Cockroaches and Palmetto Bugs (a similar, not quite as dirty, but larger variation of a cockroach found in the South) are nasty creatures. And they spawn in large quantities, making them hard to get rid of once they are there. Thus, the best thing to do is to take preventative measures to reduce the possibility of getting an infestation in the first place!
Here are several tips to help you prevent a cockroach infestation.
- Keep your garbage cans away from the door. If your garbage can is near your door, or any other point of entry into your house, it is more likely to attract roaches from outside directly to your garbage.
- Use pesticides at the most likely entry points. Make sure that you are using a pesticide that targets cockroaches, or it may not be strong enough to actually kill them, or even deter them in some cases.
- Seal easy entry points, like the doors or the windows, with caulk so that roaches cannot enter that way. They may be tough, but they can't go through caulk!
- Always use garbage cans that can be closed. Lidded garbage cans will keep the smell from travelling as far, thus reducing the chance that a cockroach will smell it and want to come after it.
- Keep everything clean and keep all your food covered. If everything is clean, roaches have less of a reason to come into your house because the food they crave just won't be there. That's the reason you keep your food covered as well. If they can't smell it or get to it, they probably won't head towards it.
- Keep your drains closed when your not using them. You can't control the state of the sewers beneath your house, but you can keep roaches from using the sewer as an entry point into your house by simply blocking the path. Also, this is one of the grossest ways for a roach infestation to start because sewers are absolutely crawling with dangerous germs that you simply don't want to mess with.
- Always wash your dishes with anti-bacterial soap right away. If you don't, it could leave small remnants of food on your dishes that can attract roaches, even if the dishes are in your dishwasher. I've seen more than one case where roaches were actually entering the house THROUGH the dishwasher, and it was not a pleasant thought.
So, in order to keep your house unattractive to roaches, keep it clean and block off as many entry points as you can. It's so hard to get rid of roaches that maintaining these practices is honestly easier than attempting roach extermination.
Here are several tips to help you prevent a cockroach infestation.
- Keep your garbage cans away from the door. If your garbage can is near your door, or any other point of entry into your house, it is more likely to attract roaches from outside directly to your garbage.
- Use pesticides at the most likely entry points. Make sure that you are using a pesticide that targets cockroaches, or it may not be strong enough to actually kill them, or even deter them in some cases.
- Seal easy entry points, like the doors or the windows, with caulk so that roaches cannot enter that way. They may be tough, but they can't go through caulk!
- Always use garbage cans that can be closed. Lidded garbage cans will keep the smell from travelling as far, thus reducing the chance that a cockroach will smell it and want to come after it.
- Keep everything clean and keep all your food covered. If everything is clean, roaches have less of a reason to come into your house because the food they crave just won't be there. That's the reason you keep your food covered as well. If they can't smell it or get to it, they probably won't head towards it.
- Keep your drains closed when your not using them. You can't control the state of the sewers beneath your house, but you can keep roaches from using the sewer as an entry point into your house by simply blocking the path. Also, this is one of the grossest ways for a roach infestation to start because sewers are absolutely crawling with dangerous germs that you simply don't want to mess with.
- Always wash your dishes with anti-bacterial soap right away. If you don't, it could leave small remnants of food on your dishes that can attract roaches, even if the dishes are in your dishwasher. I've seen more than one case where roaches were actually entering the house THROUGH the dishwasher, and it was not a pleasant thought.
So, in order to keep your house unattractive to roaches, keep it clean and block off as many entry points as you can. It's so hard to get rid of roaches that maintaining these practices is honestly easier than attempting roach extermination.