Cockroaches in Your Drain
How To Stop Them From Coming Up The Drain
With access to food and water, roaches thrive. They may settle comfortably in your kitchen, bathroom or laundry room drain because it’s moist and usually warm. As for how to stop roaches coming up the drain, seal off sources of water and food and the points of entry for the insect. But first, a few reasons to get rid of roaches.
Why You Don’t Want Roaches in Your Home
Roach excrement, body parts, eggs, and saliva can cause allergic reactions or asthma attacks in some people. In addition, the bacteria that roaches could leave on food can cause serious illness. Also, while the stereotype is that only poor housekeepers have cockroaches, even clean homes may have them.
How to Limit Cockroach Entry Points to Your Drain
Roaches can go approximately a month without eating, but only up to one week without water. Pipes leading to your sink, in your basement and elsewhere in your home make it possible for cockroaches to migrate to your drains. They crawl up and down dry pipes and lay their eggs there. So a comprehensive solution for keeping their numbers down is to cut off their water source.
Use a flashlight to spot holes in your drain pipes where roaches can enter. Fix points of entry surrounding your drain pipes too. As appropriate, use silicone caulk, plaster or cement to fix other entry points. Seal the openings around kitchen and bath fixtures with silicone caulk. Repair pipes that leak, and replace washers on leaky faucets. Don’t leave water standing in a sink or tub to further cut off roaches’ access to water.
Keep Your Sink Area Free of Food
Another method for stopping roaches from coming up the drain is to make sure your drains and kitchen surfaces don’t harbor food. Empty the sink strainer regularly and run the garbage disposal often. Frequently clean the latter with a safe drain cleaner to remove food particles. If you keep your garbage can under your kitchen sink, empty it each night.
Keep the sink and tub drains closed when not using them. At night, cover drains with a rubber drain cover or metal screen with holes too small for the insects to pass through.
What to Pour Down Drains to Deter Roaches
Even though roaches need water to survive, you can use it to deter an infestation. First, run water daily down the drains where you see the insects because most can’t swim through water. (Note, however, that some kinds of roaches can hold their breath for up to 30 minutes underwater. Therefore, they could escape to a new, dry home.)
In sink drains that you do not use often, pour at least two cups of water down monthly to keep them from drying out. If you live in a dry climate, you may need more frequent treatments. Pouring a mixture of ammonia and water down your drains regularly neutralizes roach nesting places. However, note that the pungent odor of ammonia is irritating to some people.
Every few weeks or months pour a thin layer of cooking oil or mineral oil down drains to keep them from becoming bone dry. Always use a strainer for drains to keep food particles out of them. To clean a sink drain, put a stopper in and fill the sink with water. Then remove the stopper to let the water run through the pipes. If you try these solutions, but roaches still come up your drain, If you have an infestation. It’s time to contact an exterminator.
After professional treatment, your exterminator may make the following suggestions to get rid of roaches permanently:
- Consider using a trash can with a lid indoors
- Say no to leaving food in the sink overnight
- When mopping, have one bucket with soap and water and another with rinse water, so you don’t spread roach eggs
- Keep your toaster crumb-free
- Maintain a clutter-free home
- Don’t let newspapers, paper bags and cardboard boxes accumulate around sinks, stoves, refrigerators or elsewhere
- Launder small area rugs and curtains
DIY or Hire a Professional
Review the conditions in your home that cause you to ask, How to stop roaches from coming up the drain? Then, try some do-it-yourself remedies that could decrease the number of cockroaches in drains or anywhere in your home. If they don’t work or if you don’t feel confident with do-it-yourself projects, contact Garfield Pest Control a professional exterminator who can get rid of roaches for good.
