Manhattan, NY · Member since 2017 · 33 posts · 8 votes
Hey guys, I recently closed on a duplex. I renovated one of the units that was vacant upon buying and got a tenant in there. 6 days later, she sent me pictures of roaches in the unit. Is there a way to permately get rid of roaches or what's the best way to prevent them from coming back?? Let me know thank you!!
Roaches are a filth problem. Get rid of the filth, including the people that make/ allow it, then the roaches. And make sure it’s in that order. Infinitely easier than bedbugs which are not a filth problem.
We use the aerosol bug bombs (1 in every room) and those have been effective. There's a variety of sprays, etc. That's relatively soon to the move in date so no way to know if they brought them with them or not. Here in the south, roaches are much more common than up in the northern states. ie, they're prevalent all over and they get into the houses of the most meticulous house keepers. Another option would be to hire an exterminator company and have them treat the place. If they reoccur, then the current occupants may be the issue and not the previous ones. Had you noticed any roaches when prepping the place?
@John Teachout When buying the place, a tenant was already living in the bottom unit. When we looked at the unit before buying we noticed roaches EVERYWHERE, alive crawling on the walls dead ones all over the floor, and the tenants don't seem to live clean, we figured they caused the roach problem. We renovated the upstairs unit that was vacant and notices some dead roaches, none that were alive. A tenant moved in 6 days ago and sent me pics of live roaches this morning. I called a company that basically comes every quarter to treat the inside and outside of the building to prevent them from coming again, it's costing me $419 a year
Sounds like you had a pre-existing problem and taking care of it for the tenants would be the right thing. Now sure what your state requires but here in Georgia, our contract states all pest control is the responsibility of the tenant. (except termites) Of course in a multi-family situation, that could be more complicated than the single family homes we have. And as stated previously, since it was so soon after move in, no way to know if they were there or came in with the tenants but if you saw roaches there before, they probably had a whole village in the walls.
Bwahahaha... Best roach story I have is I was subletting an apartment in Idaho during college. Told the guy who was going to move in at the end of summer that we had a roach problem, he said "not for long". when He came back from Wisconsin he sprinkled a white powder all around the kitchen baseboards and in 48 hrs we never saw another roach. All he would tell me about the powder was that it acted like an acid when it got on the roaches body... and that it wasn't exactly legal to use in Idaho.
Might be worth it to, after cleaning the duplex like crazy (professionals?), pay a pest service to come in and spray.
DoMyOwn.com has great products and tons of how to's...I have use Advion, it is a bait that works well. aLso, use Gentrol and a few other products.
If the tenant has cats or dogs, it may be very difficult to get rid of because they are coming in the food bags and packaging. You will need stuff with good residual effect.
Or it could have been boric acid. An effective insecticide for roaches, ants, etc.
Another thing that works and is really cheap is Borax. As in 20 Mule Team in the laundry section of most grocery stores. It's a strong base and kills vermin like that.
Totally forgot about that. I don’t use it because I do pet friendly and don’t need the hassle when Garfield sniffs it like China white. Very useful stuff.
This is an issue I was thinking about as well, especially with the location of the properties we will be renting and tenants. How do you resolve the issue if pests control (roaches and/or bed bugs) if the tenant isn't doing their part to keep it from happening? Is that something that can cause their eviction or does it depend on state law?
@Ryan Kawash the roaches could have been something that traveled with the tenant, however, not really knowing where they came from, it may be best to call an exterminator to get rid of what's there.
I've had places that were infested. If you have minor issues, and the property is vacant, it should be easy to solve. Most of the supplies are readily available at a store like Home Depot. The main products are bombs, powder, aerosal spray. And there is a gel product. Also a good cleaning of the place is important. Sometimes sealing up places where they hide out is important.
go to domyown.com and get the pro stuff. I bought a six unit building that had a roach problem. Bought some Talstar and did the perimeter spray around the building. Then sprayed inside each unit. Worked awesome. I also bought the Bayer Maxforce bait stations and gave 5-6 to each unit. Also worked great. Roach problem gone in less than a week. Now if any tenants call about a bug problem, I mail them some more stations. Problem solved. Advion is also great. One of the keys to it working is that the tenants cannot spray their own stuff they buy at the hardware or food store. (Raid, Ortho, Combat)
Once, I left a can of sweetened condensed milk in a locker on a boat in Fl. It exploded. When we came back (4-5 months later) there was a mega- roach infestataion. Advion was AMAZING. the gel bait system works because roaches love it. They eat it and then go back to their nests in the walls and DIE and then their friends eat them and they die too. It took about four days. the dead roaches were everywhere but Advion did the job. Best. Stuff. Ever.
@Jill F. I second this. I have a triplex that was infested severely. The stuff from Home Depot doesn’t work. The bug bombs are garbage. Advion is incredible. Nothing else like it. It has peanut butter consistency.
Place tiny dots of it everywhere. About 1/16” - 1/8” diameter dots. In the kitchen, I did every corner and crevice of each cabinet. Inside the hinges. Under the countertops. Every floor corner. Inside outlets. Under crevices of all baseboards. Place ea dot about 6” apart. I was able to eradicate the problem in about a week. During the first few days, you’ll find several cadavers and semi-alive roaches “dazed and confused”
You can find advion on Amazon for about $25 or so. Don’t waste time or money with raid. Good luck.
@Ryan Kawash Advion is what you want. You don’t want to spray or bug bombs. All that does it make them hide. What you want is Advion, placed throughout the home, in corners and especially in kitchens. Roaches are social animals. They carry the poison back to the queen and eventually kill the entire population.
Careful to keep it out of reach of kids and pets. My exterminator swears by this stuff. And it’s worked wonders in several units.
@Ryan Kawash Lesson learned. Next time have the seller treat before you close and/or have the unit delivered vacant upon sale. How is that downstairs unit going to look when they vacate?
I have used Advion with success a few years ago when I moved into a property and started to see some roaches. I wouldn’t say it was a major infestation but there were some cockroaches present. Purchased the gel and roach motels on amazon, followed instructions and then never saw another one (alive) again.
@Ryan Kawash Call the company Terminx. They treat it and do follow up treatments every two weeks. I used them on my last house flip and they did a good job.