How to Get Rid of Cockroaches

Cockroach Prevention Tips

Take Away Water

Roaches can go much longer without food than without water. During dry spells they move indoors looking for moisture, and in Florida’s rainy season, roughly June through September, flooded hiding spots push outdoor roaches inside. Cutting off water makes your home far less useful to them:

• Dry the sink, tub and shower floor before bed. A few drops left overnight is enough for a roach.
• Run water into floor drains and the drains of unused bathrooms every week or two so the traps stay full, and close sink stoppers at night.
• Pull the refrigerator out now and then and empty or clean the drip pan underneath.
• Pick up pet water bowls at night if your pets can do without them, and empty plant saucers that hold standing water.
• Outside, clean the gutters, adjust sprinkler heads that soak the foundation, and dump buckets, tires and other containers that collect rain.

Take Away Food

A roach needs very little food to get by, but steady access to crumbs and scraps lets a small group grow into a full infestation quickly. These habits shrink the supply:

• Use a trash can with a tight lid, take garbage out every night, and wash the can when it gets sticky. Rinse cans and bottles before they go in the recycling bin.
• Store flour, cereal, rice, sugar and pet food in hard plastic or glass containers with tight lids rather than the bags they came in.
• Clean grease off the stovetop, the range hood and the wall behind the stove. Roaches feed on grease film that most people never notice.
• Keep eating to the kitchen and dining room when you can. Snacks in bedrooms and on couches spread crumbs where nobody looks.
• Vacuum often where food is eaten and prepared, and empty the vacuum outside. This also picks up egg cases, which most sprays cannot get through.

Take Away Hiding Places

Roaches spend most of their lives out of sight, pressed into warm, dark, slightly damp spaces where their bodies touch surfaces above and below. Fewer of those spaces means fewer roaches.

• Clear out clutter such as stacks of newspapers and magazines, piles of clothes and bags stuffed under the sink.
• In garages and closets, store things in lidded plastic bins and keep them off the floor where you can.
• Keep mulch and pine straw thin near the foundation, and leave a strip of gravel or bare ground right next to the house. The large outdoor roaches breed well in deep mulch and poorly on bare, dry ground.
• Thin out ivy and dense ground cover along the walls, and trim shrubs so they do not touch the house.
• Check the outside of the house for openings around dryer vents and attic vents and under the garage door. Even large roaches can flatten themselves to slip through surprisingly thin cracks.
• In apartments, condos and duplexes, roaches travel between units through shared walls, often along plumbing lines. Seal openings where pipes pass through common walls, and tell building management if a neighbor has roaches.

Get Help From Florida Bug Control

Florida Bug Control’s All Seasons Protection is a quarterly plan that treats your home through the year for roaches and other common household pests, with no long-term contract. If pests come back between scheduled visits, we come back and re-treat at no charge. Call 1-855-624-2847 or schedule your free inspection online.