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Are you familiar with the cockroach known as the American cockroach? Could you pick it out in a lineup of roaches? It's pretty easy. It's the one with the red, white, and blue coloration. Just kidding. It is actually a reddish-brown color with yellow on the back of its head. It has wings that stack on its back and hang over its abdomen. But, perhaps the most notable visual characteristic is its large size. The American cockroach is the largest species of roach you'll find in your Chandler home. But it's large size doesn't hinder this roach. It can squeeze through gaps that are much thinner than its body. How does it pull off this amazing feat? The body of an American cockroach is strong and flexible—perfect for squeezing into tight spaces. And squeeze into tight spaces is exactly what this roach does. This is where we are going to begin our conversation today. Here's what you need to know to keep American cockroaches out of your Chandler home.
Tight Spaces
American cockroaches don't know what's inside your home. They don't think, "Oooh. A human dwelling. I bet that has food in it!" They get in by accident. As they explore the outside of your home and crawl on your foundation walls, they're going to explore every tight space they find because they're drawn to tight spaces. They like to be squeezed between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. The first step in keeping cockroaches out of your Chandler home is to eliminate those inviting entry points.
Check door and window frames. If you see the slightest of gaps around the outside, use a caulking gun to seal them up tight. If you see a hole in the wood, created by a wood-damaging pest, fill that hole in.
Check the weatherstripping. If you can see light getting past your weatherstripping from the outside, these roaches can probably use that gap to get into your home. Replace the stripping and adjust your doors to make sure you have a good seal.
Check the screens on your doors and windows. While a cockroach won't be able to get past the interior glass pane or an undamaged frame, a hole in a window screen can give it access to the void between the screen and the glass. Then when you open the door or window, it can come right in. Repair the tiniest of holes in your screens to keep American cockroaches out.
Check around the frame of your screens. Sometimes a cockroach can get past a perfectly good screen if there is a gap between the screen and the window frame.
Check any pipes that enter into your home through your foundation wall. If you find a gap around it, fill it in and seal it up.
Alter Conditions Around Your Home
Since cockroaches get in by accident, an important way to prevent entry is to reduce the number of roaches around your home. Here's how you can make your exterior less attractive to American cockroaches.
Reduce moisture: The American cockroach needs lots of moisture to be happy. When it comes into your yard and finds a dry foundation perimeter around your home, it could move along to another yard. Some factors that can make your perimeter damp are: clogged gutters, damaged sprinklers, overwatered landscaping, dense vegetation, and dense tree canopy.
Address standing water: If you have puddles or containers of rainwater around your home, these will give roaches a drink, and they will add to the humidity and moisture near your home. Many things can collect rainwater, such as an overturned frisbee, a kiddie pool, and an old tire. Remove objects that capture water.
Keep trash receptacles clean: The scent of rotting organic matter will attract cockroaches from a distance. If your exterior trash receptacles have an odor, disinfect them to remove this odor.
Remove hiding places: Roaches hide under and inside objects in your yard. When you reduce objects in your yard, you can reduce roach activity.
Rake leaves, sticks, and organic debris away from your exterior: These are ideal locations for cockroaches to hide.
Routine Treatments
The best way to control American cockroaches, and a long list of other harmful pests, is to have routine treatments to your exterior. This is where we can help. If you live in Chandler, AZ, reach out to Green Home Pest Control today to learn about our residential pest control services. We can help you get control of cockroaches, and most importantly, keep control of roaches.
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