Preparation for Cockroach Control - or What not to do!

To the left you see an actual note left by one of our customers who was unable to be there when the technician arrived. She had a serious German cockroach infestation, and wanted us to just spray EVERYTHING! The problem was that she had not done the requisite preparation so that we COULD spray everything that needed to be treated. Dishes and food were in cabinets and in the sink, clutter was everywhere. Her hope was that we could blast the roaches with a magic killing force, and she would clean up afterward. Unfortunately, that is neither safe nor effective - nor legal!

In as effort to better communicate what needs to be done by homeowners and residents with bug problems preparatory to our treatment, here is the list for cockroach preparation and a few explanations.

1. Remove all contents of kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Stack contents in a room other than the kitchen and bathrooms and cover with a sheet, blanket, or similar material. This means the kitchen and bathroom cabinets need to be empty and clean. Food, dishes, pots and pans or other kitchen items should not be stacked on kitchen counters or on the floor of the kitchen. We need complete access to the empty and clean cabinets. Legally and professionally, we cannot spray food or dishes  - or anything left in a cabinet. If you decide to leave things in cabinets, there will be no protection against cockroaches in that area. Often customers believe the cockroaches are isolated to one area of the kitchen. This may be true. But to do the best job possible, please let us have access to all cabinet areas. 

2. Remove all kitchen drawers from the kitchen and cover. Please make sure that drawers and their contents are clean before returning them. Sanitation is one of the biggest items in cockroach control. Cockroaches can live off the crumbs in a drawer or the grease behind the stove. Thorough cleaning gives them less to eat and fewer places to hide.

3. If closets are infested, remove all items from the floors of closets and push clothes to the center. We will treat baseboards as available throughout the house.

4. If you have a fish tank, please cover it with a towel, sheet, or similar material, and turn off all aeration equipment until the pest control application has dried.

5. Please be prepared to vacate for at least four hours following treatment. Do not return materials to kitchen or bathroom cabinets until the application has completely dried. DO NOT clean out cabinets with wet materials until control has been established to ensure active material is not removed after treatment. You may use a brush or vacuum to remove dead cockroaches. Once the chemical is dry, it is safe to put food and dishes back in the cabinets.

6. Do not expect all roaches to die immediately. Cockroach control is a process. Even after thorough cleaning and pesticide application, you may expect to see live cockroaches for three weeks. Adult roaches will die within a few days, hatch-out will occur in 10-12 days. We use chemicals with excellent residual effect, which will continue to eliminate new hatches and eventually eradicate the problem. If you are still seeing live roaches at the three week point, please call for a follow-up service. 

 When chemicals are applied according to their label, risks are within limits found acceptable by state and federal government regulatory agencies. Working together, we can solve all kinds of pest problems!