatment, the gas disperses. There is no bad smell. And, most importantly, there are no more roaches crawling around in the secret places of your home.
If you've had it with roaches in your Tampa home, we understand. These creepy pests have a way of letting you know they're lurking in the shadows. You may hear their skittering feet on your bathroom floor. You may flick a light on and wonder if you saw a roach disappear into a crack. Long before you start seeing roaches everywhere, and you don't have to wonder if you have an infestation, we can help you stop roaches in their tracks. Reach out to us today to schedule a service visit with one of our service technicians. We look forward to helping you find the right solution for your cockroach problem.