How to Get Rid Of Roach Infestation in The House.
Nowadays, roach infestation has become common problem that faced by both urban and rural family. However, maybe some of us think that it is not a big deal so that we don’t take any serious action to get rid of roach infestation. In fact, roaches can cause some troublesome problems such as disease and damage to our home and belongings. My home also has roach infestation problem. It’s getting worse because it’s too late for me to realize it.
Mostly, we underestimate one or two cockroaches that we see because we can easily get rid or kill them, but actually it’s too late because we don’t know or aware to the sign of roach infestation. Moreover, we don’t know which technique that really works on getting rid of roach infestation. This article will give you some consideration of how to get rid of roach infestation in my home based on my experience.
Sign of roach infestation
Knowing sign of roach infestation is an important step because by knowing the sign we can prevent the infestation getting bigger and spreader. The first sign of infestation that we should aware is if we see cockroaches during the day. Cockroaches are nocturnal insects. It means that they will be active at night. They prefer to live in the dark and moist places such as behind of refrigerator, sink and stove, as well as bath room area. Their small bodies help them to explore some narrow areas to hide.
The next sign of infestation is the presence of cockroach feces. Small roaches will produce feces that look like coffee ground or black pepper, while the larger ones will produce cylindrical droppings. The feces could be an indicator of the level or duration of infestation. The more you find you find cockroaches feces, the larger infestation it is.
Unpleasant smell could be also a sign of infestation. In a serious infestation, we can smell strong oily and musty odor. Its eggs also can be a sign of infestation. They are oval-shaped eggs, known as oothecae. Sometime we can find the eggs in the hidden places such as behind furniture or even the spaces between books.
Getting rid of roach infestation
After we know and find some signs of infestation, the next step is how to handle the infestation. Dealing with roach infestation is not easy because no matter what you do, you won’t be able to eliminate all cockroaches once and forever because it will always find a way to come and come again. It needs regular checking and treatment of infestation.
There are several ways that probably you have done so far as the first reaction of seeing cockroaches such as stepping on them or spraying aerosol pesticide or poison. Those ways maybe are effective to kill the cockroaches but not stopping the infestation. Moreover, there are some study said that killing cockroaches by stepping on them is not healthy because cockroach will produce liquid that contains bad and unhealthy bacteria that will cause some disease. Spraying aerosol pesticide or poison will also not healthy because it will cause several problems such as allergic skin reaction and also respiratory reactions.
Calling exterminator also became one way to deal with roach infestation. Besides applying some poison to kill and prevent the cockroach, they will also examine the house such as locating the cockroach and the infestation. However, it has also some weaknesses. Calling the exterminators is quite expensive and it doesn’t guarantee stopping the infestation. Sometime, if the exterminators don’t fumigate all side of the building, the cockroach will move to another places until the fume disappear. Calling exterminators again and again will overburden your cost.
There are some ways that you can do by yourself to get rid of roach infestation without spending much money. First you have to do is to locate the roach entrance. It’s not easy way because you have to examine your house or building carefully. As you know that cockroaches have small body so they can fit in any small crack or hole. It will need sometimes but when you have all entrances in your hand it will be much easier for you to do next action.
After you find all the entrances, the next step is to apply some formula to kill and prevent the infestation. You can mix a litter sugar with baking soda and set the mixture in the entrance or the place you often see cockroaches. Sodium fluoride is also recommended to be a bait to kill the cockroach. Another way is by mixing together one part boric acid with one part cocoa and one part sugar.
The next step is to cut off or stop their food and water supply. Cockroach is omnivore. They could eat everything, so to cut off their food supply it needs great effort from you. We should vacuum and sweep often because cockroaches often find their foods on the floor. We should also clean the dining table or every place where we put the food. Don’t let any food scattered. We should cover and seal up carefully the food. We should wash dishes in soap and hot water, and dry well. Don’t leave any grease residue. To stop cut of the water supply, we should pour some disinfecting cleanser into our toilet at night. Make sure the sink is dry at night and no water that can be consumed by the cockroach. Basically, cleaning your home appropriately will make it hard for them to eat and drink.
The next step is to block off access to your home. To block off access to your home, you should seal every crack and hole that could be the place for cockroach to enter the home or hide. You can fill cracks and holes with caulking or fresh plaster. You can also use commercial foam spray to block the way. you should really carefully block the way because cockroaches have small body and they can easily fit into small spaces such as spaces around pipe, crack around windows, door, or wall.
Get rid of roach infestation cannot be instant. When you follow some instruction above, it doesn’t mean that the cockroach will be gone once and forever. If you think that you only need to do that procedure once, you will never get rid of it. You need to check regularly and do the step again to prevent roach infestation. That is how to get rid of roach infestation in my home. Hopefully it will also work on your home.