It isn't fun finding out that your home is infested with cockroaches. But there is something worse: not finding out. Cockroaches can make you sick, whether you know you have them or not. It is best to know how to detect warning signs of a cockroach infestation. Join us today as we share surefire ways to tell that your home has roaches. We'll also share with you the link between cockroach control and guarding against roach-related illness. If you have cockroaches, it is best to contact a pest professional for treatment. If you don't, we have five no-nonsense cockroach tips to help you prevent an infestation. As you consider cockroach prevention, keep in mind that we offer residential pest control service plans that work to keep cockroaches out of West Chester homes. Professional pest control can help you get the control you want without all the work of applying prevention. If you live in West Chester, give us a call to speak with one of our pest professionals. Masters Touch Pest Solutions provides advanced solutions for cockroach pest control in West Chester and we offer cost-effective residential pest control service plans.
Warning Signs Of A Cockroach Infestation
Do you have roaches? If you've seen cockroaches in your home more than a few times, you don't have to wonder. In fact, you can skip this section. Seeing a cockroach is not only a warning sign of infestation, it is a sign that you have lots of cockroaches. These insects prefer to hide from view and only start to show themselves when they are competing for food resources, which occurs when populations outgrow available food. If you haven't seen roaches crawling around in your home, here are some other signs of a cockroach infestation.
- Hidden roaches. When you shine a light into a dark space and see dozens (or hundreds) of tiny insects zipping around on walls, floors, and ceilings, you don't have to wonder if you have an infestation.
- Black droppings. Cockroaches leave their waste as they skitter around inside a home. Most of the waste is deposited in tight spaces and dark cavities that you can't easily inspect. But they may leave droppings in sink cabinets, on shelves, in the backs of your kitchen drawers, behind food items in your cabinets, on curtains, and sprinkled on your insulation—to name just a few common places.
- Skins. When a cockroach sheds its exoskeleton, it leaves the whole thing behind. If you find a skin before the cockroaches consume it, you might think you've found a cockroach because the skin looks like the roach that shed it.
- Pouches. Cockroaches lay a pouch called an ootheca. Inside the pouch are several eggs. As you search for roach activity in your home, you may find their oothecae. Most roaches created an ootheca that is brownish red.
- Odors. A cockroach infestation is often marked by an odor. It is a musty, oily scent that is potent enough to taint food in cabinets where cockroaches explore.
When you find evidence of a cockroach infestation, there are a few facts you should know. Cockroaches in West Chester are not harmless insects. They spread sickness. Let's quickly look at how they do this and why the prevention steps you take can help you guard against illness.
How Cockroaches Spread Around Dangerous Pathogens
Whether you have found signs of cockroaches in your home or you're hoping to prevent a roach infestation, it helps to understand how roaches can make you sick. Addressing conditions that promote sickness will make your home less inviting to roaches. Here's how it works:
- Cockroaches feed on rotting organic material in trash receptacles, drains, mop buckets, compost heaps, and other dirty places. Exposure to dirty things makes cockroaches a vehicle for invisible organisms related to human disease. If cockroaches can't get into trash or compost, and they only find clean items and surfaces in your home, not only are they a little more hygienic, they are less likely to contaminate your foods, dishes, and surfaces.
- Cockroaches can chew through cardboard packaging and get into stored foods. You can keep them out of your food by storing your food in sealed containers. Not only will this help you guard against illness, but you'll also seal in the food smells that attract cockroaches.
- Cockroaches eat animal, pet, and human waste. When you keep your bathroom clean, manage your cat's litter box, and clean up dog droppings in the yard, you work to prevent roaches from exposure to pathogens.
- Cockroach droppings are a source of contamination. If you already have an infestation, it is helpful to clean up roach droppings. Wear protective gloves and a respirator. Doing this dirty chore comes with some benefits. You'll reduce how much waste roaches are exposed to as they crawl around in your home; you'll reduce the potential for anyone to accidentally touch surfaces with roach droppings on them; and you can use waste removal to help you detect cockroach activity. If you check back and more material appears, you'll know that you still have roaches in your home. Lastly, you'll remove a scent that attracts cockroaches.
We hope that you don't have cockroaches in your home and that you've found this article in time. If so, there are ways to prevent a cockroach infestation. We'll build off some of the facts we've shared so far. Let's have a look.
Five No-Nonsense Cockroach Prevention Tips
We've touched on some of the reasons cockroaches would want to live inside your home and some things that attract them. Now we'll show you how to deter cockroaches using what you've learned.
- Trash management is essential. Cockroaches can smell your trash from a distance. You can help prevent this by cleaning your containers with soapy water, keeping your containers covered, refraining from overfilling, and getting your containers to the curb each week. You'll need to maintain indoor trash as well. Keep trash in covered containers. Remove trash frequently to avoid bad odors. Clean your receptacles routinely. Consider storing certain products in a plastic bag before putting them in your trash, such as discarded meats.
- Moisture management around your home makes the habitat less inviting to roaches. All cockroaches need moisture. They prefer a home with a damp perimeter, lots of leaf litter, and dense vegetation. Cleaning and fixing gutters is a good start. Along with this, manage your landscaping to reduce trapped moisture and organic clutter.
- Seal entry points to prevent cockroaches from exploiting thin gaps and tiny holes. Cockroaches don't chew holes through wood. They use openings that currently exist. The bad news is that it is nearly impossible to patch every opening they might use. If you can see light leaking out from around your exterior doors at night, those thin gaps are large enough to provide cockroaches entry into your home.
- Once cockroaches get into your home, the first thing they're going to want to find is food debris, juice spills, hair, dead skin, feces, and other "food" options. A clean home is resistant to cockroach activity. While sanitation isn't enough to keep cockroaches out, your cleaning efforts will pay off in two ways. You'll deter cockroaches from growing a population and you'll reduce their exposure to contaminants. Some cockroach species don't tolerate living in a clean home and you may drive them out with sanitation.
- Cockroaches don't like a dry home. If you take steps to manage moisture and humidity, roaches will not like you. Hopefully, they won't like you enough to leave your home and not come back. How do you deal with damp conditions and humidity in the air? Use your fan when you take showers or baths so the moisture is vented. Take showers and baths well before bedtime so the moisture dries up before nightfall when roaches are active. Install a dehumidifier to remove moisture from the air. Fix leaks and drips.
Cockroach prevention is a layered process. When you do the hard work, you'll reap the benefits. If you don't have the time or energy, cockroach pest control is a necessity. We don't recommend applying roach control on your own as you can get unwanted results and worsen your problem.
The Best Cockroach Control Solution For West Chester Homes
For home pest control in West Chester, contact Masters Touch Pest Solutions. We employ highly trained technicians with the experience to solve tough cockroach problems. The strategies we use are developed and perfected by pest control industry experts, and the process we apply is multi-pronged. As we work to arrest your infestation, we evaluate the treatment and make adjustments as needed. After careful surveillance and a professional inspection, we'll let you know that all the roaches are gone.
Cockroaches are frustrating pests with natural abilities and behavior patterns that help them avoid over-the-counter treatment products. You don't have to get caught in the endless war with cockroaches and ongoing sickness. Jump to our contact page and reach out to us, or give us a call. We're here to answer your questions and help you find the right solution for West Chester cockroaches.
