You don’t want to think about cockroaches in the home – especially not around the space where you prepare your food. It’s even worse to imagine finding one of these ugly pests in the appliances themselves. Your microwave is especially vulnerable to attracting rodents and other pests, but cockroaches are willing to make their way into any place they consider a viable source of food. So if you find droppings in key corners of your kitchen, you may ask – how do cockroaches get into my appliances? And what can you do to clear roach infestations in Central Iowa? Springer Professional Home Services is here to answer questions and offer the help you need.

How Do Cockroaches Get In?

Cockroaches like places that are dark, warm, and adjacent to food. The kitchen has plenty of nooks and crannies that provide all of that and more. They might be drawn to hide in cabinets, under carpet and mats, or behind peeling wallpaper. At the same time, the German Cockroach, the variety most common in the kitchen, can squeeze itself through the smallest cracks. So, if there are gaps in your microwave or under your sink, this can act as a potential roach vulnerability.

Out of all the pests, roaches reproduce particularly quickly, and a female roach can produce up to 3000 eggs in a lifetime. That’s why it’s so important to catch potential infestations before they balloon and become all the more difficult to control. It can save you a lot of trouble if you know how to identify key evidence of cockroaches in the home. This could include:

• Cockroach poop, which is dark brown or black and resembles coffee grounds.
• Cockroach egg casings, or Oothecae, that are dark or reddish-brown and resemble a dried bean.
• Exoskeletons from new cockroaches molting. These are light brown in color and shaped roughly like the roach they came from.

Getting Rid of Cockroaches in the Kitchen

In almost every case, one visible cockroach is evidence of more hiding someplace nearby. However, if you act quickly, you can possibly prevent an infestation with the right precautions.

The most important thing you can do is clean and clear all food sources. This includes not only leftovers left out on the counter, but spills in the fridge or crumbs in the microwave. Cockroaches are incredibly skilled at finding any source of food, so you should be cleaning your countertops on a regular basis. Doing this keeps your kitchen cleaner, and it also removes any traces of pheromones on the surfaces of the space.

You can also place glue traps around areas that seem particularly active hot spots for roaches. This is a good way to determine the general scope of the infestation, and if the work you’re doing to treat it is actually helping. If you find yourself cleaning constantly and still going through glue trap after glue trap, there’s a chance that the presence of these pests has grown past your control. You need a pest control company that respects your home and your willingness to keep it comfortable and clean. To put it simply, you need Springer.

Trust Springer to Keep Out Cockroaches!

Springer Professional Home Services has been providing comprehensive home and pest control for homes in Central Iowa for decades. If you have cockroaches or any other pests, we can work to clear them out and keep more from getting in. You don’t have to hold your breath or avert your eyes every time you step into your kitchen. If you have roaches, take care of yourself and contact Springer today!

One of the most dreaded pests of all time is the cockroach. Not only are these pests a gross sight to behold, they also can spread germs and contaminate surfaces. Moreso, cockroaches can trigger allergy symptoms and put people at risk of serious illness when they infest a home. Needless to say, it’s crucial to learn how to prevent and get rid of cockroaches, which can take more effort than you may think. The experts at Springer Professional Home Services know how frustrating a roach problem can be—read on to learn everything you need to know with our roach control team!

Part 1: Getting Rid of Cockroaches

In an ideal situation, you would prevent cockroaches from ever entering your home. Sometimes, though, that just isn’t possible. If you’re already struggling with a cockroach problem, here are a few tips to help you get rid of the unwanted houseguests.

1. Seal Entry Points

First things first: seal off all entry points to prevent more cockroaches from entering your home. Examine and repair all weather stripping around your doors. Repair and replace door and window screens, and seal any cracks or holes in your home’s exterior.

2. Use Treatments

Several different pesticide treatments are made especially for indoor home use. Consider using gel bait, bait stations, or glue traps throughout your home to eliminate roaches. Remember that if you decide to use a poisonous option, you’ll need to keep children and pets away from treated areas. Follow all instructions on the label carefully.

