If I find 12 cockroaches over the course of 4 days, is my apartment complex infested?

Question

I have been combating roaches since my move in date 3 months ago. The apartment complex is brand new, 3 stories tall, 4 apt. per floor, 4 bed/bath per apt. I contacted the office twice now and last time they had a pest control company come out and spray along some of the base boards and set some traps, but the cockroaches are back again. The first time we were finding adult cockroaches, and this time around I'm only finding baby (small) cockroaches. A majority of the ones I have found have been alive and are typically walking on the ceiling or at the top of the walls. The problem has slowly progressed, as the first day I found 1, the second say 2, 3 the third day, and 6 today. I told the office and they gave me the good ole "when we get around to it." I keep my bedroom pretty clean and never eat in it. You'd think id be finding the roaches in my bathroom, but have never seen them there, nore have I found them in the kitchen, mainly my bedroom and I'm the cleanest. Am I infested?

I'm having a battle with the office because they say that pest control was out here friday and wont be back for another 2 weeks. I put my request in friday morning, but the girl in the office failed to relay the message. FUN.

On a different note I took the recommendation to buy Combat Gel and place it in active areas. I also went ahead and bought the combat food traps and attatched them upside down to the roof with double sided tape. I put them next to the water sprinkler, air vent, fan, and fire detector, or basically any area where I believe they could enter. Sadly last night I could not sleep because I kept on thinking about them, and never did it fail that during this lack of 4 hours of sleep I had to kill yet another roach off my ceiling.

Answer 1

Call the city health department and the landlords association and complain. Tell them you are recording the conversation so they will know you mean business. That should put some heat on the building owner to get it cleaned up.

In the meantime use that sticky tape stuff and roach hotels....

Answer 2

Yep. You got 'em all right.

Every place is different and where they live is in the walls in hiding places you would never think of.
And the doggoned things will eat about anything.

But I found a product that really worked after spending a ton of money on things that didn't work.

I went to True Value hardware and bought a tube of Combat Gel. Walgreen's now has it for about $6.00 and if they don't, try Lowe's or Home Depot.

What you do is apply this stuff in out of the way places like under the sink and in the cabinet in the bathroom.

How I applied was in maybe 1" strips and stop.

Remember where you apply it and keep track of whether they are eating it or not.

If they have eaten what you put out, reapply.
You don't have to put it in a whole bunch of places, either, for it to be effective. Just use what is necessary. In my case, I only put it in maybe 6 places, just so I could monitor it a little easier.
If you got any kind of infestation, they will dine on this stuff and take it back to the nest. It is the cleanest and neatest product I have ever used.

Bugfree for 4 years now.

Answer 3

for every one you find in the open there are a few hundred behind the walls- oyur apartment is infested, especially if oyu are mainly finding them in an area where there is no food. They are likely visiting an adjoining apartment where they are getting well fed or they are coming in from the cold- it wont take long for them to find your kitchen.
You might try some of these fairly cheap and natural ways to deter them from your apartment- unfortunately if oyu were in a house, these would be more effective but in an apartment they will avoid yours for a while while they breed and multiply all over the rest of the complex and after a while- it will be overrun and there will be little that can be done- in an apartment situation, even if te manager sprays , if all of the tenants are not doing their part to control the problem, the roaches win!

The best defense against cockroaches is a clean kitchen and bathroom. If roaches are a problem in your home or apartment, vacuum well and wash the area with a strong soap. Dispose of the vacuum cleaner bag in a sealed container.
Also try:
It is a little known fact that roaches like high places. If you put boric acid on TOP of your kitchen cabinets (not inside), if space allows between ceiling and cabinets, the roaches will take the boric acid to their nests, killing all of them. Boric acid is toxic by mouth - keep away from children and pets. more info about boric acid
Catnip is a natural repellent to cockroaches. The active ingredient is nepetalactone, which is non-toxic to humans and pets. Small sachets of catnip can be left in areas of cockroach activity. Catnip can also be simmered in a small amount of water to make a "catnip tea" which can be used as a spray to apply around baseboards and behind counters. This natural repellent should only be used in homes without cats!
(A site visitor who has tried this sends the following comments)
Keep a spray bottle of soapy water on hand. Spraying roaches directly with soapy water will kill them.
In an empty one pound coffee can, place 1 or 2 pieces of bread which have been soaked thoroughly with beer. Place in areas known to have roach infestations.
Leave bay leaves, cucumber slices or garlic in the affected area as deterrents.
The fruit of the Osage orange tree, the hedgeapple, is a natural roach repellent. Leave one hedgeapple per room for effective deterrence up to two months. You can learn more about hedgeapples for pest control at hedgeapple.com.
Non-toxic roach traps are commercially available. Inspect regularly.

Answer 4

If the cockroaches your finding are at the top of the ceiling and on the walls that tells me one thing. The cockraoches might be coming from the apartment upstairs. It is possible. Theres some stuff you can get from the store though. Its a spectracide bomb cant be in the room for a few hours though. Try it see if it helps because i wouldnt recommend spending all that money on pest control when theres a isle full of roach killers in the store that works just as good.

Answer 5

In California you are covered by the implied warranty of habitability. With regards to cockroaches or rats, your landlord is required to keep the common grounds and public areas free from infestation. This ONLY applies to the areas outside of your apartment that are for common use. As a tenant you are responsible for the sanitary condition inside the apartment. The burden is on you to get rid of the cockroaches and rats.

Answer 6

Guess what Pal, you are infected. And, I don't know if I should tell you but, for everyone you see there are ten more you don't see, so, multiply that times 600 every thirty days, and...you want more information?

This is what I'd do. Most cities have a Law about pestilence, they have to take care of it. Call the city courthouse and ask the zoning office about the legalities about it.
Then bring this up to the attention of the office. They'll have to treat, as in Bomb, Spray taking out everything out of the cabinets, the closets, bedding has to be rewashed, all cabinets have to be MT'ed, etc, then bombed and sprayed, it takes all day and every unit not just yours and, the entire building.

Answer 7

Yes you are infested! If you find one you will find much more! My advice is to get outta there if they are paying no mind to your requests to get rid of the pests! But seriously there are a lot more than you think there are and most likely the problem will just get worse. Try to see if you can talk to the landlord himself, it sounds like the people in the office arent really getting around to it in a timely manner. It also sounds like they dont care, which isnt a good sign for a new tenant. Break that contract, if there is one, and get outta there!

Answer 8

Yes, I hate to say it but your infested, try boric acid and sprinkle it around the base boards and entry points.
Start saving them if you can stand it, when it is so bad that you can't take it anymore show the bugs to the managers. Don't give it to them as you could get out of the lease by showing it is uninhabitable.
It could be that the other dwellers in your apartment building brought them and they spread,
Sorry for your situation.

Answer 9

doesn't matter, if you find one cockroach in one day you can bet you have 200 more elsewhere that you can't see, yes it is infested and now you have to go out and find a product called borax powder I believe, you can also spray and find somethings to get rid of them at some store somewhere I can't remember the name of the store that I had to get the stuff I got when this happened to me, but between a combination of the powder and spraying it got rid of them, also just moving out won't nessecarilly take care of the problem, I have done this and they moved with me, meaning they had gotten into my clothes and or suitcases that I packed, anyways it is the owner/owners responsability of the apartment complex that you live at, get ahold of them, also you should do your own apartment seperately as well

Answer 10

Not for nothing but if you see just 1 cockroach, theres a billion in the walls man. Move out lol.