We purchased a couple of foreclosed properties last month, and are beginning the work on rehabbing these buildings to rent them. They are 4 unit multi-plex buildings, and one of the units was completely disgusting - 2 foot deep garbage, food, etc. The previous tenants had abandoned it, and left the entire kitchen intact FOR 3 MONTHS. So you could imagine how disgusting this was. We all had to have masks on to get anywhere near the unit, etc.
Anyway the garbage was all hauled away, and we had to demo most of the unit. There was a massive cockroach infestation, which we had professionally treated and now after 3 weeks there is no sign of any roaches anymore, and no neighboring units are showing signs of them either.
However there is a strong and lingering smell left over - which I have been told is cockroach urine. Its really nasty, but appears to be gradually getting weaker.
We are about to start work on the rehab of this building, but my goal is to find a way to do this without having to rip out all the drywall from this unit. I’ve gone to great lengths to put pesticide in the unit to kill off and neutralize any roaches, and there is no sign of anything now. But what I’m trying to work out is if there is anyway to detect insects behind the drywall without having to rip out all the drywall from the unit (my contractor is estimating about $5K in costs to do that). But the drywall appears to be in decent shape, so I’m wondering if there are any tricks & techniques to x-ray or look behind there for any evidence of infestation without full rip-out of the drywall?
I guess I’m interested in what other landlords might choose to do in this situation. One of my contractors has said that he thinks a coat of Killz over the drywall will seal in the smell and get rid of it, but its sure going to be more difficult if this stuff comes out after we get tenants in there, and although I’m not happy to spend an extra $5K on this build, if I have to do it I guess I’ll suck it up somehow. Just would like to know if there are any techniques other investors have done that might avoid it.
Your reply is confusing.
Are you trying to get rid of the roaches or kill the roach urine smell.
You said yourself the roaches are gone and the smell is getting weaker.
Seems to me it worked as long as the smell continues to get weaker.
I’d use kills before I paint and call it done.
Are you trying to get rid of the roaches or kill the roach urine smell.
You said yourself the roaches are gone and the smell is getting weaker.
Seems to me it worked as long as the smell continues to get weaker.
I’d use kills before I paint and call it done.
Well that’s certainly tempting to do. I just really wanted to know if there were any techniques that other landlords have used in similar situations to ensure that the infestation has gone. I don’t want it coming back after I’ve spent thousands rehab-ing this unit and then put tenants in there.
The drywall removal is more of a precaution out of fear, rather than something I have any scientific evidence is needed. The problem for me is that its a $5K precaution which could be a waste of time & money if its not needed. My hope was that any landlord who has already gone down this path would chime in with their own experiences so I can make a choice with what to do.
IF you pull down the drywall treat the interior space between the new drywall with a boric acid powder or solution intended to treat cockroaches. You could treat these spaces without removing the drywall by putting a small hole in the drywall (every 16 inches) along every wall and using a “syringe” to apply the boric acid powder into the hole. It will help prevent any further cockroach infestation but it won’t help with the smell.
I’d also spray the basement and/or crawlspace with the boric acid also.
Thanks for the tip(s). I put Boric acid throughout as a prevention method to get rid of them, and so far no sign at all of them. Do you have a recommendation for getting rid of the smell from them? I guess it may be that the roaches are gone, or not behind the drywall, but the smell could well be coming from behind there. It would be great if I could find a way to get rid of this smell entirely without having to remove the drywall…
When we run into issues with unknown protential problems behind drywall, we carefully cut one or more sufficiently large holes (from stud to stud for easy repair) in the drywall to inspect the area behind it. If the area in question will eventually be behind cabinets, this would be particularly easy to do since it wouldn’t need textured. If nothing else, it basically eliminates the linger question.
Thanks for the advice. And it makes sense. There’s certainly no harm in doing this for us. I guess its a quick way to determine if there is an odor coming from behind the drywall that needs to have the drywall removed, and cleaned out. If not, I get off with a small hole patch to deal with.
