Pest (roach) problems (San Francisco: apartments, hotel, home)

[aquos]

I live in a apartment in Pac Heights. The apartment building is neither too old nor new. I have started to see some (4-5) roaches on a daily basis mostly in the kitchen area. I keep my apartment pretty clean. I have lived in the bay area ~ 7 years and this is the first time I am having to deal with roaches.

Does anyone else have this issue in San Francisco and if yes, how are you dealing with it? Please share some lessons you have learnt.

thanks!

[MaggieZ]

I used to live in the Tenderloin and used Mr Clean all the time scouring floors and cupboards and everything in sight and basically cleaning a lot more often than I normally would have. Don't leave any food/lfetovers out. I think most cities have roaches and other bug problems especially when you have dirty neighbours. You can spray and use the 'roach bombs' once every so often but if you have pets you need to get them out (and yourself)while using the 'bombs'...Does your landlord have an exterminator come in every so often? That helps too.
I think the trick is to get them before they multiply into the thousands.

[worktolive]

Unfortunately, if you are actually seeing 4-5/day where previously there were none, there's been an infestation in your building. In buildings that are generally kept clean, it usually starts in someone's apartment from a bag or box that was brought in from elsewhere and then spreads throughout the building.

Call your landlord and ask him to get in an exterminator. This is not something that will go away unless it is attacked professionally and all of the apartments will need to be bombed, probably at least twice. The problem is that you can kill all the current live ones, but you need special products that stick around longer to kill all the babies that will hatch from the eggs that have been laid.

When a building we owned got infested, this is what we had to do. I hate roaches and I was determined to make sure that we nipped the problem in the bud. If you get in a professional exterminator and do all of the apartments with two or three treatments, this usually takes care of the problem. But, if you don't treat it aggressively, you'll never get rid of them.

[ImRandy]

You need the treatments on a regular basis even after you've taken care of the initial infestation. San Francisco is knee deep in cockroaches and they can come back into your building at any time.

[7035683216]

In the meantime, pour boric acid powder behind furniture and other out of sight places. This kills them but not humans. I hope your landlord treats everyone's apt though.

Good luck.

[KeoniSF]

I live in the South Of Market and I too have been steaming my floors twice a week and keeping any signs of crumbs on my kitchen counter clear and everything disinfected. I even have those sonic pest repellants all over, but it does nothing to roaches. But the problem is not us... we could be living with neighbours who may be handicap and can not clean as much as they want to or neighbours who simply don't give rats a$s. Also if there is a construction happening near you, that too can result in having these unwanted guests. My landlord is having my apartment treated with some gel-like substance that these roaches love. This gel is being placed in my apartment and it's supposed to lure all these roaches to my apartment and die. 2 Weeks later, the exterminator comes back to check on their progress and collect all the dead roaches. During this time, I can not stay in my apartment, so I have to stay in a hotel for 2 weeks. These roaches love damp places, love flour, and sugar, etc. I notice that during the summer, they tend to be more active and will run towards you because they're not afraid. I had my air conditioner blasting these past few days when it was hot out and they didn't like that...

[bostonguy1960]

My small apartment here in Boston has had roaches the past two years after none my first fourteen years here.

We finally had an exterminator come two months ago, then again a few weeks ago. Still seeing roaches.

We had to leave for three hours minimum both times.

Are third and fourth exterminations often necessary, or two will often suffice in some buildings?

[Ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by 7035683216

In the meantime, pour boric acid powder behind furniture and other out of sight places. This kills them but not humans. I hope your landlord treats everyone's apt though.

Good luck.

This... works well but is a process and if the source is outside your apartment you alone are limited.

When I renovated older apartments I was very liberal with Boric Acid in wall cavaties, under cabinets, etc... places where the powder doesn't get wet... commercial products like Roach Proof work well but cost more than bulk purchase of Boric Acid.

You know it is working when the size and number decrease... can take several weeks...

Of course all the usual caviots apply... eliminate clutter, food source and refuge areas by sealing with trim or caulk.

[mr peanut]

homeless camps also bring roaches to your area, because of all the garbage they leave on streets

most restaurants, especially in the Tenderloin are heavily infested with roaches, sometimes when the restaurants are closed you can see the roaches crawling around or a rodent running across the floor.

[Ultrarunner]

Even in the best of times sanitation can be a lot of work...

Owning their 1922 single family home on a small lot was my grandparents dream... 900 square feet, 2 bedrooms on a 4000 square feet lot was when they know they had arrived and their was no difference between inside and out... it was picture perfect and immaculate... I did think it a bit much when I had to go over every Saturday morning to move out the refrigerator so Grandma could mop and then take out the condensate tray under the refrigerator each Saturday too...

Can honestly say yearly is as often as I clean my refrigerator condensate tray... but I know refrigerators where the tray has never been cleaned.

Grandparents lived through the pandemic or 1918 and you simply could not clean enough...