The bathroom is a very private place. It is a retreat from the real world. A respite from the screaming children, a saviour when you’re on the road. Bathrooms are something we all rely on daily to dispose of what none of us want to talk about, or hear. Bathrooms are, perhaps, the most important room in any house, office, building or rest stop. But sometimes those bathrooms get infested. Sometimes they become a home for cockroaches.
If there is one thing you do not want to see while you are in a risky position is a giant cockroach crawling up your leg. What’s more, is a cockroach can crawl out of drains while you wash your hands. It’s a generally horrifying situation and is much worse when it happens in your own home.
Now it is very important to remember that your home does not need to be dirty or messy to get cockroaches. You don’t need to leave dirty plates in the sink, though that will help bring cockroaches from the sewer. The truth is the cleanest house in the world can be infested and it’s not a reason to scrub the house clean. They come because you cook tasty food and the smell travels into the drains and outside into the yard. Cockroaches can smell this from inside drains and even from the sewer if they are near your home. They will travel up the drains or through an opening in your home’s foundation, or through weep vents in brick houses. There are many entrance ways for them to use as houses are built to breathe. One favoured entrance is the dryer exhaust which can be used as a direct entrance into the house for cockroaches and other insects.
Now before you pull out the Draino you should be reminded that these cockroaches do not live in the drains all the time. They go there for food and water and then often retreat to somewhere less open like inside a microwave vent or the motor on the back of the fridge. The key to killing them is attacking their home, not their work. Use insecticide dust in cracks and holes, use boric acid and water to spray the threatened area, take action and if it’s too much, call a professional but know that a cockroach infestation does not mean your home is dirty. It means you need a filter in your plumbing and drains and that you will need to vacate your home for five hours while a licensed exterminator sprays the kitchen.
