If you have roaches in your Cincinnati home, you know how difficult it can be to get rid of them. Not only are they disgusting and pesky creatures, but they seem to be invincible. If you’re desperate for relief from your roach infestation, take a look below for some tips and tricks on how to get rid of
them once and for all.
Keep It Clean
Food, water, and shelter are the major reason roaches like to come inside and make themselves at home. If you make these things easily accessible, chances are you will have a few roach visitors before too long. Keeping your home as clean as possible is the best defense against a roach invasion.
Cleanliness in your kitchen is especially important. Sweep and mop your floor on a regular basis, and be sure to get under baseboards, the stove and oven, and the refrigerator. Wipe up crumbs and spills immediately. Never leave dishes in the sink for long, especially overnight. Roaches love to come out and roam after everyone has gone to sleep, so a sink full of dirty dishes is like a
roach party waiting to happen.
Don’t leave food out on the counters – in fact, food storage is a big deal when it comes to roach prevention. Store food in airtight containers made of glass, plastic, or metal. Make sure you are checking all the nooks and crannies in your kitchen for crumbs that have been left behind. Any food source is fair game.
Vacuum in all other rooms on a regular basis, especially in areas where you eat. Crumbs that gather in the carpet are yet another food source for a roach. Wipe down crumbs or spills in these areas immediately as well.
Take Out The Trash
Your trash may be disgusting to you, but it’s one of a roaches favorite spots. If your trash doesn’t have a lid, this is an easy-access buffet for a roach. Invest in a trashcan with a lid, and empty your trash regularly. If you throw away food or liquids, take it out as quickly as possible. It’s also a
good idea to wipe your trashcans down on a regular basis. The food and gunk that builds up on and underneath these bins is just the kind of thing that roaches like to find.
Clear The Clutter
Piles of books, newspapers, magazines, and other items provide great hiding spots for roaches to hang out. Roaches aren’t picky about their meals, either. Paper, cardboard, and other non-food items are quite appetizing to a hungry roach. Keep clutter to a minimum, and never allow things to pile up on the floor. Rifle through stacks of books and magazines on a regular basis to make sure no one is hiding out inside. You might be surprised what you find.
Find Their Entry Point
Take a good look around your home for any cracks or gaps from the outside in. While roaches are great at finding miniscule spots to enter, a large gap that is visible to the naked eye is like an open invitation. Check around windows, doors, and any other entry points, and install weather stripping if
you can see sunlight. Also, make sure you have good screens that are free of holes or tears. Seal up any other cracks that you find with caulking, or call in a repairman if it’s a big enough hole that it requires a professional fix.
Bait Them
If you don’t feel like you have a full-blown infestation at this point and have only seen a few stragglers, you can attempt to take a do-it-yourself approach. However, it’s important to note that where you see one roach, there are likely many, many others. If you’re determined, though, invest in some roach bait. Roaches will eat the poisonous bait and take it back to share with their friends. Eventually, this should kill the majority of them off.
Place the bait where you know they will encounter it: areas where you have seen activity, or in the kitchen where they will likely be hunting for food. It’s important to note that this isn’t the quickest method, and it may take several weeks to kill them off. Also, always use care when using DIY pest
control methods. Keep children and pets away from the bait, and use care to keep it away from your food sources.
Call The Experts
If your methods have been unsuccessful, or you simply want to get the job done as quickly as possible, call in a pest control expert to help you out. These professionals likely have years of experience and will know exactly how to treat the issue to get your home roach-free as quickly and efficiently as possible. Roaches are notoriously difficult to exterminate, so using a professional technician is often not only your best bet, but the only one that will get the job done for good.
Roaches are most certainly an unpleasant intrusion in your home, but they are unfortunately one that most of us will encounter at some point in our lives. If you are prepared and knowledgeable,
getting rid of roaches in your home doesn’t have to be a nightmare. Follow the above tips and your home should be free of roach visitors before you know it.
