Roaches!

[Anoneemus]

No, I'm not talking about the good kind. German cockroaches. I've found a bunch of them since I moved into this new place, and although it's temporary, I am still completely grossed out. Landlord sprays outside and doesn't want to pay to have the inside taken care of, so has anybody else tried a solution that actually works? Specific product brands/chemicals would be helpful.

[inscribed]

fire is the only way.

[The Professor]

I do not know where you live, but it is mandatory that your landlord deal with infestations. It is a requirement that he provide a good living condition. Confront him with the issue and ask that he spray in your building, after he does, continue to use several different kinds of products that kill roaches, buy several and use them all, one or all is bound to work. Of course, this is if you do not have children, then it can be a bit of a problem finding the right thing that will not prove to be too dangerous for your child, read labels. I, luckily, do not have that to deal with, but I know of people who live in an appartment complex and have the same problem as you.

[Pieman]

Shameless Plug for my Work:

Home Depot carries Raid Roach Out, which is a spray. I believe you need to spray and then stay out for like a day and don't spray near food/children. But then you just have a handful of dead roaches lying around.

Home Depot also carries a Roach Dome (Also made by Raid) which is like a roach motel but it doesn't look like one it just looks like a little black dome so you don't see it all. Just put a couple of those down and throw them away every couple weeks.

[Grim_Reefer]

Shameless Plug for my Work:

Home Depot carries Raid Roach Out, which is a spray. I believe you need to spray and then stay out for like a day and don't spray near food/children. But then you just have a handful of dead roaches lying around.

Home Depot also carries a Roach Dome (Also made by Raid) which is like a roach motel but it doesn't look like one it just looks like a little black dome so you don't see it all. Just put a couple of those down and throw them away every couple weeks.

I don't know why, but that made me laugh my *** off for literally 3 minutes.

[Dale]

I don't know why' date=' but that made me laugh my *** off for literally 3 minutes.[/quote']

that made me laugh for about 2.

[Montahg]

Search for any product from the "Tempo" line of products. It is made by Bayer, if I remember correctly. I worked in exterminating for a little over a year, and we would use Tempo SC Ultra for spraying in houses for spiders, roaches, beetles - just about everything.

You'll also need a cheap spray canister from walmart. (Should be less than ten bucks or so).

The chemical will probably run you about 40 bucks, but will last you at least a year if you spray every month.

If there are a lot of roaches, or if the infestation is really bad, anything over the counter is probably not going to do the trick - you need a kill rate of 90% to be effective. Like masterofpie said, don't spray near food, dishes, toiletries, children's toys, etc. etc. You do, however, need to do as thorough a job as possible by getting into each and every corner - try and think like a roach

Also, all chemicals are regulated so much these days, that there is practically zero chance of it being harmful to humans. (For termites, we used the same chemical that is in Frontline (the flea control for pets) - and Frontline was about 100 times more concentrated than our stuff!)

Having said all of that, I really suggest one of three things...either go get the chemical and do it yourself, then send your landlord copies of the receipt and refuse to pay that amount on your next month's rent, or have a professional come out and do it and again refuse to pay that amount on next month's rent, or follow prof's advice and tell your landlord he's required to do it himself, and that you aren't paying rent until he does (but be polite!).

Good luck.

Edit: Most chemicals don't require you to leave, they just need to be left alone long enough to dry - 20 or 30 minutes. Make sure you read and follow the instructions on the label! You *don't* need to make it over-concentrated, and most importantly, you're NOT drowning the roaches with the chemical either (I trained a co-worker once who must have thought the idea was to flood the bugs in chemical).

[Imoutgoodbye]

I don't know about roaches, but if you want a cheap and effective bee killer, buy some starting fluid.

[Sirax]

Gather them all together in one huge box and open it up at your landlords place, it was his problem to start with after all

On a serious note cover you arse if you are renting your landlord should deal with that ****, what would happen if you had an accident pouring the chemicals and the fag in your mouth fell out or some other **** that caused the destruction of his property I can tell you he will be screaming breach of tenancy agreement right away.

[Montahg]

Gather them all together in one huge box and open it up at your landlords place, it was his problem to start with after all

On a serious note cover you arse if you are renting your landlord should deal with that ****, what would happen if you had an accident pouring the chemicals and the fag in your mouth fell out or some other **** that caused the destruction of his property I can tell you he will be screaming breach of tenancy agreement right away.

Not entirely sure how flammable the chemicals are...but I'd hope you wouldn't smoke a cig while spraying

[Anoneemus]

Not entirely sure how flammable the chemicals are...but I'd hope you wouldn't smoke a cig while spraying

At least I hope he was talking about cigarettes...

[Deykari]

Rofl.

Dey

[mya]

We have roaches where i live, but they never bother me. And we never spray except for ants when i forget to take the trash out and we are invaded.

My father bought a strange box that emits "ultrasounds" that is said to keep them away, and it kinda works. As we have seen less of them since installation.

We also have these lovely roach eaters that probably keep them in check.

Also, have you heard about this Vegas roach trap ?

Sounds interesting if it works.

