Do I have roaches?

September 22, 2017 5:18 PM

If I saw one roach in my new condo, are there definitely more? Do I absolutely need an exterminator or can I wait and see?

I moved into a new condo 3 weeks ago. The place had been vacant for quite a while before I moved in. Before moving in I had the entire place painted and the wood floors refinished. When I moved in, it was pristine. I've slowly been unpacking boxes and am down to the last six or so. I just started emptying a box that had been opened but not unpacked and I saw a roach. I immediately sprayed it with Raid and definitely got it. It scurried away in the box. I slowly emptied the box and made sure it wasn't in anything I took out of the box, but the roach (dead or alive) never turned up). I brought the box to the dumpster outside of my building. My question--could the roach have crawled somewhere in the box to die? Also, is it true that when there is one there are many more? Do I need an exterminator already? Or is it possible it was the only roach?

posted by parkerposey to Home & Garden (13 answers total)

Was the moving truck one you trust to be "clean"? Could be it was a solo high risk adventure for your little visitor.

Wait and see a day or two.
posted by Freedomboy at 5:23 PM on September 22, 2017

Potentially also talk to your condo management office -- pest control is often provided at no direct cost to the unit owner because it is in the interests of the building as a whole to deal with these things before they start affecting more units.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:28 PM on September 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

It is so easy to take care of roaches these days, you should just call an exterminator.
posted by Toddles at 5:57 PM on September 22, 2017

Size is a reasonable indicator. If it was huge, that's actually good news - the bigger ones tend to prefer living outside, so any that get in are usually stragglers/lost/scouting for water. It's the little tiny ones that tend to get into all the things...
posted by aecorwin at 6:06 PM on September 22, 2017 [4 favorites]

Yeah here in the south US we get those huge ones which are not fun to deal with but also mostly live outside and sneak in on occasion (great entertainment for the cat at night...he patrols the downstairs all summer)...the smaller "german cockroaches" are the ones you have to watch out for.
posted by Captain_Science at 6:14 PM on September 22, 2017

Response by poster: Not huge, just regular sized, I guess. Not tiny either. Maybe the length 3/4 of my thumb nail
posted by parkerposey at 6:15 PM on September 22, 2017

Response by poster: Probably a "german cockroach" size
posted by parkerposey at 6:16 PM on September 22, 2017

I dunno, I posted this recently. We put down some borax/boric acid and sugar traps and diatomaceous earth, haven't seen a single one since. I think it's entirely possible that one hatched in your cardboard moving boxes.

But, famous last words and all that. YMMV.
posted by stray at 8:08 PM on September 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

Holy cow, I would never call an exterminator after seeing one roach once!

Roach bait is cheap and simple for providing effective control of many/most low level incursions, and thrice so in a brand new space.

Sure, fall back on paying hundreds, and yes, see if the condo association provides service for free.

But in the mean time, the reasonable option between 'hire a pro' and 'do nothing' is 'put out some roach bait'.

I find this stuff to be very effective and easy to use, it's a bit pricy but you're buying a supply that should last a year or more.
posted by SaltySalticid at 8:17 PM on September 22, 2017 [3 favorites]

You might want to call and get a quote from the exterminator, before you decide. I get my apartment (1BR + exterior patio) sprayed every couple of months for spiders and only pay $60/visit, in a high COL area.
posted by serelliya at 8:44 PM on September 22, 2017

Take a flashlight and look inside all the nooks and crannies of your kitchen and bathroom cabinets. If you see little black dirt-looking specks around the edges and corners in there (AKA... roach poop), it may be time to be concerned about an infestation. I had kind of a similar experience when I moved into an apartment a few years back. The apartment looked clean, but then I saw a lone roach, and then I saw another one later, and then I examined the insides of the cabinets closely and ewwwww.

If the insides of all your cabinets look nice and shiny and clean, maybe wait until you see another roach before you start to worry. And put down the bait if you want to be proactive.
posted by bananana at 9:36 PM on September 22, 2017

Have you heard of Ortho Home Defense spray? You can spray it outdoors and indoors. I usually spray it on door thresholds, corners, and bottoms of walls. For us it's done an amazing job of killing roaches simply when they crawl over it briefly. It won't kill any nest, but at least you won't be dealing with any live ones in your living areas.
posted by KatNips at 9:47 PM on September 22, 2017 [1 favorite]

I see a lone cockroach in our apartment from time to time -- maybe two or three times a year, max. So it's just anecdotal, but seeing one roach does not necessarily mean you have an infestation.
posted by merejane at 8:26 AM on September 23, 2017 [1 favorite]