Six Quick Cockroach Control Tips For Your Bradenton Home

If you have ever switched on a light in the middle of the night and seen cockroaches scurry for cover, you might have wondered, "How do those roaches get in?!" Maybe you've tried cleaning from top to bottom but they are still appearing "from out of nowhere." We are here to tell you that they are coming from "somewhere" and that there are ways to keep them in that "somewhere" and out of your home!

How Bed Bugs Get In

cockroach on rice

The Anatomy Of A Cockroach

The types of cockroaches we typically see getting into homes in our area are American, German, Australian, and Asian cockroaches. Although they are all unique, they have many similarities. These roaches have six legs with spikes protruding from them, two antennae, and a set of wings. They range in size from about ⅝ of an inch to 2 inches in length.

What's The Problem With A Few Cockroaches?

Some folks see a cockroach here and there and just shrug it off. A few roaches can't be much of a problem, right? Wrong. The fact is, cockroaches stay out of sight as much as possible. If you are seeing them out and about, especially in the daytime, then there are likely large numbers of them, just out of sight, inside your walls. This is a problem because roaches don't stay inside walls. They forage in filthy places such as sewers and dumpsters and then go back into your home to forage around on your kitchen counters, spreading disease-causing organisms.  

What Attracts Cockroaches?

There are conditions that attract cockroaches to homes. Cockroach attractants outside a home could be:

  • open garbage cans
  • accessible compost heaps
  • pet waste
  • vegetable gardens
  • fruit trees that have rotting fruit underneath
  • pet food
  • leftover barbecue items
  • standing water

Once roaches come in close for food or water sources, they can get into homes through gaps and cracks in foundations or through broken seals around windows or doors—among other things.

Six Cockroach Prevention Tips

Remove food sources: If roaches smell food—and to a cockroach, food can be anything from a hot dog bun to dog droppings—they will be interested in sticking around your property. Regularly clean your yard of anything that a cockroach might consider "lunch."

Remove smells: Roaches love to eat rotting materials. Having trash cans with tight-fitting lids is important. It is also a good idea to regularly clean those receptacles, inside and out, to reduce rotting materials and the smells they produce.

Get rid of moisture: If your property has water sources, lots of pests will be attracted to it. Make sure your gutters are working properly, trim back excess foliage so that the sun and air can reach the ground to dry things out, and fix any leaky spigots or hoses.

Seal up gaps and cracks in your home: Cockroaches can get inside in a number of ways. To keep them out, make sure you have intact weatherstripping and door sweeps on your exterior doors, seal up gaps in mortar and cracks in foundation walls, and make sure there are no gaps around plumbing and wire conduit that enter your home. You can also check your garage door and make sure there are no gaps underneath it.

Make your interior unappealing to roaches: If roaches get in and don't find what they want, they might turn around and head for the next house on the block. Keep your home clean of spills and crumbs. Vacuum regularly, both carpeting and furniture that might be hiding food crumbs. When cleaning the kitchen, make sure to get into hard-to-reach places such as between the stove and the cabinet to remove built up food particles.

Partner with the professionals at Keller's Pest Control: This is the best tip of all. Even if you are diligent at doing everything you can to keep roaches out, sometimes they still find ways to get inside. If you need help keeping these disease-causing bugs out of your home, or if cockroaches have already gotten in and you need help getting them out, give us a call today.

Stop wondering how roaches are getting in and take steps to get them out and keep them out, for good! This is easy with help from the pest experts in Bradenton at Keller's Pest Control. Get started on having a cockroach-free home today.