We have roaches!!!?

Question

we have roaches all in our kitchen and they were here before we moved in. we have been living here for over a year and in the past month have had roaches taking over our kitchen at night. i've woken up a couple of times and started spraying them with lysol and it killed them. i just need to know what to do to keep the population down and then completely gone. we live in an older house built in the mid 1900's. i've never had a roach problem anywhere before. we also live in florida if this might help. please help us get rid of the bugs for good. thank you. we just need to know what more we can do.

Answer 1

call the pest control

Answer 2

If you can't afford an exterminator, go buy a bunch of bug bombs (set each can on cardboard or newspaper or it will ruin your floors) and set them off in the house. The gas gets into all the nooks and crannies that spray can't. You may need to do it twice just wait a week in between times to get as many as you can. Don't forget to turn off the gas and pilot lights and all electricity so you don'r risk a spark induced fire. Open all windows after the specified time elapse on the cans and allow to air out for a few hours.
Once you have bombed and aired the house out, grab a bottle of indoor outdoor bug spray (I like the Ortho 12 month because it works, is odorless and dries in about 20 minutes without harming the kids and animals once dried) and spray every baseboard and threshhold inside with the spray. Then take the spray outside and spray around your entire foundation bottom and all the way around every doorway and window. This will safeguard the house really well as well as take care of the insect problem. If the problem is really bad try poking a few holes into your walls to allow more of the foggers into the walls. I can't stand the mere thought of roaches. Don't forget to open your cabinets when you fog and then clean the cabinets out with 1/2 cup bleach to 1 gallon water and wash every dish and pan in the house. Otherwise, the bugs will go hide in your dishes and make you very sick.

Answer 3

They are hiding in a dark place somewhere and will continue to be a problem until they are completely cleaned out. If you have the courage pull out all the kitchen drawers and look in the space behind them. Bring your spray and swatter.

They may even be coming in from outside. Make sure there are no cracks under doors they can squeeze through. They can get through really tiny cracks. Buy some roach motels and place them around the kitchen. They crawl in and can't get back out. Replace them weekly.

These are cheap options; an exterminator is the best answer.

Answer 4

DON'T WE ALL. No offense but they were here long before you moved in; long before the house was built; nearly as long as FIRE and/or WATER; have survived Nuclear bombs; and will definitely out live our species.

I have to chuckle...forgive me...Mid 1900's. I'm probably older than your house. Think of England/ Europe, and housing as old as 600 years, plus or minus.

I'm in Winter Haven; 90 minutes North of Tampa; and Roaches..."PALMETTO BUGS" are a fact of Florida life.
Treatments/ Boric Acid powder/Foundation perimeter STUFF/ will help; as will keeping a clean house (No offense) no pet foods left out; etc.

They also LOVE the stuff of cardboard boxes (Cellulose) and DRY/DARK...even in your junk drawer or cabinets. Completely Gone is likely an impossible mission; control is your best bet; but they find access points a dime can't fit through; and they don't exactly travel about when people are present.

Obviously you'll get answers touting all manner of HYPED products; and they offer some effectiveness. Obviously if a product PROMISED to rid your home of the insect permanently; they wouldn't be in business long.

Steven Wolf

ADD ON: Boric Acid powder; as I suggest and others do is a great deterrant, but not stricly toxic to Roaches as a POISON. It effects their exoskeleton; and they don't "INGEST" it; but it is toxic to kitties; dogs, and humans

Answer 5

1. keep your house clean and pick up any spilled food or drink immediately and clean regularly.
2. go to home dept or lowes and get some bug spray. do the perimeter of your house outside, around doors, crawl space vents, garages, any where that a bug could crawl into a crack the thickness of a dime.
3. spray around your baseboards, behind the fridge, under the sink and any out of the way places where bugs will cross from their hiding places to your kitchen.
4. Lastly, hire an exterminator
5. accept it, here in South Carolina, we call them palmetto bugs (but they are still roaches)

Answer 6

i am so glad you asked this question cuz i lived at my place for 2 1/2 years and never had a roach problem til the neighbors downstairs moved in now i see them everywhere. i wouldnt say it is an infestation but none would be better. i think i might try using that boric acid. if that doesnt work i suggest you move cuz thats what i am going to do if these methods dont help my problem good luck

Answer 7

Roaches hide in your walls and lay eggs there. Killing the ones you see won't help. I've heard that sprinkling Borax along your baseboards works for some people. The little critters walk in it and carry it home to the family. Some commercial roach traps have worked for me. I think Florida is a naturally buggy environment. Ask your older neighbors if they have a problem and for advice. If you have animals you have to be careful what you use and how.

Answer 8

I live in Alabama...pretty close to you. I had the same problem whe I moved to the state and it freaked me out because I keep a VERY clean house! They are looking for the basics--food and water--plain and simple. We got the do-it-your-self bug "bombs." They come in aresol cans and you have to set them off in pretty much every room and leave for a few hours--make sure you get the kind that lists roaches specifially. Then, get the little "roach hotels" they look like litle black squares that have holes in them. They have poison in them that they will eat and take to the others. I have one in every corner of my kitchen, one in my dry goods cabinet, one in my pantry, one in each closet and two in each bathroom. I'll tell you, for the first week or so, you will be cleaning up dead roaches, but after that, they will pretty much be gone. You'll need to re-bomb and replace the traps every few months, but it works

Answer 9

Here in Scotland, many stores sell an electronic gadget which emits an ultra high frequency sound inaudable to humans, which plugs into a power socket and supposedly keeps away all sorts of beasties, including roaches and even mice, by interfering with their natural wavelengths.
My old Mum bought one as she found a mouse in her house but didn't want to harm it. It seems to work for all sorts of pests. They cost around £14. which would be around 30 dollars and are available in many shops here, so I would assume they can be easily found in the US. Sorry I cant give you a specific brand or name.

Answer 10

Ok, we had this problem in my family when we moved and I'm gonna tell you exactly how to kill them. Go out and buy boric acid! It comes in a white powder form and just sprinkle some around the perimeter of your kitchen and on the counter tops before nighttime. Then clean it up in the morning and do this for about 1 week. They and all of their nests will be dead!

Answer 11

just spray for bugs and put some roach traps out that you can buy from the store. Make sure to keep food up also and keep the dishes washed before you go to bed.