How to keep the roaches out. (Hope: 2014, apartment, rent)

[Discouragedcitizen]

So earlier this month, I posted about how NYCHA tore up the kitchen, and only "finished" fixing it on Tuesday. They still haven't painted, but whatever, it will take quite some time for them to come paint.

What I am really worried about is the roaches. Yes, its public housing, it sucks. All the neighbors probably leave food out on the table, but what can I do? Its not my choice to live in public housing, its my parents. I will leave for college next year, and NEVER come back to NYCHA.

In any case, the fact that they came to tear up the cabinets might be a blessing in disguise. My parents are horribly unorganized, and I must say that I may have adopted some of there qualities, but I am definitely more organized than they are. They keep things in endless plastic bags, one after another, which clearly helps breed roaches.

I told the repairman to fill up the holes in the wall with plaster. They did not completely do the job, leaving some wood exposed at the top where roaches could easily come in. Apparently, the paint job would take care of that, but alas, the paint job was never done, and the cabinet was installed beforehand. So the hole remains, and roaches can freely come in.

The old cabinet had a serious roach problem. At any given moment, you could EASILY see 3 roaches. Open the bottom cabinet, and you'll see another 3. It was never ending. We tried boric acid, traps, nothing worked.

So when we received the new cabinets, we wanted to make it roach free. This week, I adopted a new policy. All trash goes out of the apartment at 1am, just before everyone goes to sleep. To make sure this happens, I throw out the trash. No food is eaten after this time. All food goes to the fridge, and nothing is left out. Yesterday, I started wiping down the cabinets with a rag, from top to bottom. I hope that this will keep the cabinets in clean condition, and be abrasive to the roach population, but due to the fact that its pubic housing, and that we live on the first floor, it'll be difficult. Just two days after installation, I already see one roach. That's bad news! When the cabinets were gone, we didn't have a single roach. Of course, I'd like to keep chemicals out of this as possible, so if simply cleanliness can prevent roaches from staying long, then I'll take the extra 20 minutes a day to help cleanup.

Sure, I'll be leaving in a little more than a year, but these are good habits to learn even when I leave NYCHA.

[boan]

Google 'how to repair holes in interior walls'. Then fill the holes.

[Kefir King]

I always take advantage of any hole in the wall that I have acess to by blowing copioous amounts of boric acid INTO the wall before it is sealed. If kept dry it kills for decades and roaches trying for inter-room highways get stymied.

citizen,
Getting all food into the fridge, all dishes washed and garbage out every night will pay dividends. BUT if you have a roach infested neigbor it is like trying to turn back the tide.

If I EVER see a roach again, I am going to spread around that poison bait cream that kills bugs, not US...like COMBAT Source Kill MAX!

[luvnyc]

Seal the holes up with either steel wool, caulk (buy a caulk gun w/ a tube of caulk), or you can use plaster to fill bigger gaps.

Seal up any and all spaces you find including the exterior and interior of kitchen cabinets. Roaches can fit through spaces thin enough for paper.

Make sure when you see roach poop you clean that up as well, baby roaches feed on adult roaches poop. This is why you'll often see them congregating in one spot with a bunch of roach poop around. yuk

I'm so glad I got rid of all those nasty things in my apartment.

Do as Kefir said and fix drips from faucets if you have any and dry the sinks keeping them clear of water when not in use. Pour a little bleach down the drains each night, this is to deter them coming up through your drains.

[dapanza107]

Thanks for the advice luv. I didn't know know young roaches fed on adult roach droppings. Now I have even more of an incentive to clean those little nooks and crannies around my apt... After this damn heat wave dies down a bit.

But nothing brings out the roaches like the blazing hot summer we've been having so far.

[wordlife]

another good way to 'bait' roaches (and any other things you have crawling around) is with some acrylic gesso. Yes its a bit unorthodox but you can catch quite a bit, and the best thing is they get stuck right in it (you have to put some thinner in so it doesn't dry to quickly). I'd say only do this if the above doesn't work.

I think the biggest problem you can have is if your neighbor has roaches. Your apartment might be clean and tidy but if that dirty neighbor moves the roaches will invade like a black ops team. Don't use roach bombs either, I had a friend who set off not one but two in his apartment and I always felt like it was hard to breath months after.

[SUPERCHIC]

i lived in a pat in NYC that had a lot of roaches........BUT NOT ME.........

everything from every drawer, closet etc. wrap it in plastic etc.

Now Bomb the place. 2x

Now either clean the place yourself wipe it down with a good cleaner and that includes the draws/ closets walls you name it, weed out junk you don't need and get rid of newspapers, mags, books or anything paper.

Now Plug up holes with fill every hole with boric acid, steal wool and plaster and paint the areas if needed. don't forget under the sink.

Now put boric acid around the baseboards in every room, closet, sink, around your door from the outside and around your window sills.

Now as you unpack the stuff you removed. Clean it all, dishes, clothes nik naks ets before you put it back.


Make sure you throw out your garbage every night, don't leave any dishes in the sink, wash down anyplace you had food and drink that includes bedrooms and living rooms


I did this and I saw maybe a handful or less of roaches a year. My neighbors still had them. I was told that the people underneath me had a filthy apartment and their culture or religion forbids them to kill roaches.........like i said maybe a handful or less a year.

As far as Waterbugs...........OMG........them I had a lot in the summer and I was told they were coming from the sink and bath drain. I use to try to cover them when i was done using the sink and bath . But they would push themselves and remove the rubber stopper. I would only get them in the hot humid summers but, I was deadly afarid of them. Some of them fly and they have this gross crunching sound if you step on them.


I never had the exterminater that building provided come into my home only allowed him to do near the hall door. Since he would be scheduled when I was not there I did not want him in my home and I was told what ever he was using was not doing anything but smelling up peoples apts. and making them sick with migrains and stomach aches


Hope that helps

[dapanza107]

As far as Waterbugs...........OMG........them I had a lot in the summer and I was told they were coming from the sink and bath drain. I use to try to cover them when i was done using the sink and bath . But they would push themselves and remove the rubber stopper. I would only get them in the hot humid summers but, I was deadly afarid of them. Some of them fly and they have this gross crunching sound if you step on them.

I fell the EXACT same way as you Superchic. Is there such thing as a phobia of water bugs? No other bug grosses me out more than them. And I'm a full grown adult.

[Cida]

You say "everything," but you're avoiding professional exterminators, which is the most reliable solution. With all the hazards in daily urban life, professional pesticides once or twice a year is nothing to be afraid of.

[kevxu]

Originally Posted by SUPERCHIC

...As far as Waterbugs...........OMG........them I had a lot in the summer and I was told they were coming from the sink and bath drain. I use to try to cover them when i was done using the sink and bath . But they would push themselves and remove the rubber stopper. I would only get them in the hot humid summers but, I was deadly afarid of them. Some of them fly and they have this gross crunching sound if you step on them....

Forty-one years in Manhattan, and though I had seen roaches, I had never experienced waterbugs until I moved into a renovated brownstone apartment.

The basement was filled with them, and I was right over the boiler room, where they lived in veritable herds. And they were a year 'round invasion.

For me, boric acid powder did the job. But only because I had access to the basement and liberally spread it around there. Then I did my apartment. And I renewed my efforts several times a year.

I could not believe the hundreds of dead waterbugs in the basement....nor could the landlady. But since she wanted me out of my rent controlled apartment, she was less than thrilled that I no longer had a major waterbug problem.

Thirteen years in that apartment. I think she saw me as a two-legged waterbug and harder to get rid of.