Gross, but it needs to be asked...
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2010-09-03 2:30 PM |
Master 2277 Lake Norman, NC | Subject: Gross, but it needs to be asked... How do you get rid of roaches? In the past 3 weeks I've spotted and killed only 4 of them, but they were clearly roaches and in the house. We thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed to try and get rid of any food on the floor and I sprayed all the baseboards in the house with a pretty good Indoor/Outdoor home defense spray. I have snuck downstairs in the middle of the night very quietly and snapped on the lights looking for large numbers of them scattering, but luckily - nothing. It seems to be just one at a time. And this morning there was a dying roach on the carpet near the baseboard in the living room. The spray worked, but he was still in the house. In 12 years we've never had roaches. Short of paying out the wazoo for a professional exterminator, does COJ have any advice for how to make sure these nasty, gross bastarads stop coming into the house? |
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2010-09-03 2:34 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Melon Presser 52116 | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Oh, phew, I thought you were going to ask how to get rid of hyena butt and I'd have to share my (only now starting to work) trade secrets. It's a constant battle with rats and roaches here no matter how clean you keep things. They just are. Really look for any tiny cracks, spaces, etc. where they could be coming in. Put roach motels outside your house AND at those possible entry points inside. It's weird, but with cockroaches, the news seems to spread fast. They actually stop coming. |
2010-09-03 2:34 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Melon Presser 52116 | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Bigfuzzydoug - 2010-09-04 3:30 AM How do you get rid of roaches? In the past 3 weeks I've spotted and killed only 4 of them, but they were clearly roaches and in the house. We thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed to try and get rid of any food on the floor and I sprayed all the baseboards in the house with a pretty good Indoor/Outdoor home defense spray. I have snuck downstairs in the middle of the night very quietly and snapped on the lights looking for large numbers of them scattering, but luckily - nothing. It seems to be just one at a time. And this morning there was a dying roach on the carpet near the baseboard in the living room. The spray worked, but he was still in the house. In 12 years we've never had roaches. Short of paying out the wazoo for a professional exterminator, does COJ have any advice for how to make sure these nasty, gross bastarads stop coming into the house? I think that too, but not necessarily about cockroaches. |
2010-09-03 2:40 PM in reply to: #3081119 |
Master 2277 Lake Norman, NC | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... TriAya - 2010-09-03 3:34 PM Bigfuzzydoug - 2010-09-04 3:30 AM How do you get rid of roaches? In the past 3 weeks I've spotted and killed only 4 of them, but they were clearly roaches and in the house. We thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed to try and get rid of any food on the floor and I sprayed all the baseboards in the house with a pretty good Indoor/Outdoor home defense spray. I have snuck downstairs in the middle of the night very quietly and snapped on the lights looking for large numbers of them scattering, but luckily - nothing. It seems to be just one at a time. And this morning there was a dying roach on the carpet near the baseboard in the living room. The spray worked, but he was still in the house. In 12 years we've never had roaches. Short of paying out the wazoo for a professional exterminator, does COJ have any advice for how to make sure these nasty, gross bastarads stop coming into the house? I think that too, but not necessarily about cockroaches. Cutting out execessive alcohol consumption might be a good start for THAT. |
2010-09-03 2:41 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Elite 3371 | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Move North. Honestly, I haven't been too successful at it myself. Although when I lived in New York it wasn't a problem! The best I've found is the expensive exterminators. They spray the house and its supposed to kill the roaches for some amount of time, then they come again. The problem still isn't 100% fixed though, as I still pick up dead roaches occasionally. Maybe twice a week? Better than smashing live ones, though! |
2010-09-03 2:45 PM in reply to: #3081133 |
Melon Presser 52116 | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Bigfuzzydoug - 2010-09-04 3:40 AM TriAya - 2010-09-03 3:34 PM Bigfuzzydoug - 2010-09-04 3:30 AM How do you get rid of roaches? In the past 3 weeks I've spotted and killed only 4 of them, but they were clearly roaches and in the house. We thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed to try and get rid of any food on the floor and I sprayed all the baseboards in the house with a pretty good Indoor/Outdoor home defense spray. I have snuck downstairs in the middle of the night very quietly and snapped on the lights looking for large numbers of them scattering, but luckily - nothing. It seems to be just one at a time. And this morning there was a dying roach on the carpet near the baseboard in the living room. The spray worked, but he was still in the house. In 12 years we've never had roaches. Short of paying out the wazoo for a professional exterminator, does COJ have any advice for how to make sure these nasty, gross bastarads stop coming into the house? I think that too, but not necessarily about cockroaches. Cutting out execessive alcohol consumption might be a good start for THAT. It is terribly sad, but I don't even have that excuse! As for roaches ... other than practical advice, don't rule out peace offerings. (I don't mean food). Like flowers and incense in little woven banana-leaf baskets. I don't know--I had a pet roach once, named Howard the Roach, and I've never had cockroach problems since then, even in this country! I should have realized, when I began to date Howard the boyfriend, it was going to turn out to be the most tumultuous relationship of my life. Possibly the millennium. The pet roach was a cautionary tale, and I forgot to listen. |
