Roaches - Houston,TX

hey J.,

yikes, i feel for you guys. my friend had the same problem at her apartment and found out that it was the neighbor in the adjoining apartment that lived very disgustingly.....

if products don't work ask the apartment complex to investigate.

good luck

Before you move in the next place go to walmart and get some gel type pest control in a expoy type container. Put his in all the cracks of you kitchen cabinets and the hinges on the doors it is safe. i got this info from my cousin who is exterminator in tenneessee.Also anything you move wipe down with ammonia my mother did that when moved years ago and we have no more roaches. Good luck.

you can set off the bombs. just go to the park or somewhere for a few hrs. Don't forget to put some roach baits in the boxes you have already packed or you will take them with you. As long as the whole house is not being treated you will probably not get rid of them, especially if they are in other apts too. Sorry to say.

Pack the kids up for the day, and BOMB the whole place, then have the Apt. come and spray again. The kids will be fine

Hi J.,

What has worked for me are those chalks from the 99 cents stores or you can even find them at the fleamarkets....try not to store things in cardboard boxes....roaches love them....try buying little by little some tote canisters they are awesome.....

Have you gotten rid of the boxes yet? Believe it or not these boxes often have roach eggs and roaches will continue hatching out of these. Throw out the cardboard boxes and get an exterminator to come in and do a good treatment. If you need a recommendation let me know. They should treat the entire apartment.

A clean house is not a guarantee of no roaches (just makes them harder to see because they have to really search for what they're looking for) and in an apartment or duplex, spraying does no good unless all of your neighbors exterminate at the same time as well as spraying all storage areas. (Experience talking) Try sprinkling Borax around the toilet, under all sinks, back corners of cabinet shelves, around & under all appliances & furniture, closet floors & shelves and anyplace you can get some into. (A turkey baster works great for squirting under things without having to move them.) You can sprinkle some in the bottom of each box as you start packing it also. This is still no guarantee than you won't take some of them with you. I wish you luck.

I had the same problem when we lived in an apartment. One thing the exterminator told me was to avoid contact paper for the shelves. The roaches love the tacky glue underneath. I bombed the apartment twice before I left, and had the exterminator spray the new place to be sure. Knock on wood, so far so good!! Good luck!

OK. I don't have any pest issues, but I get this product from Home Depot. It is called Home Defense (white container). I spray all the corners and underneath cabinets and we have not had any issues with pests or kids getting sick. I just have everything at the bottom of the closets pulled out and spray along the baseboards and we are good to go. As soon as an ant trys to cross where I spray it dies. It really works. I spray about every 3-6 months, Every now and then I may find a dead bug that has crept in somewhere but they won't get any further.

Good Luck!!

J., my Mother had roach problems when she lived in an apartment. She would fog her apartment every few months. You not only have your apartment to deal with but your neighbors as well. You'll get rid of them but if your neighbors do nothing, the bugs travel from apartment to apt. Also fog really well before you move so you aren't packing them to the new place; and as someone else said, fog the new home before moving in. Fogging consistently seems to be the only hope for apartment dwellers in particular. We are getting ready to fog our house, last night a scorpion crawled into the living room - yuk. Good luck.

Similar story here. A while back when we moved in there was an infestation, we tried sooooo many things, but it only seemed to multiply them. *shivers*

Then I found Maxforce FC Magnum, its a gel that you inject into cracks and crevices, baseboards and where the ceiling meets the wall. You can get it here http://tinyurl.com/DIYpestcontrol
They even have free shipping, and user reviews on the products.

I received it within a few days and immediately applied it all over the house. I ordered the three pack, we still have 1 1/2 left...and I have re-applied several times. It's a little 'slow going' but after a week, I was amazed. No smell, no worry of the kids getting into it, or being affected by it. This stuff was totally worth the $$$ and IMO very affective.

If you decide to try it and have any questions feel free to leave me a message.

Good luck, I know its a pain.

Just bomb the heck out of them. I don't like chemicals either, but I also don't like the serious diseases like typhoid fever and cholera, dysentery, etc that roaches carry. "The cockroach is a very significant threat to public health as it is a mechanical carrier of germs and diseases. It may also pass on parasitic worms, the viruses of poliomyelitis, and other microorganisms such as those carrying hepatitis A and leprosy," “Health Alert.” So, if regular pest control hasn't helped, bomb now, bomb right before you move and bomb again at the new place the day before you move in.

clean your house really good. Spray bengal around your baseboards, over your door ways, in every corner. Bengal is the best!

in all the appartments i have ever rented from the land lord took care of pests.

No need to be embarrassed. I live in the country and sometimes nature just happens to come in and you just deal with it. In the past we have had issues with water roaches and as a kid I remember house-sitting for my aunt and her house was infested beyond belief. We stayed a week and My mom used simple boric acid powder. We put along all the baseboards behind the stove and refrigerator, furniture and I even recall my mom spraying some into the uncovered outlets. I wouldn't recommend you do basebaords with little ones but definitely behind areas they can't reach. By the time my aunt returned she no longer had roaches. When I had the issue with water roaches my baby was crawling so what I did was emptied out my cabinets and moved my furniture away from the wall and sprayed along my base boards. I did this once my children were down for the night then I went with my good old Kirby and vacuumed all the powder up except for the areas behind the stove and refrigerator. Then I mopped and wiped up any residue. The poweder is fine so it will stay in the cracks and crevices the roaches hide in. Then I just swept out the dead roaches. Not the most natural method but its worked for me.

