I think they are pretty difficult to get rid of. It has nothing to do with cleanliness. I guess I would try some bug bombs if it's not a real bad infestation. Your dog and all other pets and family members must be out of the house for at least four hours, longer would probably be better. If that doesn't work, I would call an exterminator. The quicker your action, the better.

Boric acid works in our outside buildings...

That close to the water, I think I'd call a professional.

Yes, it has nothing to do with cleanliness. Sometimes those little buggers just like free rent. I would act quickly before they multiply and probably call in a professional.

You couldn't live here. Most people would love to have just one roach in their house. Even the prim and proper people have them, though they may act like they don't. The other night I had the pleasure of a flying one.

Try a roach hotel.

Boric acid is the best--and take that from someone who lives in Florida! It is not dangerous for Teddy or for humans. You sprinkle it around baseboards and in cabinets and the roaches walk through it and carry it back to their nests. It's about the only thing that works to get rid of roaches. You can buy Roach-Prufe or just plain old 20 Mule Team. It'll all work. And trust me, it does work!

When our weather cools off is usually when we see a roach in the house. I don't know if it's because they don't like the cold or if it's because we have the windows open.

my daughter had an apartment during college that had them. we made balls from sweetened condensed milk, made stiff with borax, then placed them everywhere.....corners of cabinets, counters, stuck on walls, etc. the sweet part attracted them then the borax or boric acid killed them. it got rid of them.......

Our exterminator uses a herbal base spray that did not hurt the animals. He was very careful to spray under sinks, around the edges of the outside and we did have to keep the animals away from the spraying for about an hour. Don't know the name, but the name of the company is Western Exterminator in Lancaster CA. Don't know if they are still in business or not.

Bug bombs are considered a huge health and safety risk and shouldn't be used at all. Why they continue to manufacture them is beyond me.

Marie, was the stuff your exterminator used a pyrethrum/pyrethrin based chemical? If so, I'd be very wary of that around animals (especially cats), children, the elderly, anyone taking meds that may tax the liver, and anyone with a compromised immune system.

I ditto the recommendations for boric acid. Just don't let the animals munch on it. Try to get it behind the fridge, and in other hide-y places where roaches are likely to congregate. I also like the roach 'hotels'. They MUST be placed where that darling dog can't get to them.

Roaches love clean floors etc. If there is any soap
residue they go for it. Jae tn amazes me with her solution. Sounds great.
I had them in my first apartment here in VA and all the apartments around me had to be exterminated at the same time. So, I hope you don't live in a townhouse. Anyway, I wish you good luck. You will get rid of them.

Try the roach traps. They work great, no mess, slide them behind things and out of the dog's reach. Most brands will last at least 3 months before you need to replace them.

I second what Rhizo said about bug bombs. I made the mistake of letting hubby talk me into using one of those things... awful. It leaves a greasy, oily residue on EVERYTHING in your house. Never again!

Call the exterminator. Have them come quarterly. You might still find a few roaches but they should be dead.

Linda

I'm not sure if these would work but have you heard of Hedge Balls / Hedge Apples? They are big green balls (like the size of big orange) that fall from trees. I think they are natural insect repellants. May be worth a try. Not 100% sure they are safe for animals/pets so be sure to check into that if that is a concern.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hedge Apple

Was it by any chance a wood roach? I remember you showing pics of your back yard area, and the water and think they might be inhabiting the area. If so then I found this at the link below.

Wood roaches which are also called the Pennsylvania Wood roach, do not survive indoors which is probably the best news you have read so far. They require the consistently moist environment of their natural habitats such as under wood piles or loose bark and in decaying logs. So, unless your housekeeping is way below par, the presence of wood roaches is strictly a temporary annoyance. They usually die within a few days in the house, so a call to the exterminator is probably not required.

If Wood cockroaches are found anywhere inside the home, usually they are solitary. So, it's not necessary to go looking for the mate. Wood cockroaches do not reproduce or multiply inside. Since wood cockroaches do not establish themselves indoors and their presence is temporary (a few weeks, at most) during the spring, chemical pest control measures are rarely needed.

I often see them outside here in the wooded area near the house and on the walls of the front porch and the carport. Occasionally I find one inside, but it always has been just one at a time and then I don't see another one for months.

Sue

Here is a link that might be useful: Wood Roach

I was the maintenance supervisor for a major apartment complex in Florida for over 8 years, and for the first two years of that time we had a professional exterminator on a monthly contract, yet we were constantly receiving complaints from tenants about roach infestations that defy verbal description. Finally I took an exterminator course at the local technical school and boy was that an eye opener. Basically I learned that everything I thought I knew or had been told about roaches was wrong.