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2010-09-03 2:45 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Expert 660 state of denial | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Give me your house on lake norman for the weekend. No guarantees, but I will give it a go between sunset cruises and grilling out. |
2010-09-03 2:53 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Master 2277 Lake Norman, NC | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Oh and I forgot to mention that I already tried breathing on them with the killer radioactive breath I now have. But what they say about those little buggers surviving the nuclear holocaust is true! I've been loaded up with 3,200 RADS of high-energy radiation so far and it did NOTHING to one of 'em! Damn! I think I'll be spending some time this weekend caulking, weather stripping and spraying some more. It's really not a "problem" yet. It's only been 4 individuals. I wonder if I should toss an aersol "bomb" into the crawl space under the house? And for the record (in case we have any exterminators on the board)... they're clearly smoky brown cockroaches. |
2010-09-03 3:02 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Master 2083 Houston, TX | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Cockroaches are great survivors. you can adopt natural predators (i.e. toads, frogs, beetles, geckos and iguanas). Some parasitic wasp species aren't safe for humans but are effective exterminators of roach populations. My daughter has a couple of pet cockroaches. We fed one a non-organic strawberry and it died that night. We had to replace it. So while not scientifically tested, you could go buy some strawberries and leave them out. (they have the highest level of pesticides of any fruit in the produce isle - this varies year to year) These are my non exterminator suggestions. try them if you like. My #1 recommendation is an exterminator. |
2010-09-03 3:09 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Master 1914 Finally north of the Mason-Dixon Line | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... when we lived in Houston the first year I knew nothing of this "quarterly spraying" that everyone did. One day I found this dead roach! Had no idea what it was. Later that day a neighbor walked by and I asked him what is this thing! He laughed and told me people in the south do quarterly spraying to stop them from coming indoors. So, I called that night and got in with a good exterminator for quarterly spraying. Fast forward about a year and Isabel was just a baby and learning to crawl. We were sitting up one night with her and she was playing but it got too quiet. I looked behind the couch and saw her with a dead raoch in her mouth - legs sticking out. (open space behind couch and kitchen for ehr to play) Thankfully hubby was there to deal with it but I wanted to lysol her mouth for fear of germs it may have had (i refrained from doing so).... but from then on I inspected the house daily for any living/dead creature she could find. She laughs at that story now but it still freaks me out. Roaches aren't an indication of cleanliness.... they just are. They seem most active when weather changes. Good luck, but call an exterminator for the quarterly spraying! Edited by tri-mama 2010-09-03 3:12 PM |
2010-09-03 3:11 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Master 1327 Ann Arbor, Michigan | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Bigfuzzydoug - 2010-09-03 3:30 PM How do you get rid of roaches? In the past 3 weeks I've spotted and killed only 4 of them, but they were clearly roaches and in the house. We thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed to try and get rid of any food on the floor and I sprayed all the baseboards in the house with a pretty good Indoor/Outdoor home defense spray. I have snuck downstairs in the middle of the night very quietly and snapped on the lights looking for large numbers of them scattering, but luckily - nothing. It seems to be just one at a time. And this morning there was a dying roach on the carpet near the baseboard in the living room. The spray worked, but he was still in the house. In 12 years we've never had roaches. Short of paying out the wazoo for a professional exterminator, does COJ have any advice for how to make sure these nasty, gross bastarads stop coming into the house? You better do some research..... you're gonna prolly need an exterminator. were they full grown already? or do you think they were ride alongs from someone? We had our floors sanded/varnished and we had a couple baby ride alongs from the workers. We went ape shite ballistic when we found them b/c they're impossible to get rid of. We took all food that wasn't in a SEALED (that means sealed, not just clipped shut) container out of the pantry, put it in a sealed container, cleaned cupboards, got EVERYTHING out, got some roach traps and would check to see if there were any more visitors. It appeared the few we found were ride alongs and babies. If you've got full grown ones, chances are you've got a problem and those suckers can withstand just about any toxic thing you do to them. Before calling in the big guns I'd try that, plant the roach boxes and then check to see if you have any appearances. |
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2010-09-03 4:41 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Master 2380 Beijing | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... I read somewhere that roaches can survive for quite a while just on the glue on the back of a postage stamp. So if you've got alot of unlicked postage stamps laying around, you need to get rid of those too. |
2010-09-03 5:44 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Extreme Veteran 751 | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Ok, with all due respect, NC must be WAY farther north than I realized. This is the first time you have had roaches?!?! Duhaamm! In Savannah we call them "palmetto bugs." And it can be good sport to watch...uh...tourists scream when they fly down from the palmetto trees at night. Ok...ok...on to the "fix." By far the best spray is Bengal. You can find it at Home Depot, Lowe's... Follow the directions. You may need to retreat. The stuff does work...seemingly better than the "professional" stuff. Maybe those guys are being more heavily regulated? Good luck on your ongoing treatment! John |
