Cockroach Crazy

August 3, 2008 8:52 PM

I just became the person in charge of a large building. Which is infested with cockroaches. Help!

The building is huge. It used to be a church. It is over-run with cockroaches. I mean, they are crawling up my leg as I type this. I know I have to bomb, use gel and redo that every few days, four or five times. But am I using the right stuff?

I am using the bombs and gel that you get at Home Depot.

A few years back, I moved into an infested house (yes, I am a poor bastard) and I made the landlord call in an exterminator and he used a gel that looked like an epoxy stick (two separate tubes that squirted gel out equally to mix) and it worked great. Is this the same stuff that you can get at Home Depot or is it a commercial version?

I really don't have the cash to call an exterminator.

There is a lot of stuff in the building, which makes great places to hide for them, but no food stuff and nothing here for them to eat.

The building is three levels and they are everywhere. I've been sleeping in a hammock and eating out.

Any advice or info would be great!


(Yes, I know...... yuck)

posted by peewinkle to pets & animals (14 comments total)

(I apologize for my grammar..... I haven't been sleeping much)
posted by peewinkle at 8:56 PM on August 3, 2008

I was surprised to learn you can purchase heavy-duty pesticides online from a variety of sources, like this one. But if this is a huge building that's completely overrun, you really need a professional. Call your local vector control agency, because there might be some governmental help you can rely on if it's truly bad and out of control.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:03 PM on August 3, 2008

Be sure all pilot lights are out before you use those bombs. That warning is no joke.
posted by Cranialtorque at 9:05 PM on August 3, 2008

They need water even more than food, so make sure there's no water they can get to, or damp areas.
posted by needs more cowbell at 9:15 PM on August 3, 2008

FQA on Cockroaches this site suggests "Boric Acid. The crystals of boric acid are sharp and get between the joints of an insect's exoskeleton. The sharp crystals abrade the cuticle and make the cockroach lose water and die of dehydration. This is a simple and cheap method. Dust the boric acid (which is relatively non-toxic) around the corners of rooms and in hiding places frequented by the roaches."
posted by JujuB at 9:31 PM on August 3, 2008 [2 favorites]

If you have to bomb, etc the place every few days a) your health will suffer (Which it apparently already has according to your comment about not sleeping) and b) It will quickly cost more than an exterminator.

Call a professional. Don't go with the cheapest you can find, get someoen with a guarantee. And make sure to get advice about how to keep it from happening again, like Cowbell's good suggestion about water.

But roaches creep me right the hell out. I would sell any spare body fluids or parts to get it taken care of right.
posted by Ookseer at 9:42 PM on August 3, 2008

I also have heard that water more than food is the limiting factor for roaches. Follow the plumbing from where it enters the building looking for leaks.
posted by LarryC at 9:56 PM on August 3, 2008

A non-toxic and inexpensive way to control roaches (and other nasties such as bedbugs) is diatomaceous earth -- the powderized skeletons of diatoms, which scrape open the insect's exoskeleton. It isn't a fast solution, though. Ask at your gardening center.
posted by dhartung at 9:58 PM on August 3, 2008

jujuB has it: boric acid. YES! BORIC ACID! Truly, I've been in infested places, and a line of boric acid (it's a powder) round the edge of the floor is fantastic at wiping the little &^%$ers out.
posted by airplain at 1:42 AM on August 4, 2008

I worked at an old restaurant once, that was sadly infested with the roaches. They got a professional that specializes in food places who bombed the living hell out of the place. NEVER saw a bug in there again. So I'd recommend finding a pro who understands that these things need to be GONE.
posted by gjc at 5:48 AM on August 4, 2008

If the building is as large and infested as you say, you might want to contact professionals to truly clean it out. There's only so much you yourself are going to be able to do.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:10 AM on August 4, 2008

peewinkle, you have my sympathies. I train exterminators for a living and I'm still getting skeeved out reading your question.
You're getting some good advice in this thread. Boric Acid (commercially sold as Borid) is a great product for killing cockroaches. You should try to get a light dusting onto any and all surfaces that you can. You don't need to put out huge piles of it, and it won't form a real barrier as it's non-repellent (cockroaches will walk through it without any immediate reaction). Boric acid is a relatively slow kill - once a cockroach comes in contact with it, they will take about 3-5 days to die. Boric acid is cheap, maintains efficacy forever (or until it gets wet) and is non-toxic to mammals.
For a faster kill, the aerosol sprays or bombs are good. Be really careful with them - read the whole label, and follow all the precautions.
Take a close look at the cockroaches - are they small German cockroaches? Are they larger Oriental or American cockroaches that might be coming in from outside? If you're seeing them outside, too, you can apply certain products outside the building to form a barrier that will keep them from coming in.
If you've got so many that you're seeing them running around, look for a spray that contains pyrethrin (a synthetic version of a chemical found in chrysanthemum blossoms). This will kill on contact, but once it's dried, it's done working. That way you can at least get some population reduction!
The gel you're talking about is likely a bait. Baits almost always use boric acid as their active ingredient. In the industry, we use bait only once a problem is under control. It sounds like you're not to that point yet.
Please feel free to email me if you have any questions, or if you'd like a referral to a professional.
posted by Coffeemate at 9:31 AM on August 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

I can't really top what Coffeemate said, but I can add this - look into what the neighbors are doing. Roaches form large networks that go between buildings. You may have to help solve someone else's bug problem to fully solve your own.

Good luck! I'm pulling for you beat back the hordes.
posted by Citrus at 9:48 AM on August 4, 2008

Go out to a drug store or hardware store and pick up a box of Borax. Helped me when I lived in the basement apartment of a cockroach-infested ex-hospital (no joke). Do as others suggest, just sprinkle it around. It has a strong psychological impact, too, in that you don't feel held hostage.

(Although most of the cockroaches liked to die right in the center of the plastic mat I put down for my office chair to slide on. Like a tiny, symbolic 'fuck you, man')

The landlord (eventually) got an exterminator to come in and spray a light drizzle of some kind of liquid around, all over my stuff. It must not have been too toxic to mammals, as I didn't throw up or die. I seem to recall that the exterminator said that it was a type of hormonal control that disrupts both the cockroach's metabolism and breeding cycle, but IANAE.

Good luck!

P.S. depending your hammock setup, grease up the poles holding your hammock with vaseline, it stops the roaches from climbing.
posted by burnfirewalls at 11:03 AM on August 4, 2008