First off, attempting to kill roaches with a poison bait is at best a fools errand. Roaches do not eat nearly as much as one might expect. Roaches live approximately 45 days and one 1/4" diameter bread crumb will supply all the nourishment they need in their lifetime. Roaches do not eat sugar, in fact, a roach will starve to death if trapped in a sugar bowl. The absolute favorite food of roaches is the glue that is used to make paper grocery bags, and their next favorite food is cooking grease.

One of the first steps of controlling roaches is to throw out your grocery bags as soon as you unpack them. Not only does the glue on the paper bags feed the roaches, all the little nooks and crannies of paper or plastic bags is the ideal hiding & nesting place for roaches.

If you presently have an infestation make it a habit to put all your trash in plastic bags and tie them shut and remove them every evening before turning the lights out.

Lift the top on your cooking range and thoroughly clean any food spills or grease that has dripped down through the burners.

When looking at insecticide products at your grocery or hardware store read the label very carefully. Many of those products tell you to spray the product then sweep up and discard the dead bugs within an hour or so. That is because those products don't really kill the bugs. It only puts them to sleep for a while and if left out, they will wake up and run off to bug you again and again. Notice that on some of the cans they have a disclaimer that says if this product doesn't solve your problem you should contact a professsional extermination service, and some even have an 800 number for the service. Many of those products are not intended to kill the bugs because the manufacturer of that product also owns the professional extermination company they are recommending. Taking that to the next level, some unscrupulous exterminators do not want to kill your bugs. They spray enough to provide a level of control, but so long as even a few still remain, they have job security.

We have all heard the old wives tales about making balls of boric acid and condensed milk. The truth is, you can kill more roaches by chasing them with a fly swatter than what you will kill with those balls.

Boric Acid powder is one of the most effective products you can use, but only if applied correctly. If you can see the powder you have too much and it is no longer effective.

Roaches, or actually insects of all varieties do not have a nose to breathe with as we do. Instead they have holes on either side of their abdomen called spyrochetes and there is a tube through their abdomen that serves as a simple lung. If you spray a roach with an insecticide, then watch it, it will instantly stop and begin moving up and down like its doing pushups. It does that to hyper-ventilate to get the poison out of its system.

Roaches really are very clean in regards to their personal hygene. If they run throuhg a dust and get it on their feet, they will find a hiding place then begin preening themselves to clean the dust off. In the process of cleaning the dust off thier feet and legs some of that dust will get on the openings of their spirochettes (lung openings). Generally their is a little bit of moisture around those openings and the boric acid will cling to the moisture making a paste that plugs up the openings, then the bugs are literally choked to death. However, if we put the boric acid down too thick the surface of the boric acid will soon absorb moisture from the air, causing the surface of the powder to form a mud that dries and locks it together so the roaches can now run through it at will. The trick is to apply the product as a light dust so it cannot clump together.

For about $12 you can get a small puffer. The puffer is about 2" in diameter and 3" tall. The body of the puffer is a rubber tube with a spring inside and a metal cap on each end. On the top end there is a snap cap and on the bottom there is a short tube extending out about 6". To use the puffer you remove the cap and put 2 to 3 tablespoons of boric acid in the tube, then drop in a couple of little pebbles from your driveway and put the top back on. When you shake the puffer the pebbles will rattle around inside making a fine dust, then you put the tip of the puffer in the area you want to treat and squeeze it, and voila', a puff of air will shoot the boric acid out in a fine powder mist.

For best results you should use a liquid spray product as well as the dust.

One of the best spray products is a product called "Demon WP". WP means it is a wettable powder. AT $60 a pound Demon WP would seem expensive, but they also sell a 4oz package for about $15. (The 4oz package has 4 one ounce packs and each pack makes up a gallon of spray).

To use the liquid spray you will need a 1gal tank sprayer (available at any hardware or home supply center garden shop). Fill the sprayer 1/2 full of water then put one pack of the Demon in the sprayer, close it up and shake vigorously, then open the sprayer and fill to about 2" from the top of the tank. (you have to leave some space for air). Pump the tank up to build pressure and adjust the sprayer for a fine mist.