Since you are moving, see if you can spray your new place prior to moving items in. That way, if any made their way into boxes, the will die off soon.

Congrats on your fifth baby and your move!

Roaches like cardboard boxes and lay their eggs in them. FYI I know, that makes packing expensive but you might try to get those mail crates made out of plastic, use plastic bags and reusable bags, ect. try to stay away from cardboard.

Also, get the natural powder they sell for bedbugs. It scrapes the underside of the bugs and they dehydrate and die. The liquid roach baits work well too.

S., married 7 years, homeschooling mom to four girls ages 2-6 and missing Benjamin Isaiah born sleeping in March

Hi Jessie. I would recommend either Bayer or Ortho Indoor/Outdoor spray. It is safe for pets and children and VERY effective. You spray around windows and doors and all baseboards. I have treated the house while my son was asleep and this kills/keeps out all kinds of pests besides roaches, like silverfish and spiders. It dries so unless your children lick the floor, i think it will be safe. Both claim to be effective for about 9 months but it has been my experience that they actually last about one year. We treat our home once a year, inside and out. They each cost about $12 or so at walmart. You can find them at the garden center.
Good luck!

My hubby works in pest control and he says it will be next to impossible to completely eradicate them by yourself. But if you must ... do not use cardboard boxes. (I realize that in itself will be hard.) Roaches love cardboard and they're hitchhikers. They also love electronics which maintain internal heat sources like cordless phones, microwaves, tv's, steros, etc. Check to see if they're in there. If there are any roaches in them and you do want to take the appliance with you, place gel bait for German roaches on the outside of the appliance. Make sure it's unplugged. You could also enclose it with a bag and leave it outside in the sun with the gel bait. He also said that the best thing would be to treat the new home before you move in. That way any stowaway roaches that do go with you will be killed off at the new place. Good luck!

Hi J.,

Don't be embarassed. Unfortunately, roaches are a fact of life for just about every apartment dweller in central Texas. Once they get into one apartment, they are in them all.

When we moved from our last rental into our first house, I was determined not to move the roaches with us, so I took some pretty drastic (and somewhat expensive) measures. It was worth it. In the years since purchasing our home, we have never had a roach problem.

First, I sprayed the inside of every box before packing it. Then, after we had the truck completely loaded, I set off a bug bomb in it. We had a bit of a drive between locations, so there was time for it. As we unpacked, everything had to be cleaned before putting it away. It was a lot of work, but worth it. Next, I removed all of the carboard boxes as soon as they were empty. Didn't want to risk having any eggs hatch in there. Next, I put out those roach bait trays everywhere to get any survivors. (There actually were a few--I think they could survive a nuclear blast.)

Last, I got some of those electronic pest preventer things. You keep them plugged in and they transmit some kind of high-pitch frequency that scares away bugs and rodents. We do see a rare, occasional sugar ant or spider after it rains, but otherwise, our home has remained pest free for years.

Hope this helps, B.

P.S. I just recieved a response from another mama that made me realize I need to clarify the way we used the bug bomb in the moving truck. It could be dangerous. First, it was cool when we moved, so heat wasn't an issue. Also, we didn't move the truck until after the bomb had finished dispensing. The distance gave the already dispensed poison time to work. Please, don't set one of those things off in a moving vehicle. Who knows what could happen?

I own several apartments and it is the property managers/landlord's responsibility to handle pest problems, especially if they were there b/f you. This is something that should have been reported to management as soon as you saw the first insect. They are required by law to provide an insect/pest-free environment to paying tenants. This may be too late to help you in this instance since you are moving, but it may help you in the future.

You need to inform the apt manager. It does you no good to spray for the bugs if they are in the other units surrounding you as well. They will just migrate. They need to spray yours and all surrounding units for any treatment to be effective.

Your best bet at this point, is to pack up what you can and rent a storage unit so that you do not carry the roaches to your new place.

J.:

Living in apartments are homes connected to others can be a nightmare for fighting roaches. Until we bought our single family home we lived in a townhome which for years my home was roach free until my next door neighbor moved to SanAntonio when her hubby lost his job. The new lady was not as clean and we started having roach problems and I paid 2 exterminators and the home would stay roach free for a week and then go back to a roach disco. Well I would bomb the apartment and wipe the counters and mop afterwards and still roaches. Since you are about to move, I would suggest that you either ask your ajoining apartments if they are having roach problems and see if they would be willing to bomb their apartments at the same time you do yours. Roaches will run next door if you bomb and your neighbors don't. Your management office should do it for all of you at least once a year. I would bomb again just before you pack to move to make sure nothing follows. Especially around the fridge's motor. Actually roaches are more harmful than the bug spray to your kids, they carry disease and cause asthma. Keeping a clean home, not leaving food laying around, sealing garbage containers and teaching your kids to eat at the table really help. Good luck.

