Why Do I Have Cockroaches in My Home?

While some people can make a case for the benefit of some critters like ladybugs or spiders, most people would be hard pressed to find something positive to say about cockroaches. These lightning fast creepy crawlies show up around garbage or in humid, damp basements. They crawl through filth in sewers and other disgusting places like toilet bowls. If you have cockroaches in your home, the first step is to figure out what is attracting them. If you are seeing multiple cockroaches a day, you probably have an infestation. Calling in a professional pest control service may be the best way to eliminate these gross bugs before they can pass their germs on to you and your family.

Magnets for cockroaches

Just because you have cockroaches does not mean your home is dirty or that you should be embarrassed to ask for help in getting rid of these pests. Messy, cluttered homes certainly attract cockroaches, but there can be several situations that may cause your home to become a magnet for cockroaches.

Cockroaches are attracted to food sources so if you have kids who leave a lot of crumbs under the dinner table, cockroaches will gladly help clean up.

Trash can also be a big draw for cockroaches. If you have a trash can that does not get taken out regularly or has particularly smelly trash, cockroaches may soon become a problem. Keeping your outdoor trash can too close to the house can also lead to cockroaches coming inside.

Living in an apartment building with messy neighbors can bring cockroaches into your home even though you keep a tidy home. Pets and their food bowls can also entice a few cockroaches to come around. It only takes a couple to start an infestation, so keeping a keen eye out for cockroaches and acting quickly to eliminate them is crucial.

Basic prevention of cockroaches includes:

• Sweeping after each meal
• Wiping down countertops and tables regularly with an all purpose spray
• Taking out trash as soon as it is full and storing outdoor garbage cans away from the house
• Have open floors, free of cluttered corners

Signs

Always be on the lookout for signs around your home to indicate an infestation. Any sign of cockroaches means time to start eradicating cockroaches from your property before it gets worse. Look for signs like:

• Smear marks- Cockroaches often hangout in wet, damp areas in the home. If the cockroaches are very active in one area, they scurry through water, and leave brown, smear marks on surfaces and sometimes where the floor and wall meet.
• Droppings- Cockroaches leave behind tiny droppings, but because there can be a good number of droppings in one place, you may notice it.
• Exoskeletons- like other insects, cockroaches have an exoskeleton that they have to shed in order to grow
• Casings or Capsules- Cockroaches lay a lot of eggs. You may not find the eggs when searching for signs of cockroaches, but it is very possible to find the egg casting left behind after the eggs hatch.

If you find any of the above signs of a cockroach infestation and you want an eco-friendly solution, give the professionals at ECPC in Downingtown, PA a call. They will thoroughly inspect your home for cockroach magnets and entry points. The ECPC technicians will then eradicate every last cockroach from your home.