Preparing for a Cockroach Treatment

The principle

Access Is the Treatment

Cockroach treatment is almost entirely about getting product into the harbourages. The harbourages are inside and behind things. So every appliance that can be moved and every cupboard that can be emptied increases the proportion of the population the treatment actually reaches.

A visit where the fridge cannot be moved and the under-sink cupboard is full is a visit that treats part of the problem. It is not wasted, but it is not the job either.

Do

The List Worth Working Through

• Pull out the appliances you safely can — fridge, freezer, washing machine, dishwasher, cooker. If any cannot be moved, say so when you book rather than on the day.
• Empty the cupboard under the sink, and the base units, particularly the back corners.
• Clear the worktops and put food into sealed containers or out of the room.
• Clean the grease behind and beneath the cooker and the extractor. Bait competes with whatever else is available, so less on offer means better results.
• Fix the dripping tap and deal with standing water. They need water more urgently than food.
• Get the cardboard out of the property entirely.
• Write down where you have seen them, and at what time of day.

Do not

Four Things That Make It Worse

Do not spray anything. Most consumer products repel. A repelled population disperses deeper into the structure and away from where bait will be placed, and in a shared building into the units next door. If you already have, say so — it changes where the technician expects to find them.

Do not deep clean the harbourages immediately beforehand. Counter-intuitive, but cleaning out the exact gaps where they live disperses them right before the treatment. Surfaces and grease, yes. The back of the fridge motor housing, leave it.

Do not move appliances or boxes to another room. That is how a kitchen problem becomes a house problem.

Do not set off a fogger. It settles on open horizontal surfaces, which is where they are not, and it repels.

Afterwards

What to Expect and What Not to Undo

Expect to see some activity for a few days, and expect to see dead ones. Initial results are often visible within about 24 hours, with finishing usually taking a few days and often a follow-up visit timed against the egg hatch.

The important instruction afterwards is not to clean off the bait. Gel is placed deliberately into gaps and it needs to stay there to keep working. Wipe the worktops; leave the placements alone.

Keep the kitchen as dry and as clear of food residue as you reasonably can while the bait does its work, and keep the cardboard out. Those two do more than anything else you could add.

Short answers

Cockroach Questions

Going further

Cockroach Guides