No one likes to think about roaches making themselves at home in their house, but in most cases any signs of a single roach indicates that an infestation has already reached an accelerated point.
Having roaches in your home can be hazardous to your health. Roaches carry thousands of germs and can travel to anywhere in your home effectively bringing those germs with them. The best thing to do is assess the level of infestation and figure out the best course of action from that point. You can hire a professional pest control company or do it yourself. Spraying one or two roaches with bug spray will not solve your infestation problems. Most commercial roach sprays repel roaches and may cause them to hide into deeper crevices in your home.
You can identify the level of infestation by finding out where they most commonly appear in your home. Look for small cracks where the tiles and walls meet. The spaces where built-in appliances and cabinets meet are another common place to find roaches. You should look for dead roaches, roach skin, and egg cases to find where they are most likely to breed. Roach dropping are a good indication that you are getting close to the nest. You can identify roach dropping by their brown dried appearance that at times can resemble sand or black pepper. Another good indication of roach droppings is that they give off a strong smell.
Once you locate these roaches the best thing to do is begin sealing any openings that may provide hiding spots for roaches. At this point you may want to start developing different habits that will starve any unseen roaches out like cleaning and degreasing ovens and stoves regularly. The area behind stoves, refrigerators and any other appliance that may hide crumbs or food stains are also great locations to keep free of food particles. It is also a good idea to put your garbage outside every night to avoid feeding these creatures any further. These pesky creatures see anything organic as food so things that you may not see as food can feed roaches for a long time.
Roaches feed on crumbs, grease, garbage, cotton, cardboard, wallpaper glue and even crayons. Roaches attract other roaches so it is a good idea to try and treat the problem as soon as possible. They leave a scent that attracts other roaches; these scents are usually left on porous surfaces because they absorb the scent. Look for roaches near cardboard, wood and paper surfaces.
You can keep up with the progress of your efforts by leaving sticky traps to gauge the amount of roaches still occupying your home. Sticky traps should be placed near food and water sources like kitchen cabinets and trash bins. Glue traps designed to catch rats and mice work just as well on roaches, just remember to bait the traps with roaches in mind. Another great way to trap roaches is to clean out a glass jar and grease the inner slope of the jar with petroleum jelly or non stick cooking spray. Put a piece of fruit or sugar in the jar and leave over night. This trap will catch the roaches alive but they will not be able to climb back out of the jar because of the lubricant.
You should try to eliminate any source of moisture like leaky pipes or air-conditioner drips. Starve roaches out by taking away any food sources like greasy countertops, stoves and garbage bins. Eliminate all hiding places by sealing cracks in windows and between cabinets and appliances. If you keep up with these details you stand a chance of eliminating roaches for good.