i'm so sick of these roaches
So i’ve lived in NYC for the past 11 years and i’ve never had a roach problem. I moved into a relatively large co-op in brooklyn heights in jan. There was a roach problem when i moved in but i refinished the floors, renovated the kitchen and painted the whole thing (well, it’s a small…
So i’ve lived in NYC for the past 11 years and i’ve never had a roach problem. I moved into a relatively large co-op in brooklyn heights in jan. There was a roach problem when i moved in but i refinished the floors, renovated the kitchen and painted the whole thing (well, it’s a small studio but still)..intially the roaches were gone, for a least a good 6 months. needless to say, they have returned. primarily in two sizes, tiny tiny baby sized roaches or a bit smaller than an inch. it’s a big building where an exterminator comes once a month but i don’t want those chemicals in my home. I put down boric acid and roach motels. i was sitting here reading brownstoner contemplating writing for advice or moral support and literally, tonight about one minute ago, a roach walked across my laptop screen. it sort of put me over the roach edge and i decided to write. thought? ideas? how do i get rid of these f#$@ers? i can’t take it anymore.
hi everyone thanks for all your responses. i broke down today and signed up for the exterminator to come on Wed, so sigh, i’ve given in. i also decided to purchase some of the combat gell and leave it on pieces of paper around the apt, as JAE suggested. And, as BH76 suggested I talked to the super in the building. Apparently I am not the only one complaining of this on my floor and there is, in fact one person who is the cause of the roach issue. I’ve asked the super to take my concerns to the board, or at least the management company so they can address it.
I don’t know i can take a lot of things, even mice, but roaches, they really REALLY gross me out. fingers crossed, hopefully all of your suggestions will work. thanks for the feedback and moral support! Operation combat roaches begins.
Honestly, I’d let the exterminator in once and then get roach motels.
In the long run, you’ll be roach free. Just rotate the motels if/when you start seeing roaches again.
I normally don’t like chemicals as a rule and have all kinds of argument and analysis about our over-reliance on chemical solutions but in 10 years in NYC I have not found any other magical way to get rid of roaches. For six years, I tried all the home remedies I could find. For the last four years, I’ve lived with Combat motels and no roaches.
mopar, remind me never to come for dinner š
Another thing: We have pigeons living in our light shaft, which is open to the sky, and there is tons of pigeon excrement down there. It is breeding flies, roaches and, when the shaft is full of water, mosquitos. So that can be a cause also.
I sympathize, we have a big roach problem too. It is so bad that we literally wash the dishes BEFORE we sit down to eat — except, of course, the dishes our dinner is on, and those we have to stand guard over while we wash the other ones. Once I was eating dinner a roach crawled up my leg. You see them in the day time and that is a really bad sign.
We also have an exterminator who come once a month. It doesn’t seem to do a damn thing. Also, if one apartment in the building skips their exterminator visit, all the roaches will just rush over there, and the exterminator’s efforts are for naught. We also recently put down some boric acid, and between that, the colder weather, and just having hired a housecleaner, I’m hoping it will go away.
But yes, I would concur you have to talk to your board. Once an infestation like this sets in, the whole building needs to take massive corrective action to eradicate it. Not just maintenance once-a-month sprays. That’s just prevention.
Does anyone know what the exterminator is spraying? How could it be any worse than boric acid, which is also poisonous? Never heard of this gel, sounds great, will check it out.
By not allowing the Board to act on ths problem — having the exterminator in your apartment — you are also causing problems for your neighbors. You have a responsibility to notify the Board and let them do what is needed to correct the problem. If I were your neighbor I would be really angry!
can i ask, perhaps a really dumb question.. if you have a big infestation like behind the walls, and use the stuff they bring back to kill the others behind the walls, will that big mass of dead roaches start to decay and stink? or is it nothing like when a mouse dies behind a wall (ew that IS the WORST smell ever)..?
-rob
Combat roach gel is the best thing out there. Once they eat the gel they go home and and kill all the roaches there as well before dying themselves. I bought a large house recently full of roaches. Put a small amount in the kitchen and the bathroom and haven’t seen one roach since. its been over a year now.
http://www.combatbugs.com/index.cfm?page_id=191&pid=5
it’s getting colder now so that should help a bit, no? the only place ive ever lived where i saw roaches in my apt was on the lower east side, but all my neighbors were skanks (i know cuz i was in the apt of the person below and above me) ick! i talking like rotting food all over the place, spilled soda and beer, disgusting cat boxes that were never cleaned. i always figured at least the roaches would chill there and not come up to my place, but in the summer id see them sometimes, mostly near the drains actually , so yeah they do come up drains, use a stopper. in another roach thread, someone suggested getting a cat. tho i dont know if id want a roach-eating cat living me either. i feel like cats draw roaches in anyway with their feces in the litterbox. (roaches love feces make sure you flush as fast as possible after you poop!)
-rob