Few things will make you more uncomfortable in your own home than the sight of a cockroach skittering across the floor or darting away as you open a cabinet door. Homeowners should focus on prevention so that they never have to deal with an infestation in the first place, but what do you do if you’re already dealing with the problem? Let’s have a look at how to exterminate roaches and keep them gone.
Strategies for Roach Prevention and Control
• Clean Your Home With Roaches in Mind
While roaches are often associated with filthiness, clean homes can become infested as well. Trash is a common problem area that many people overlook. All inside trash containers should be covered. Outside containers should be covered too. Anything too big to fit in an inside container, such as a pizza box, should be taken outside immediately. Food scraps should be taken outdoors right away as well.
• Eliminate Food and Water Sources
Roaches can get into your home through a myriad of crevices, and they’re looking for food and water. If you eliminate those sources, your home becomes a less desirable destination for them. Never leave dirty dishes out for an extended period. Store all food in sealed containers, including pet food. Pet food and water dishes are often a common oversight. Put them up overnight if possible.
• Dehumidify Your Home
Dehumidification is a powerful tool when it comes to how to exterminate roaches and prevent them. Roaches prefer high humidity levels, and if you can keep humidity in your home low enough, you can make the environment all but inhospitable to roaches and other pests, including dust mites.
• Use a Cockroach Spray
Cockroach sprays aren’t the answer when it comes to how to exterminate roaches long term, but they are an effective tool to have in the moment when you see a cockroach and want to get rid of it. These sprays also work with a wide range of other insects and are a useful tool to have around the home.
• Employ Cockroach Baits
Readymade roach traps are available at your local grocery and hardware stores and can be placed in kitchens, bathrooms, and other problem areas. They’re effective at stopping infestations in their tracks. They can even eliminate infestations that are fully underway, but that can take some time. You can also consider using natural alternatives, such as boric acid and diatomaceous earth.
Call a Professional
The techniques above will help you to avoid cockroach problems in the future, and you can even overcome an infestation on your own, but that is a task that will take some time. A professional treatment is how to exterminate roaches quickly and comprehensively, and you may want to consider annual treatments if roaches are a reoccurring issue. If your home is in Charleston, Columbia, Florence, or the surrounding areas of South Carolina, we encourage you to contact us online or call us today for services you can trust. We have decades of experience in this region and know how to eliminate roaches fast and effectively.
