Cockroaches in your Columbus Indiana home?

If you have roaches in your Columbus home, you know how difficult it can be to get rid of them. Not only are they disgusting and pesky insects, 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 cockroach invasion.

Cleanliness in your kitchen is very important. Sweep and mop your floor on a regular basis, and be sure to get under baseboards, the stove, oven, and 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.

Take Out the Trash

Your trash may be disgusting to you, but it’s one of the cockroach’s 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 at 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 minuscule 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 and professionally 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 cockroach exterminator 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. If you would like to schedule a free inspection in or around the Columbus, Indiana area just click here to schedule an appointment. SCHEDULE FREE INSPECTION