I personally hate chemicals and venoms. I tend to think they will end up doing more harm than good.

By the way how deep is your infestation ?

Groups partying in the counters at night, or fleeting single ones at bathroom in the night ?

[archgold]

if you hate chemicals and venoms, yet at the same time don't want other bugs running around eating cockroaches (even if they are beneficial) you might want to invest in a simple slipper you can smash those buggers with! Yes, the old fashioned way works quite well. You find those damn roaches in a corner partying in the middle of the night and smash them into bits and chase down those that try to fly away! Grrrrr...take that!

[Anoneemus]

We have roaches where i live, but they never bother me. And we never spray except for ants when i forget to take the trash out and we are invaded.

My father bought a strange box that emits "ultrasounds" that is said to keep them away, and it kinda works. As we have seen less of them since installation.

We also have these lovely roach eaters that probably keep them in check.

Also, have you heard about this Vegas roach trap ?

Sounds interesting if it works.

I personally hate chemicals and venoms. I tend to think they will end up doing more harm than good.

By the way how deep is your infestation ?

Groups partying in the counters at night, or fleeting single ones at bathroom in the night ?

Basically the second one, I'll see between 1-3 every night near the kitchen. I try to kill them but I'm deathly afraid of insects, so like I said, my methods involve throwing shoes and if that doesn't work, I go in my bedroom and close the door.

How the hell can you live with those centipedes? I would rather deal with roaches than those things.

[Deykari]

if you hate chemicals and venoms' date=' yet at the same time don't want other bugs running around eating cockroaches (even if they are beneficial) you might want to invest in a simple slipper you can smash those buggers with! Yes, the old fashioned way works quite well. You find those damn roaches in a corner partying in the middle of the night and smash them into bits and chase down those that try to fly away! Grrrrr...take that![/quote']

I may be wrong here, but aren't you supposed to NOT smash cockroaches? Like it 'unleashes their sack' of eggs or something...

Can't remember if this is right or not.

Dey

[Quigt]

I've heard boric acid/borax works against ants, but I'm not sure if that works with cockroaches too. Wouldn't hurt to try, and it's not as toxic.

[goldbond]

boric acid does work pretty well. fill a bowl from the kitchen halfway with it, place it in the kitchen. one in the utility room, one in bedroom. only problem is that your pets might be dumb enough to try and drink it. it wouldn't <> them or anything, they would just be crying for awhile and never drink out of that bowl again.

[archgold]

well smashing is a quick temporary way to get rid of them. To get rid of them permanently or at least as close as you can get them is to dribble a bit of roach killing stuff, not sure what's it called I'll find it on google sometime later. What happens is u dribble a small puddle on a piece of paper and they'll go eat it, basically it's poison. They die later.

[Cephirus]

Boric acid is the best method I know, and I have had to deal with my fair share of cockroaches. What you do is mix it with sugar. It will take some time for the roaches that do go for it to die, when they do, leave them there, let the other roaches eat those roaches, and the poison sprends like wildfire. I have seen a home with a horrifying infestation reduced to little to no roaches in a matter of a week using this formula. The key of it is to let them eat the poisoned ones, that way the poison keeps spreading, and boric acid is some nasty poison for them.

['tarako]

'osage oranges. Very good against bugs. Yeah. on the topic of vegas traps and such, a good way of getting rid of fleas is a bowl of water that has some dish soap in it to cut surface tension, surround it with white paper and put a desk light aimed at it. amazing results.

[Ex-D&Der]

It's all about setting up a good defensive perimeter and then mounting a multipronged attack against the infiltration.

1. Seal up all cracks and crevices.

2. Clean the apartment very thoroughly and keep it extremely clean.

3. Boric acid around baseboard, in drawer wells, behind counters.

4. Combat roach baits every three months.

5. Professional exterminator once a month.

Remember, this is literally a war of extermination. Every roach can lay hundreds of eggs. You cannot show any mercy until every last roach is dead.

[Montahg]

1. Seal up all cracks and crevices.

2. Clean the apartment very thoroughly and keep it extremely clean.

3. Boric acid around baseboard, in drawer wells, behind counters.

4. Combat roach baits every month.

Steps 3 and 4 are not as effective as a professional exterminator.

Right on with Step 3, but I wanted to add some more : put any chemical in every dark and damp place you can find, as that is where they're most likely to hide.

[elfdude]

if you hate chemicals and venoms' date=' yet at the same time don't want other bugs running around eating cockroaches (even if they are beneficial) you might want to invest in a simple slipper you can smash those buggers with! Yes, the old fashioned way works quite well. You find those damn roaches in a corner partying in the middle of the night and smash them into bits and chase down those that try to fly away! Grrrrr...take that![/quote']

Every time I end up doing something like this I break something in my house though. Im half asleep so I just run on instinct and its like im charging into battle, happened with a mouse and me three months ago. I was kinda blacked out but I remember the mouse but I don't remember the bent fridge handle or broke bar stool

[Anoneemus]

Thanks guys for all your suggestions, I think I like Cephirus's the best. It's clearly the most insidious.