How to Prevent Cockroaches In Washington
No one wants to find cockroaches running across their kitchen floor or find droppings in the back of draws. To help keep roaches out of your home, read our blog to understand what attracts roaches, where they like to hide, and what you can do to prevent roaches from getting into your house.
What Attracts Cockroaches?
Roaches are often associated with filth and messy households. Contrary to popular belief, any property can fall victim to a roast infestation as long as it provides:
- A steady supply of food
- Safe shelter
- Easy access to water
They are particularly attracted to well-enclosed, warm, humid environments and are often found in bathrooms, drains, and dumpsters.
How Do Roaches Get Into Your House?
These sneaky insects are quite resourceful. With their average size around 1 ½ to 2 inches, they commonly sneak in through the smallest holes and cracks in doors, windows, your home's foundation, and even pipes and vents.
But they can also be through into the house unknowingly. Roaches can also be brought into the house by hitching rides on common items such as packages, grocery bags, backpacks from school, or even a briefcase from work. Since these critters are nocturnal, you won’t even know they were there until they’ve started to multiply.
Where do Roaches Hide?
Because cockroaches like to avoid contact with humans and pets, they are adept at hiding. They prefer to stay in dark, safe, hidden areas, including narrow cracks in the walls. Other places they like to hide include:
- Behind refrigerators and under appliances
- Under kitchen or bathroom sinks, particularly if there leak
- In drains
- Around water heaters
- Under furniture
- Under stacks of paper and cardboard
- Crawl spaces
- Basements
- Garages
How To Keep Out Cockroaches
Here are a few easy steps you can take to help keep cockroaches outside where they belong:
- Seal any cracks around your home.
- Regularly take out your garbage.
- Repair any water leaks.
- Wipe down your kitchen counters after every meal.
- Seal all pipes.
- Wipe down your stove after cooking.
- Remove excess moisture and make sure basement and crawl spaces are properly ventilated.
- Put dirty dishes directly into the dishwasher or wash them immediately after using them instead of leaving them in the sink overnight.
- Keep firewood and compost as far away from your home as possible.
- Sweep daily and vacuum weekly.
- Keep your yard and landscaping tidy.
Call Professional Cockroach Exterminators
To make sure your home stays protected against roaches year-round, we encourage you to reach out to a local professional pest control company, like Sound Pest Control in Bremerton, to enroll in a recurring pest treatment program. Reach out to our team of exterminators to learn more.