Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When I lived in Manhattan, I never had any roach problems (thank goodness). -But from my understanding, when you see 1 in your apt, there are usually thousands in the walls, therefore, your landlord must exterminate.
I recall, my landlord admitted that she had an extreme phobia of roaches, therefore, she paid to have a bug specialist introduce a horde of spiders and ants (which are roaches natural enemies) inside the brownstone building after it was renovated. I do not know much about which type of spiders and ants were used or how much the services cost, but I did see a few spiders from time to time and I had a bit of an ant issue (especially during the summer months) in my old apt. I didn't however complain, since I never spotted one roach while residing there.
I was so thankful that she hated roaches and ensured that her tenets never had to encounter one. In truth, I have a serious phobia of roaches as well, and I would have probably hired an attorney to opt out of the lease if the apt had a roach issue.
I recall, my landlord admitted that she had an extreme phobia of roaches, therefore, she paid to have a bug specialist introduce a horde of spiders and ants (which are roaches natural enemies) inside the brownstone building after it was renovated. I do not know much about which type of spiders and ants were used or how much the services cost, but I did see a few spiders from time to time and I had a bit of an ant issue (especially during the summer months) in my old apt. I didn't however complain, since I never spotted one roach while residing there.
Ummmmmmmm, I think she's just feeding you a line to explain away the terrible ant and spider problem in your building. Spiders and ants are a roach's worst enemy? Hardly. You've been duped, bro. Ants are a pest. The spiders probably just moved in to eat the ants. No one in their right mind would try to get rid of bugs by introducing MORE bugs. Yep, you bought that line of BS hook line and sinker. At least you don't have a roach problem too, otherwise she probably would have told you that she had the roaches brought in to fight off the nasty plague of squirrels.
Ummmmmmmm, I think she's just feeding you a line to explain away the terrible ant and spider problem in your building. Spiders and ants are a roach's worst enemy? Hardly. You've been duped, bro. Ants are a pest. The spiders probably just moved in to eat the ants. No one in their right mind would try to get rid of bugs by introducing MORE bugs. Yep, you bought that line of BS hook line and sinker. At least you don't have a roach problem too, otherwise she probably would have told you that she had the roaches brought in to fight off the nasty plague of squirrels.
No, she did pay to introduce ants and spiders into the building, due to her severe phobia of roaches. In all honesty, the ants were plentiful (especially during the summer). Again, I didn't complain because I much preferred ants to roaches, however other tenets did complain.
From my understanding, a few ants won't offset roaches, but plenty of them in groups will. I assume that the spiders however, helped to ensure that the ants didn't over populate.
One of my neighbors who resided across the street in another brownstone complained however, that she did have some roach related issues. I was just relieved that my place didn't.
The below video is an example of what groups of ants do to roaches. Be forewarned it's gross; I could barely watch the footage.
I'm also pretty sure that borax or boric acid are very effective at controlling a roach problem. They carry it back to their nest and it kills the rest of them as well. I've never heard anything about it being toxic to humans, at all. In fact, borax is an extremely common ingredient in laundry detergents. It's about as safe as it gets, as long as you're not trying to eat it or something. Just keep it away from the food you're planning on eating, and don't put it anywhere your pets or children could reach it and accidentally eat it. Only put it in cracks and crevices where people can't reach, and your food never goes. Don't just sprinkle it all over your counter tops and tables. If you can do that, it's probably your best option, and is not toxic at all.
Continue to close all the holes and cracks in your apartment. Caulk your baseboards where they meet the floor. Caulk the interior and exterior of your kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Pay close attention to all pipes where they enter your apartment and caulk where needed. Inspect your closets, use a mirror to help with any hard place you can't see. Check the radiator where the valve meets the floor. Inspect your window sills and around you windows, put caulk in any gaps where you don't see the wall fully meeting the woodwork. Caulk around every light switch and electrical plugs. I even used caulk and foam around ceiling light fixtures.
I've told my story plenty of times on this site about having them. It took time mainly because I'm disabled, but the more I closed openings and discovered other available places they could get in the more the numbers diminished. My building has a terrible problem with them. They are in the walls badly. Recently I had a leak in my living room ceiling and the ceiling fell. I was afraid roaches would get in my apartment again but the ceiling wasn't the problem. The problem came when repairs were done one of the handymen used a scraper to get up the ceiling which had hardened with the water. When he did this he also scraped through the caulk on the baseboard. I didn't see this. Next thing I knew I started to see adult roaches around my kitchen and in a hall outside my bedroom, about a total of 4 or 5 adult roaches along with a baby roach. I said oh *****, not again. I was getting pissed because I knew I would have to inspect all over again. Thank God I found the spot quick and caulked again, no problems and I killed all those I'd seen. I also need to give thanks to God b/c I find whenever I talk about this, no lie, I see an adult roach.
As long as you keep them out you won't have to invest crap loads of money to kept killing them. You might see an occasional one or two (in my case I can go say about 6 months without seeing one) from time to time.
Lastly I keep bait out for the those occasional roaches that find their way in. I got this bait in Chinatown, it kills them on the spot. I won't say exactly where I got it but if you use something like that don't put it anywhere where pets or children can get to it. I placed them behind my stove, refrigerator, in or around the kitchen and bathroom sinks.
Oh and if you don't want roaches in your bedroom, don't eat in there. Don't leave food wrappers in there and don't throw away food in the trash bin, also don't leave cups of water there.
I'm gotten so relax that if I don't feel like doing dishes the night before I'll wash then the next morning and I can say I've gone into the kitchen in the middle of the night won't see not one roach. Now of course whenever that occasional roach shows up I'm back to being scared straight. lol
Use combat gel. This really does work. Put it in your drawers, near the entrance of your door, cabinets, etc.
In addition, I would still use the boric acid powder. Use it behind the stove, fridge, in the corners of rooms, cabinets, etc., until you don't see them anymore. I also agree with getting the Chinese Chalk too.
But before you do all this, you should go to Home Depot and purchase a couple of roach bombs to kill the ones in the crevices. You may come home to see some dead roaches on the floor and countertops, but that's okay. This will probably continue for a few more days, then you won't see them anymore.
At my last place in LA, I started to see roaches and would just spray them when I saw them, because I didn't have a roach problem there. After seeing them on a daily basis (but nowhere near like what you can in NYC) I had the property manager call in the exterminator. He sprayed the place with the typical stuff to get them to come out of their environment and then put combat gel all over the place. He praised it to high heaven, even though I already knew about it from living in NYC.
Use combat gel. This really does work. Put it in your drawers, near the entrance of your door, cabinets, etc.
In addition, I would still use the boric acid powder. Use it behind the stove, fridge, in the corners of rooms, cabinets, etc., until you don't see them anymore. I also agree with getting the Chinese Chalk too.
But before you do all this, you should go to Home Depot and purchase a couple of roach bombs to kill the ones in the crevices. You may come home to see some dead roaches on the floor and countertops, but that's okay. This will probably continue for a few more days, then you won't see them anymore.
At my last place in LA, I started to see roaches and would just spray them when I saw them, because I didn't have a roach problem there. After seeing them on a daily basis (but nowhere near like what you can in NYC) I had the property manager call in the exterminator. He sprayed the place with the typical stuff to get them to come out of their environment and then put combat gel all over the place. He praised it to high heaven, even though I already knew about it from living in NYC.
Hope this helps.
The gel is bomb....but a little tube of it costs like $10 tho...however it's well worth the purchase. I see a roach like once or twice a year - and only in the kitchen.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
