Hi

I need a genuine advice. We see that cockroaches have somehow come to out apts and are multiplying day by day.

Though we reguarly use sprays , it seems they are not in control at all

Does anyone know how we can control this issue. It really embarasses at times when guests pass by and you have this in front of you.

Usally I wud have thought of calling a professional and getting house sprayed. But, I am sure this would cost be high. Does any one have an effective, effecient and econmical solution to this problem

Also we fear to approach administration of apt as I have heard that they would doubt this as improper care taking and hygiene of apts and may not be good for us.

Any help is this regards would be appreciated.

Please do contact your landlord or agency. don't feel ashamed, this happens all over. You will be fighting a losing battle trying to cope with this problem. These things will be in other apartments too. This is too costly not to mention futile the whole building needs to be tackled.

I second oldhand's comments. Cockroaches are nothing to be ashamed about. When I lived in Asia they were treated as a fact of life and the only way to control them was to have the apartments professionally treated twice a year. I wouldn't hang around. Once they've established themselves they breed like crazy and pose a real health hazard. And as they are nocturnal there are probably a lot more than you realise. You could call someone to treat just your apartment but one reason to contact your building management is because someone needs to check how they're getting into the apartments in the first place and some work might be needed to fill holes and cracks and review garbage disposal etc. To stop the problem the whole building might need to be tackled in terms of treatment and prevention.

Agree with previous posters, you absolutely have to call the agency. We had the same problem BEFORE moving in (saw cockroaches only after we had already signed the lease agreement) and we told the agency we would not bring our furniture before they cleaned the place.

Professional companies do not spray anymore, they use some kind of wax -like substance that is apparently not toxic for humans or pets but kills or drives cockroaches away. The company left a notice for all neighbours to let them know if their flats were infested as the building management company was prepared to pay for full disinsection of the building. This was two years ago and I never saw a cockroach after that.

Mix 2 parts sugar and 1 part baking soda and leave it out for them to feast on.. I lived in NYC, where roaches are abundant, this took care of them quite well.

We need to close our windows before dark or they come inside. TEhy are attracted by the lights You can see them crawling on the shutters trying to find a way inside.

On the subject of bugs, I awoke to find thousands of ants in my appartment last week. A day later they were gone, but yesterday they returned this time with wings. They're gone again today.
They run along one wall in the apartment. Anyone know what to do?

In switzerland there are cockroaches that live in the forests. When its summer and the weather is warm they like to visit homes close to forests. These " forest cockroaches" are lighter in colour than the city kind. What is good about the forest kind is that they leave again when it gets colder. Also they tend to be very clean and do not drop droppings everywhere.

"A day later they were gone, but yesterday they returned this time with wings"

It is that time of year, as every fly-fisherman will be able to tell you.

Male ants (ones that returned with wings) will be leaving the nest to chase some ladies. After that they'll leave you alone, i.e. there will be much less of them.

I was about to grab my PC mouse and saw a small cockroach on top of it I almost got a heart attack. I shouted in fear and the designated insect police woman (my wife) came to the rescue
After that I launched a full scale spot check of my insect defenses (all my windows along with the balcony door are fully netted). I discovered a .5cm gap in my balcony net door defense and I quickly plugged it. It could have come through there as I see small dead cockroaches on my balcony sometimes. Luckily never seen any in our kitchen so it must have been a one off burglar that broke in. I see them waiting near the flat entrance door sometimes.

I absolutely hate this hot weather! I want winter!!!!!!!! A childhood plagued by 3 inch cockroaches is enough for one lifetime and I don't want them in Switzerland as well. If my memory serves right then cockroaches can come through drain pipes as well? How the hell do you protect against that?

Unless you are as fast as this guy

Yes indeed these "Waldschaben" (woods cockroaches) cannot survive in human homes and don't go for human food. They don't multiply in your home like tropical roaches do which can only survive in a nontropical climate with human help. You cannot fight them with pesticides as new ones will fly in through open windows. They are attracted to light as opposed to tropical roaches. They're not restricted to forests.

Having been plauged by the dastarldy bugers in Thailand, all i can say is CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. Sweep all surfaces to ensure that traces of ood have been removed (breadcrumbs, peelings of fruit or veg etc.) and then wipe down with neat bleach. Not that the bleach will do you any good, the likiliehood of being infectd by anything nasty will be reduced.

[quote=ljm;254076]Agree with previous posters, you absolutely have to call the agency. We had the same problem BEFORE moving in (saw cockroaches only after we had already signed the lease agreement) and we told the agency we would not bring our furniture before they cleaned the place.

Must have been some fantâstic apartment if you were confident enough to NOT break the contract and tell them where to go.

This is rather frightening. Once they create a nest, they become daily visitors, year over year. I was lucky enough to have swiss neighbours below me who called an exterminator. They had to have the guy come twice. I did myself find temporary relief by finding their entry point, a parcitular area in the house and spraying the entrance from outside the house. However, as soon as there was a dew or a rainfall, that solution evaporated. Exterminate.

Cleaning makes a bigger difference when you have the giant tropical kind. We had those in Arizona, probably similar to the Thai roaches. They lived in the sewer systems, so the locals called them "water bugs". They loved to eat bananas. Their scat around my bananas on the counter was so big, I initially thought I had a mouse problem. Extermination worked there. One friend of mine had an exterminator in and the guy (to provide some additional protection) sprayed down the sewer in front of her house. Millions of them ran up and she had to sprint up the driveway to avoid being attacked.

Now these northern little buggers, are usually a little smaller. One in a bathtub can breed enough to fill the bathtub in less than 48 hours so that a board over the top is lifting off. As well, in the food department, one of these guys can live off of the glue on a postage stamp for 2 weeks.

I have also opted to educate myself on household molds, lice, and thank god I haven't experienced this one yet, but since I do a bit of business travel and stay in hotels, bed bugs. Now those things are nasty. There is no solution there but to burn your furniture, move out or sell and begin fresh.

Best of luck.

You plug em. All of em. There is a nice little flat rubber one for larger drains like the shower. Even the laundry room drain needs one of these.

I hate the bugs. We had them as <<guests>> in our house in another country; fortunately we've been spared their visits in CH.
You absolutely have to call the landlord. As for advice, my grandmother used borate (e.g. bread soaked in boric acid) as bait. It's very efficient and apparently still in use. You can get borate or boric acid at the pharmacy.

http://www.ehw.org/Asthma/ASTH_Cockroach_Control.htm
http://www.greenharvest.com.au/fact_...cockroach.html

Good luck!

Forget all the home remedies. Just call the landlord or agency.You don't have to fight this there are professionals who do it for you.