3. Consult a Professional

Sometimes an infestation is too much for you to handle on your own. Especially when you’re dealing with German roaches, it can be the right call to enlist help. Whether you’re dealing with a few roaches or a few dozen, your local pest control professionals can help you get them out of your home and keep them out.

Part 2: Keeping Roaches Away

Once you get rid of cockroaches, it’s time to keep them from coming back! Even if your home hasn’t yet been affected by cockroaches, it’s always wise to take steps to prevent an infestation.

1. Eliminate Food Sources

The main contributor to cockroach problems is the availability of food. Remove potential sources of sustenance by making sure that any and all food is cleaned up promptly and stored properly.

2. Clean Your Property

While the presence of cockroaches doesn’t necessarily mean a home is unclean, cockroaches can easily hide and live in homes that are untidy. If you don’t have a cleaning regimen in place already, try to set a manageable schedule that will help you to monitor for cockroaches. This may mean vacuuming on one day of the week, dusting on another, and cleaning bathrooms on yet another day. You don’t have to be obsessive about cleaning, but making sure all areas are tidied up regularly will help reduce your chances of a cockroach infestation.

3. Monitor for Activity

You can always be on the lookout for signs of cockroaches. Keep an eye out for indications of a cockroach infestation like an unusual smell, droppings, smear marks, or shed skins. If you notice any of these signs, it’s best to contact your local professional for an inspection.

Ready For Professional Cockroach Control?

If you’re fighting a losing battle against cockroaches in your Des Moines-area home, contact Springer. Our pest control professionals will work with you to eliminate cockroaches from your home and establish a plan to keep them out.

Seeing a roach scurry across your kitchen floor is one of the worst feelings for a homeowner. You’re left wondering what you did to allow them in, and even more concerning, how many more of them are hidden out of sight. You need to get rid of them fast and make sure they don’t come back.

Luckily, Springer Professional Home Services can help you with that. We took the advice of our cockroach control experts to put together a guide to what roaches like and how to keep them away. Read on to learn more about what attracts cockroaches to your home!

What Are Roaches Attracted To?

Cockroaches are simple creatures that will stop at nothing to get what they want. There are three main things that cockroaches are attracted to, and you will find that they are quite universal:

1. Food: Like every living thing, cockroaches need a source of nutrients to survive. Unfortunately for us, this category stretches wide across the possibilities of what can be considered “food”—cockroaches are equally happy whether they’re feasting on a nice meal that you left out too long or eating out of your trash.
2. Water: Roaches are attracted to dark, damp areas that you might often find other pests in. Standing water from spills, leaky pipes, or buildup in the yard can become cockroach breeding grounds.
3. Shelter: Because roaches are nocturnal, they need to find a safe place to hide during the day. They could make use of piles of yard waste, untrimmed trees and bushes, undisturbed cabinets, crawl spaces, and crevices, and much more.

How To Prevent Cockroaches in Des Moines IA

The main principle to keep in mind when it comes to preventing cockroaches in the home is that neatness goes a long way. This accounts for keeping your house clean and free of spills and crumbs from your meals as well as removing sources of clutter or buildup of personal items.

You should also routinely inspect your home for vulnerabilities that could lead to cockroaches in places you wouldn’t normally visit. This includes:

• Checking for moisture in crawl spaces
• Fixing any leaks in your plumbing fixtures
• Pruning your plants more often
• Looking for small cracks or holes in your siding, walls, doors, and windows

Professional Help with Cockroach Control

Taking all of this advice should reduce the amount of cockroaches in your home. However, sometimes there are places around your home being taken advantage of that are very difficult to find without experience preventing roaches. This is where the experts at Springer Professional Home Services come in. We have over three decades of experience keeping roaches out of homes in Des Moines IA and will help you to better prevent outbreaks going forward. Contact us today for a free quote on roach control!