How to get rid of roaches in an apartment (and keep them from coming back)

Step by step: how to get rid of roaches in an apartment

Safety first. Read and follow every pesticide label: the label is the law. Place baits where children and pets cannot reach them, never put bait or traps on counters where food is prepared, and do not use foggers, which can be explosive near pilot lights and spread roaches to neighboring units.

1. 1

   Report it to your landlord in writing

   Send an email or text with dates, rooms and a photo, and keep a copy. In apartment buildings roaches travel between units through shared walls and pipes, so treating only your unit often fails. Your landlord or building manager can bring in a licensed pest control company and check neighboring units.

2. 2

   Put out sticky traps to find the hot spots

   Place sticky traps flat against the wall where it meets the floor: behind the fridge and stove, under the sink, in lower cabinets and beside the water heater. Check them daily for several days. The traps with the most roaches show you where they are hiding and where to put bait.

3. 3

   Clean the kitchen deeply once

   Pull out the stove and fridge if you can, vacuum crumbs and droppings from behind and under them, and wash the floor and lower cabinets with hot soapy water or a degreaser. Grease on the stove sides and range hood is food for roaches. Vacuum droppings, shed skins and egg cases from cracks and cabinet corners.

4. 4

   Cut off food and water every night

   Wash dishes before bed, wipe counters and stovetops, store all food, including pet food and cereal, in sealed containers, and take trash out daily or use a can with a tight lid. Fix dripping faucets and wipe the sink dry. Roaches thrive where they find water, and even tiny spills or crumbs caught in cracks can feed them.

5. 5

   Get rid of cardboard and clutter

   Roaches hide in and travel on cardboard boxes, paper bags and stacks of newspaper. Recycle delivery boxes the day they arrive, unpack groceries straight into cabinets, and clear clutter from under sinks and on top of the fridge.

6. 6

   Place gel bait in small dots

   Put pea-sized dots of gel bait, or bait stations, in the spots your traps pointed to: cabinet hinges and corners, under the sink, behind appliances and near droppings. Do not spray cleaners or insecticides on or near the bait. Expect to see fewer roaches after about a week, and replace bait as the label directs.

7. 7

   Seal the gaps they travel through

   Caulk cracks along baseboards, cabinet backs and countertops, and stuff gaps around pipes under the kitchen and bathroom sinks with steel wool or copper mesh before caulking. German cockroaches can squeeze into cracks about 1/16 inch wide. Ask maintenance to seal holes behind the stove and fridge that open into the wall.

8. 8

   Keep monitoring for a month

   Replace sticky traps every couple of weeks and keep a note of how many you catch. Seeing small nymphs after the first week is normal as eggs hatch. If counts are not dropping after three to four weeks, ask your landlord for a professional treatment of your unit and the units around it.

Why roaches are harder to get rid of in an apartment

Because your unit is connected to others by walls, plumbing and electrical chases, roaches can come back from next door even after you clean perfectly. Control works best as a building effort.

UF/IFAS Extension notes that in apartments and condominiums, cockroach control often takes a team effort involving residents, the pest control company, property managers and custodians, and that roaches commonly arrive on cardboard boxes and paper bags or through gaps around door and window frames. It recommends sealing around plumbing pipes, getting rid of cardboard quickly, and using baits for recurring problems, since roaches can build up resistance to sprays.

Rules on who pays for pest control vary by state and city, and by lease. In many places landlords must keep units free of pests, but check your lease and local housing code, and contact your local health or housing department if a reported infestation is ignored.

Signs of roaches in an apartment before you see one

The first clues are often what roaches leave behind rather than the roaches themselves. Check with a flashlight, including once after the kitchen has been dark for a while.

• Droppings. Small dark specks that look like ground pepper or coffee grounds, collected in cabinet corners, drawers, door hinges and along the top edges of the fridge.
• Egg cases. Small, brown, capsule-shaped cases, often glued in cracks, under shelves or tucked behind appliances.
• Shed skins. Pale, empty roach-shaped skins near the same hiding spots.
• Dead roaches. One on its back under the sink or behind the trash can is worth taking seriously in an apartment building, where more may be next door.

The places to look first in an apartment are the cabinet under the kitchen sink, the hinges of lower cabinets, behind and under the fridge and stove, the bathroom vanity, and inside small warm appliances like the microwave, toaster and coffee maker. If you find droppings but no roaches, set sticky traps there for a few nights to confirm before you start baiting.

