Cockroaches are one of the most annoying insects. Roaches seem to be everywhere; they get into tightly sealed cabinets and run disarmingly fast. Even though they are tiny these insects can run at 60 centimeters per second. Scale that up to human size, and it’s like running 70 miles per hour.
Is Your Apartment Building Infested With Cockroaches?
For many Americans that live in apartment buildings, roaches may be something difficult to avoid. For example, when a family in one apartment unit doesn’t clean and dispose of food properly that unit will get infested with roaches, the roaches will live inside the walls and eventually travel to other apartment units. After a few weeks or months, the cockroaches have infested the entire.
You Aren’t Sealing the Cracks or Holes in the Walls
The easiest and fastest way cockroaches get into your home is by going through cracks in the walls. This is something most of us don’t think about sealing when we first move in but the smallest crack or hole in the wall is an invitation for any cockroach. The holes these insects come through are the holes that are left in the drywall when you or an old tenant drill when they want a nice picture frame to go up. After the picture frame is removed the hole that was drilled or hammered in the wall is wide open. Even though some people might think cockroaches might not fit through there, the smaller juvenile roaches will squeeze through there with ease.
Cracks from uneven floor tiles or open spaces that were left undone by the apartment renovator are another way cockroaches enter your home. The open space might just be a few centimeters but that’s all these insects needs.
Do Cockroaches Come Out at Night While You Sleep?
Just like many insects, cockroaches are nocturnal. This means that while we sleep they eat. By coming out at night, cockroaches have a higher chance of avoiding danger than humans. The insects will feast on your dirty dishes, food that’s been dropped on the floor, and food that’s been left outside. By the time morning comes around the cockroaches have dined in a buffet of leftover food and they could go back between the walls of your apartment unit to mate.
Your Home Might be a Breeding Ground for Cockroaches
After the cockroaches have crawled out of the cracks of the wall and feasted on your dirty dishes, the roach will go back to find a partner and mate. The average American female roach can reproduce 2 egg capsules a week, each containing 16 eggs, that’s about 150 young in a lifetime. Reproducing at an alarming rate, cockroaches will infest the average apartment building in months.
Cockroaches Are Usually in Older Apartments
Roaches are more common in older homes, a report by Low Income Housing of California reported that cockroach infestation was more common in older apartments and houses. However, the report also has shown that roaches are usually present in Section 8 rentals and urban areas.
What Should I Do to Get Rid of Cockroaches?
In order to get rid of cockroaches you will need to do a few things:
- Patch the holes and cracks in your halls. By patching the walls you prevent more roaches from coming into your home.
- Clean your counters and mop your floors. This will help get rid of the food that cockroaches are looking for.
- Set traps with bait food in the middle. By setting traps you will be able to catch the roaches that roam in your home at night.
- Kill them when you see them. Killing them on sight will prevent them from reproducing
- Buy a can of Raid. Spray the corners of your kitchen, the inside of your cabinets, around your refrigerator, and around your kitchen sink. Raid kills cockroaches on sight.