Now keep in mind that roaches do not eat much, but they need excessive amounts of water, so you will concentrate your spray efforts in areas where they have access to water, like under the kitchen and bathroom sinks where the plumbing pipes come in. Where the pipes actually come through the wall there is usually a little chrome escutcheon trim piece that covers the hole in the wall. Slip the escutcheon forward on the pipe and spray in the hole, then slide the escutcheon back in its proper place. Next, spray under, behind and in between your appliances in both the kitchen and laundry. Be especially critical of under the fridge because all frost free refrigerators have a drip pan where the condensate moisture goes before it evaporates. That is a prime location for roaches. Spray the inside of your trash basket before you put a bag in.

After you have sprayed you then wait till the spray is dry (about 1 hour) then begin using the puffer. Lightly puff into all cracks and crevices. Especially if their is a crack between your counter top backsplash and the wall. (A better solution is to caulk that gap after you have puffed it once).

If you have a real infestation, remove the cover plates from electrical switches and outlets and puff the dust inside the opening and electrical box, then replace the cover.

Put the tip of the sprayer down though the opening under your range burners and puff a bit of the dust in each opening. (I even puff a bit in the vent holes on the side of the microwave.)

For a worst case scenario, spray around the doors and windows of your house, then spray around the outside of the house about three feet up from the ground.

I am attaching a couple web sites where you can get the Demon WP, the puffers and one has a video on how to spray.

I would also like to mention that in addition to the boric acid, one of the cheapest and absolutely the most effective dusts is "DE Powder" (diatomacious earth powder". You may not be able to find DE powder in small quantities, but it is used on some swimming pool filters. If you go to a swimming pool supplier and explain to them what you want, they may have a broken bag and would just give you a 1/2lb or so. (A half pound would last a homeowner a lifetime...LOL)

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/demon-wp-insecticide-p-74.html

http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/demonwp.htm

puffer
http://compare.ebay.com/like/280589980513?ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

The safest (according to the Federal Government) insect deterrent is a simple Citronella candle. They cost about $10 in hardware stores. I like the smell, it's lemony. It doesn't kill insects, spiders and arthropds (centipedes) directly, but it will send them away. The candle does give off a little smudgey-black smoke, so you might need to clean a little more. Good luck! By the way, roaches often live in paper and cardboard, so it may have come in on your groceries.

I didn't know about cardboard boxes and plastic bags.
Since boxes are used for moving, it's a wonder we aren't all infested with them!

Years ago my ex-dh and I drove to Louisianna. We stayed at a beautiful B&B in Georgia. We were getting ready for bed and I saw this huge beetle on the floor. Hubby knew what it was right away, didn't tell me. Just grabbed his shoe and started to hit it.

Then it flew, and I dived under the covers.

The next morning at breakfast the owners said they heard him beating the floor with his shoe and they knew it was time to exterminate again. LOL

There used to be a powder called "Roach Proof"...it is actually boric acid but ground much finer into a powder.

Also years ago it was called Hyde.

When we first moved into our home in town (about 40 years ago) it had roaches. Not the little light brown kind but the big water bugs, which are actually roaches.

We bought the roach proof powder at K-Mart and poof they were gone.

I understand it is not harmful to animals.

The old advertisement for Hyde was "the better you Hide it the better it works" Meaning just put it along the edges and sweep it back into cracks and such. They will walk through it and eat it off their feet.

Just watch for the ingredient Boric acid. With that stuff around, no one should have roach problems.

patti

On Maui our complex is treated quarterly by Bug Man. We still have the occasional roach, which I usually deal with 'directly': Remove slippah, smack roach dead; dispose of roach; wash slippah.

We also have teeny, colorless water-loving ants. I doubt there is a food particle small enough for one of those to ingest, so I doubt they can be poisoned with food. They come and go. We do the same. Gotta LOVE those gekko's as 'exterminators'.

lazypup -- Verrrry interesting lesson on roaches. I've heard they can cause trouble for asthma sufferers; do you know if that's true? Perhaps roaches just happen to exist where there is some other cause present. Damp?

The comment that Jannie made "By the way, roaches often live in paper and cardboard, so it may have come in on your groceries" could very likely be how that roach got in your kitchen, and unless you see others or are seeing them outdoors too, it might be the only one around. How about just smashing it (which I'm guessing you probably did) and then waiting to see if you spot any others before taking any action. Doing it that way is completely safe for your pet, the environment, and everyone involved... except the roach!

We don't have much truble here in the PNW, but years ago when staying in Denver the small cabin we rented had them,(from the next unit). The owner gave up and called her uncle in New Orlens and got this answer. Take a leagle size envelope, mix about 1/4th 20 Mule team Borxo and a little less powdered sugar together. Then sprinkle on the trails. They eat the sugar and the broxo kills them. It worked, the extermators did not.

lazypup, are you talking about SPIRACLES??

rhizo,,,Thank You, I stand corrected. The breathing aparatus on roaches is
Spiracles"

"Spirochets" is a form of bacteria that is sometimes carried by insects.

