How to Get Rid of Cockroaches

Cockroaches are ubiquitous. They are a part of urban living, and just about everyone who lives in a large city will have to deal with them at some point. Here's how to fight these pests and win.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• a can of roach killer
• several large roach bait traps
• a tube of spackle or caulking agent

1. Obtain a large can of heavy duty roach killer. I recommend Black Jack Jet Action Crawling Insect Spray. Take aim at any visible roaches and spray. If you use a good roach killer like Black Jack, you don't need to soak the insects with the spray. As long as you hit them with even a drop, they are not long for this world. In addition, spray liberally along baseboards, behind appliances and furniture, and in any nooks and crevices where you suspect roaches may be lurking. Black Jack comes with a thin tube-like attachment that makes it easy to spray in hard to reach places.

2. Place roach bait stations at strategic points throughout your house, especially in your kitchen and bathroom. Roaches will be attracted to the stations, enter and eat the poison, and then take the poison back to their lairs and share with their comrades. Place them under sinks, behind refrigerators and in the back of cupboards. Bait stations should be replaced every month for highest effectiveness.

3. Keep your kitchen area as clean as possible. Don't leave dirty dishes out overnight unless it's absolutely unavoidable. Likewise, don't leave dirty dishes in other rooms around the house or you may encourage the roaches to move out of your kitchen and into your living and bedroom. Don't leave pet food out overnight. Roaches are attracted to water and will be drawn to the moisture in the pet food, especially if you feed your pet wet food from a can.

4. Deprive the roaches of harborage. In other words, give them as few places to hide as possible. This means reducing clutter by not leaving piles of newspapers or clothing around.

5. Limit the roaches means of ingress and egress. In other words, make it so the roaches can't get in and out of your living space so easily. Roaches hide in walls and can squeeze into extremely tiny spaces. Fill any holes in your walls with spackle. Fill any cracks running along or underneath your baseboards with a caulking agent. Be especially mindful of any cracks or holes near the entrances to your apartment.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't want to use spray or liquid pesticide because you have pets or small children, look for pesticide in gel form, which is available in any hardware store. The gel comes in easy-to-use applicators that enable you to inject the pesticide into cracks and holes in the wall and apply it in a thin layer inside drawers and cabinet doors and other places where roaches congregate that aren't easily accessible to your pets or kids.
• If you live in an apartment building in an urban area, there's a distinct possibility that your landlord will hire an exterminator to come to your apartment at his own expense. Ask. In some large cities, like New York, it's standard for landlords to arrange for monthly extermination services for all tenants who need and want them.
• Remember to replace roach bait traps on a monthly basis. They lose their effectiveness over time.
• If you have a roach infestation or had one in the past, be sure to vacuum frequently around baseboards, behind applicances, and in kitchen cabinets and drawers. Dead roach bodies and roach excrement and waste products are actually an allergen than can exacerbate sinus and respiratory symptoms in adults and trigger asthma in children.