Walmart sales an orderless white big bottle of pestisides that it is safe to spray inside your home do it and they will disappear. Must keep up with it so you can get them all.

This maybe a bit of a pain but what I'd do is get some large plastic storage bins which seal pretty good (if you get the ones w/wheels that can hold a lot, they're easier to use rather than carrying them you can pull/push them) & check each & EVERY single thing you put in them. Even if you hafta re-wash the clothes, take the roller-bin w/you & put your clothes in it away from the apt whether it's in the laundry mat or in the laundry room if your apt has one. Then go thru everything to make sure there are no bugs in it & place in the plastic bin. If you MUST use boxes, use fresh boxes (we get ours at WalMart or grocery store where they have good size boxes, usually the cereal isle has the best! Use fresh newspapers (there are usually 'freebie' 'junk' papers available, you just hafta look for them like at the stores or laundry mats) & leave boxes in vehicle til ready to use. Bring one at a time in if you have to, to avoid bugs getting in them or just check them first before filling, even under the inside bottom flaps if they're not glued down since bugs can hide anywhere. Then, I'd do the same thing as w/the plastic bins but don't walk away from a box til it's full & taped up tight, sealing every corner w/tape not just across the top. seal the bottom areas too. Then before placing in the vehicle, look the box over carefully to make sure there's not any stow-aways. This may be a pain & use a lot of tape for you to do but at least you know you did everything you could possible to avoid transferring the bugs. If your apt has a patio area, you may want to put the boxes out there to fill if you feel safe to do that w/o causing a lot of "looky-loos". Good luck!

Don't be embarrassed with what is going on. What happens is that you exterminate and they go next door, they then do the same and they come right back. I was talking to someone the other day and they use the new plug in pest repellents and have not seen any roaches or mice. We have that problem all of the time and it is nothing you can do about it. Try that and see if it helps. It should keep them from coming back once you get rid of them and it does not use any type of toxins that can hurt your family. That is always important to me also. I hope this helps.

If you will place small dishes( we used empty jar lids) filled with boric acid (you can buy in walmart,CVS....any drug store) under furniture... in cabinets....window sills....they will die and you will be bug free!

go to Bed, Bath and Beyond and purchase the RIDDEX gadget. It only cost 14.99 and it is not harmful to children or pets.

Hello J.,

Tell your apartment manager not only to do your apartment,do the surrouding appartments as well. After, sometime roaches become immune to sprays so you will have to change your brands. If who he is using or what he is using does not work. Send him a certified letter, stating he has 10 days to comply and fix the issue or you will outsource exterminator yourself and request reimbursment.

Cedar chips work too. For some reason I am not sure of they do not like them. In areas , be very,very careful you can try at your own descresion boric acid. These areas are like behind frig,stove, back of lower sink cabinets behind lower cabinets if you can get to it. It is cheap, when the roaches walk through it they suffocate.

Hi J.,
I never found anything except poison to work. I tried all the nonpoisonous things I could find. When you move, exterminate the new home before you get there. Don't fall for that "unscented" joke. Some of those smell worse. Let the new home air out before you move your family in so they and you are not breathing the highest concentration of it. Spray each and every box or container inside before you pack it so if any roaches/eggs are in the cardboard box, they will not move into the new home with you. Tape them closed so the kids don't get into them. Get the boxes out of the new home as soon as they are unpacked so if a roach is in the box, it is removed before it can reinfest. It is a good likelihood that they are already in the storage closet. Roaches eat paper, cardboard boxes and glue. Lastly, pack a suitcase and some kitchen gear that you can get to easily for a couple of days that has not been sprayed so you don't have to immediately start washing dishes or clothes to take care of the kids. Plan on using paper plates/cups for a few days just so you can make the best headway on unpacking and getting those boxes out of and far away from the house. In every 3rd box or so, place a lightbulb, roll of toilet paper and a Cascade individual dishwasher pouch, so you won't have to open 20 boxes to find a necessary item. Arrange a box with paper towels, all purpose cleaner, mop, broom and vacuum cleaner w/new bag to be the last box moved. Then you can clean the empty apt with all the stuff necessary plus have those things handy for the new home. We are long time campers, so we keep a coffee pot and an electric skillet, spatula and good paring knife together. That way, you have the essentials to feed the crew. When we moved a great distance, our belongings came 2 wks later, so I packed a sleeping bag, pillow, doll or toy and a game for each child and a suitcase w/ clothes for a week. So we played "camping". The kids thought it was fun. HTH
ps. Ditto a roach bait in each box packed!

Dear J.,

I would not fog with your little one's around. The very oily substance gets into carpet and crevices and you don't want your little one's ingesting it. There is a great local company called Advanced Pest Control that might be able to help you. They use non-toxic substances. Their phone no is ###-###-####. One of the other moms wrote that you are fighting an uphill battle when you live in apts and your neighbors aren't as clean as you are, because the roaches will come back when the toxicity has subsided. Good luck.