Cockroaches can end up inside your house through tiny openings like cracks, holes, and gaps through drains. Also, they can hide in goods you transport into your house. Once inside, roaches can reproduce quickly and are quite resilient after establishing themselves. Because of this, even a well-maintained house can host a cockroach infestation. These unwanted pests can be hard to remove, depending on the extent of the infestation. To eliminate a serious infestation, you must focus on getting rid of the nest. However, this can be hard or even impossible for most homeowners since roaches usually set up camp in hard-to-reach areas like wall crevices, the foundation, and floor cracks. Usually, treatment for a roach infestation is performed using pesticides that can kill them or be brought back to the nest to share with the rest of the colony.
If you are dealing with a roach infestation, determine the kind of cockroach that has infested your house. This allows you to establish the best elimination method. Also, pest control in Pelham, AL that is focused on roach elimination is often successful when professionals are involved.
Kinds of Roaches in Pelham
There are thousands of cockroach species in the world, but only a few of them are considered pests, and some of them are found in Pelham. They include the following:
- German cockroaches. These species frequent warm, humid areas where their sources of food and water are nearby. They are common in bathrooms and kitchens, particularly near warm, running appliances.
- Brown branded roaches. These species have pale brown bands that run across their body or wings. They stay in warm, dry areas and thrive and nest indoors, usually at higher locations like in ceilings as well as tall bathroom and kitchen cabinets.
- Oriental roaches. These cockroaches like wet, cool environments. They live indoors, inside pipes or ventilation systems, and at ground level, often in basements, walls voids, under sinks, under rocks, and near drains and pipes.
- American roaches. Typically, these roaches prefer warmer climates, although they can survive lower temperatures. These roaches live outside, usually near garbage cans or in moist, shady locations in the yard. They can be found in damp basements, under sink cabinets, crawl spaces, and near bathtubs or toilets.
- Smoky brown roaches. These roaches look like American roaches. They have strong fliers, and the wings of adults extend beyond their bodies. They prefer warm, humid places. When outdoors, these species are found in woodpiles and plant debris.
Preventing Roaches from Appearing in Your House
Since roach species differ, the cause of every infestation is different. To reduce the risk of roaches setting up camp in your house, here are approaches to consider:
If you are worried about roaches, in particular, prevent them from showing up by keeping your home clean. Wash the dishes right away after every meal and empty the trash frequently. Check used furniture and moving boxes for cockroaches or their egg cases before they bring them inside. Roaches tend to multiply quickly, which makes them hard to eradicate. You can prevent an infestation by caulking cracks, keeping drain traps capped, fixing water leaks, ensuring no garbage cans are in moist areas, and eliminating rotting leaves from your window wells. Also, it can help to trim bushes, trees, and shrubs away from your house because some roaches will climb up them and enter your house.
How to Deal with a Roach Infestation
Exclusion tactics bait stations, and DIY treatments are common approaches that do not fully eliminate a cockroach infestation. If you are dealing with a bigger infestation, have a professional evaluate the extent of the issue and implement an effective treatment plan to eliminate the main cause of the issue.
