This is my first time having to deal with this issue. I’m sure some of you can help me. But what’s the best way to rid a house of roaches (little brown ones) while the tenant is still in the house? They keep the house decently clean, and I’ve sprayed several times, used bug bombs several times, but they seem to be living in the walls and/or under the house.
They crawl out from any gap in the walls, cabinets, floors etc.
Buy a couple of boxes of 2o mule team borax, comes in about 5 lb boxes, generously sprinkle it around the outside of the house…repeat in about a month and they will be gone.
You’re probably not going to get rid of all of them, without also getting rid of the tenant.
Was there a roach problem before these tenants moved in? If not, the tenants brought them in. Otherwise, it’s more a matter of mitigation, not elimination. You can kill the roaches, but you can bring more in on your clothes, just as a matter of routine.
My experience tells me that the tenants who work in food service of any kind will (restaurants, bakeries, fast food) perpetually bring them home on their clothes. And soon after the females (cockroaches) lay eggs, the place will be crawling again with roaches.
Meantime, this is our method of curbing an infestation.
Have vacuum ready to vac up living and dead roaches as you find them.
Empty the kitchen cabinets/shelves/drawers of everything, and store outside, including dog/cat food dishes, pantry foods, etc.
Pull refrigerator away from wall, and vacuum out any roaches living in the compressor area (a warm dry favorite place for roaches to live).
Pull range out, and vacuum out any roaches living under/behind/inside the range. If there’s a built-in microwave, you’ll have to use your judgment about removing it to clean the walls areas. If you see roaches in the microwave, this is a must.
Remove all drawers from cabinets and vacuum floors inside empty drawer cabinets.
Bleach-clean, wipe, or mop:
Inside and outside of each drawer.
Cabinets and shelves.
Counter tops (behind microwave)
Kitchen floor (behind range, under refrigerator).
Sprinkle Boric Acid at baseboards behind range and refrigerator; at base of refrigerator compressor (if accessible); behind microwave (if possible); at the back of each shelf, and on the floor of each drawer cabinet.
Get the roaches to not only track the Boric Acid back to their nests and kill their babies and families, but to ingest it, by mixing Boric Acid with rotten banana, to make a 50/50 paste. Smear the paste behind the posts in your cabinets, and any other unseen places you suspect roaches hide or travel.
Bring everything back inside and put back on shelves, and in drawers.
Every two months apply new banana/acid paste to the inside of your cabinets. (Some pest control companies use this method routinely using commercially available banana/acid paste). Look to see how much paste has been eaten by the roaches (to make yourself feel better)
Make sure no food is left open, or dishes left in the sink, to become roach dinner.
Make sure the trash cans are sealed, when not in use, using trash liners and tight lids. We like trash cans that open with a foot lever. These don’t really fit under the sink very well.
Starve the roaches, and make them wade through poison on a daily basis, and the problem will be greatly reduced, if not eliminated
Nothing overcomes food service worker-induced cockroach infestations.
So, so as long as these types of employees rent from you, you’ll have a roach problem.
BTW, Boric Acid is completely non-toxic and harmless to humans and pets. It’s even edible.
So, don’t worry about using it around babies and pets.
Cockroaches, however, will disagree about it’s safety.