What to write to your landlord about roaches

A short, factual message with dates gets faster action than a phone call, and it gives you a record if the problem drags on. Include:

• The date you first saw roaches or droppings, and how often you see them now.
• The rooms and spots involved, such as under the kitchen sink or behind the stove.
• Photos of roaches, droppings or full sticky traps.
• What you have already done: cleaning, traps, bait.
• A clear request: inspection and treatment of your unit and the units around it, and sealing of gaps around pipes and behind appliances.
• When you are available to give access.

For example: “Since March 3 I have seen roaches nightly in the kitchen, mostly under the sink and behind the stove. Photos of droppings and sticky traps are attached. I have cleaned, stored food in sealed containers and set traps. Please arrange a pest control inspection and treatment for my unit and the neighboring units, and seal the gaps around the pipes under the sink. I can give access any weekday after 4 pm.”

Save the sent message and any reply. If nothing happens, follow up in writing with new photos. Check your lease and your state and local rules before you withhold rent or hire your own exterminator, since what tenants may do varies by place.

How to prepare your apartment for a pest control visit

The company or your landlord should give you a prep list. Follow it exactly; treatment only works where the technician can reach. Most lists for roaches look like this:

1. Empty the cabinets under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and lower kitchen cabinets if asked, so the technician can reach the back corners and pipe openings.
2. Put food in sealed containers or the fridge, and put away dishes, utensils, pet bowls and toothbrushes.
3. Clear the tops of the fridge and cabinets and the floor along kitchen walls.
4. Vacuum and wipe the kitchen floor and cabinet shelves the day before, not after.
5. Move pets and their food out of the treated rooms, and plan to keep children and pets out for as long as the technician says.

Ask the technician which product they used and where they placed bait, and ask for the product name so you can read its label. Afterward, avoid wiping, mopping or spraying cleaner on the spots where bait or treatment was put down. Keep your sticky traps out to see whether counts fall over the next few weeks.

Baits, sprays or bug bombs: what works on apartment roaches?

Gel baits and bait stations, combined with cleaning and sealing, are the main tools. Sprays give short-term knockdown at best, and foggers are the wrong tool entirely.

The UC Statewide IPM Program’s cockroach guide calls baits the primary pesticides for cockroach infestations, says an effective bait program may take 7 days or longer, and warns that foggers and aerosol sprays can be hazardous and may scatter cockroaches to other areas without killing them. The EPA’s fogger safety page adds that foggers should not be used in small enclosed spaces like closets and cabinets and should be kept away from pilot lights and appliances that cycle on and off. As the EPA puts it, the label is the law: use any product only as directed.

How to keep roaches out of your apartment permanently

Keep the habits that starved them out, and keep a few traps in place so you catch a new arrival before it becomes an infestation.

• Leave sticky traps behind the fridge and under the sink year-round and check them monthly.
• Do a nightly kitchen reset: dishes washed, counters wiped, trash lidded, sink dry.
• Inspect secondhand furniture, appliances and moving boxes before bringing them in, and look for egg cases glued underneath.
• Clean under and behind appliances every few months, as in our kitchen cleaning checklist.
• Report leaks and new gaps to maintenance quickly; damp cabinets under sinks are roach magnets.

Moving in or out without bringing roaches along

Before you sign for a new apartment, open the cabinet under the kitchen sink and look behind the stove with a flashlight for droppings and egg cases, and ask when the unit was last treated. Set sticky traps during your first week so you know early if you inherited a problem.

When you leave an infested unit, pack in plastic bins with tight lids rather than cardboard boxes that have been stored there. Shake out and inspect small appliances and electronics, leave behind open food, and check furniture joints and drawer bottoms for egg cases. Unpack in the new place promptly and recycle any boxes the same day. If roaches turn up in your vehicle after a move, see roaches in a car.

If you own a house rather than rent, our guide to getting rid of roaches in the house covers outdoor species and perimeter work.

Mistakes to avoid

• Setting off a bug bomb, which scatters roaches into the walls and the apartment next door.
• Spraying cleaner or insecticide on top of gel bait, which makes roaches avoid it.
• Keeping delivery boxes and paper bags, where roaches hide and lay eggs.
• Treating quietly without telling the landlord, so neighboring units keep reinfesting yours.
• Leaving pet food out overnight, which competes with the bait.
• Giving up after a week, before the bait has worked through the population.
• Leaving sink cabinets full on treatment day, so the technician cannot reach where roaches hide.
• Reporting only by phone, with no written record of when the landlord was told.