2010-09-03 6:02 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Pro 4824 Houston | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Another Houstonian so we have to spray regularly. We have a professional I've been using for 14 years. Call around. Most companies have a first time fee and then a set quarterly or twice a year fee it's not as much as you think. We have a good size 2 story house on a cul de sac lot and pay about $60 each time. Totally worth it. My guy goes up to the attic every time too and will spray the yard for fire ants and flees for an extra $50 or so which we usually do once a year. |
2010-09-03 7:39 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Champion 5807 Henderson NV | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... I am a pest control guy in Las Vegas and at what people charge around the country I need to move....WOWSA!!! Smoky Browns are similar to American Cockroaches in the fact that they fly toward light (Yellow bulbs will take care of that) and similar to Oriental Cockroach in that they live outdoors. Spraying around doorways is a good first step, but I would recommend granules. You can cover the perimeter of your house (yard and planter boxes). If you have any sprinkler valve boxes make sure you put some in them, as well as. under or around brick and/or wood planter boxes (not food plants). Do this and they will be gone by Monday. |
2010-09-03 7:54 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Master 1367 Dirt Road | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... I use over the counter Demon bug spray and only about twice a year. Spray in and out. I was warned the vapors kill fish so if you have them turn the aerator off for 24 hours. |
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2010-09-03 8:11 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Champion 6503 NOVA - Ironic for an Endurance Athlete | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... Wouldn't the roaches help with the nauseau caused by your treatments? |
2010-09-04 1:54 AM in reply to: #3081100 |
Extreme Veteran 1112 Las Vegas | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... I was a restauranteur for 15 years so spraying was just another constant issue, like emptying the trash. Now it just carries over to my home. Just bite the bullet and hire a pro. It is worth every penny and lots of them will come right back unlimited times if you see bugs inbetween sprayings. At one cafe I owned it took three years of battling to not get rid of them, but just control them. If you get into food service, make sure the people before you cleaned out all the dead food, or you will have more roaches than customers. |
2010-09-05 5:09 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Extreme Veteran 849 San Diego | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... They also like cardboard and Ikea-type furniture. You may have an infestation of them hiding in something like that. FWIW, I have a PhD in Entomology and we had a roach infestation in our mosquito insectary. Yep, a bunch of entomologists with a bug problem! In our case, they were hiding in a shelving unit we had to store supplies. Got rid of that, set up a couple of roach motels and they were gone. |
2010-09-05 5:11 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Extreme Veteran 849 San Diego | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... |
2010-09-06 6:28 AM in reply to: #3081100 |
Champion 6742 The Green Between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... BBQ sauce! |
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2010-09-06 8:39 AM in reply to: #3081100 |
2010-09-06 8:46 AM in reply to: #3083113 |
Melon Presser 52116 | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... nerdjock - 2010-09-06 6:09 AM They also like cardboard and Ikea-type furniture. You may have an infestation of them hiding in something like that. FWIW, I have a PhD in Entomology and we had a roach infestation in our mosquito insectary. Yep, a bunch of entomologists with a bug problem! In our case, they were hiding in a shelving unit we had to store supplies. Got rid of that, set up a couple of roach motels and they were gone. This is an awesome story. It's like the year at the herpetologists' banquet that we all discovered: do NOT eat the skink. Anyhow, I'm very impressed you have a Ph.D. in entomology. OH HEY DOUG ... the doctor lady (are you female? I dunno, I guess that's not you in your avatar) said roach motels too. |
2010-09-06 1:10 PM in reply to: #3081100 |
Pro 4292 Evanston, | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... If it were German cockroaches (the little ones that live in people's kitchens), I'd say the only solution is to move, and be very selective in packing. So you are lucky yours are the other kind. The quarterly spraying should do the trick. Keri, the fact that the biggest organic-earth-mama I know does quarterly spraying makes me feel better about using that method when I lived in Houston! |
2010-09-07 12:10 AM in reply to: #3083559 |
Extreme Veteran 849 San Diego | Subject: RE: Gross, but it needs to be asked... TriAya - 2010-09-06 6:46 AM nerdjock - 2010-09-06 6:09 AM They also like cardboard and Ikea-type furniture. You may have an infestation of them hiding in something like that. FWIW, I have a PhD in Entomology and we had a roach infestation in our mosquito insectary. Yep, a bunch of entomologists with a bug problem! In our case, they were hiding in a shelving unit we had to store supplies. Got rid of that, set up a couple of roach motels and they were gone. This is an awesome story. It's like the year at the herpetologists' banquet that we all discovered: do NOT eat the skink. Anyhow, I'm very impressed you have a Ph.D. in entomology. OH HEY DOUG ... the doctor lady (are you female? I dunno, I guess that's not you in your avatar) said roach motels too. Ha ha. Yeah, I'm female. That's definitely me in my avatar...I like to do races in a tutu. |
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