I have also heard that the glue they used in home building is a virtual feast for roaches. My mother has roaches and we've been using the DE. This has been an ordeal for going on a year. Just when we think they are gone, you start seeing more and more. She can't eat or drink anything without first washing the dish/glass/silverware.

And a question... how would a roach get into a microwave?

Roaches cannot get into the cooking cavity on a microwave, but they can get into the cabinet where the electronics are through the cooling vents.

But while we are on the subject of microwaves. Did you know that roaches are not effected by radiation or microwaves?

While in tech school they pointed out that fact, and to prove it, we went into the lab and put some roaches in a glass dish with a lid on it, then set the dish and a cup of water in the microwave. We turned the microwave on for 15 minutes and it totally evaporated all the water, but the roaches were none the worse for wear...LOL

We also took a glass baking dish and put a piece of damp paper towel in it, then put a couple dozen roaches in and popped the lid on and set them in a 200degF oven for 30 minutes. When we took them out they were doing the pushup hyperventilation dance, but not one bug was dead.

I haven't read all the posts but found this in my old files maybe it can help
an interesting read in any event

8/24/99 -- 11:58 AM
Scientists say catnip repels cockroaches

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The stuff that puts the nip in catnip is a turnoff
for cockroaches.
One form of the chemical in catnip repels cockroaches 100 times better
than DEET, the basis for commercial bug repellents, Iowa State
University scientists told a meeting of the American Chemical Society on
Monday.
Chris Peterson and Joel Coats said they began studying catnip a few
years ago when a summer intern told them it was resistant to insects.
The pair boiled catnip leaves and distilled the active ingredient, a
chemical called nepetalactone.
Peterson also has found roach-repellant compounds in an inedible
softball-sized fruit called the osage orange or hedgeapple, but doesn't
know which specific chemical creates the roaches' ``yuck'' response.
The osage orange is sometimes sold in groceries because of folk wisdom
that putting the fruit in cupboards or basements will repel just about
any bug, they said. The fruits are filled with a sticky substance that
turns rubbery when exposed to air, they said.
The discovery could lead to new nontoxic methods for curbing the
tenacious insects, which are more than just an annoyance around the
house. The rate of asthma among children, particularly in cities, is
rising. Scientists say the reason is an allergic reaction to roach
excrement.
``We've been chasing cockroach treatments for three years,'' Dr. Peyton
Eggleston, a pediatrics professor at Johns Hopkins University Children's
Center, told The (Baltimore) Sun. ``If you could do it with a repellent,
that would be great.''
The researchers tested repellent power by flooring a cage with treated
and untreated filter paper, and measuring how much time the roach spends
on each side during a five-minute test.
Although most people would prefer to kill roaches outright, a repellent
might be an effective way to keep them out of the house after the
exterminators have left.
So far, they have only studied the small brown German cockroaches,
rather than their thumb-sized American cousins. They are just beginning
to look at mosquitoes.
Roaches have sense organs on their antennae, feet and mouths. The
``feelers'' seem to be the spot affected by both catnip and osage
oranges, the researchers said.
They have not tested the effectiveness of spreading catnip leaves around
the house. While it might help turn away a swarm of cockroaches, it
could lead to a new infestation - writhing, blissed-out cats.

Thank you SO much for the many responses! I haven't seen another roach since then, so I'll probably put out a little boric acid and be done with it.

I have seen a few (3-4) roaches in the garage, and I also want them OUT of there.

Thanks again for such GREAT responses!

Rose

You can get those sticky cardboard things in the stores and lay them out around openings in the Garage they catch a lot of things so let DH check them out

When my old GF was around she never could close the door all the way and I didn't have roach problems but I did have cricket issues from it. And once a couple crickets get in they're noisy and you usually wind up with a bunch. I've used boric acid. I've used the little roach traps that are essentially a cardboard box with adhesive in it. They walk in and get stuck. I figured there must be a cheaper way. Some spray adhesive in a paper towel tube worked, then I had some in the living room the one night and couldn't put up with the noise so I just got out a roll of the silver miracle (aka handyman's secret weapon, a roll of bolts, gray gold, bachelor's sewing kit, etc) and laid it out along the wall. They seldom run across the floor. They like it darker and tend to hang against the walls. Caught them in less than 20 min. Duct tape does it again!