Have you ever wondered to yourself why cockroaches invade homes? These pests are built like tiny tanks and are considered to be one of the most durable creatures on the planet. What is it about our living areas that draw these pests inside? We will be answering this question today and breaking down how to protect your Springfield property against these invasive pests with this step-by-step cockroach control guide.

Understand Why Cockroaches Invade

Although the cockroach is a durable pest, it still appreciates the comforts a home provides. It enjoys the temperature-controlled environment, the safety of four walls and a roof, and the availability of food and water sources. The only thing this pest doesn’t like is humans. To avoid interactions with you and your family members, cockroaches go out of their way to stay out of sight. The only time they feel comfortable coming out into the open is at night after everyone has gone to sleep.

Learn How To Identify Cockroaches

Our area is home to American cockroaches, Oriental cockroaches, and German cockroaches. Here is how to identify each of these pests.

The German roach is ½ to ⅝” long, light brown to tan, and has two black parallel lines located just behind its head.
The American roach is 1 ¼ to 2 ⅛” long, reddish-brown, and has a yellow figure-eight pattern on the back of its head.
The Oriental roach is 1” long and has a shiny black body with no distinguishable markings.

You can further identify roaches inside your home by these four signs.

Black, coffee-like fecal droppings
Grease trails along floors
Shed skins
Body parts/dead roaches

Keep Your Home Clean

If you didn’t know, cockroaches thrive in dirty environments. One of the best ways to deter roaches from a property is to keep things clean. To protect your home against these invasive insects, we recommend thoroughly cleaning your living areas once a week and picking up food messes and drink spills as they happen. In addition to this, organize storage areas and keep clutter around your home to a minimum.

Reduce Attractants

Although keeping your home clean helps to deter roaches, it isn’t a guaranteed solution. To better protect your living areas, it is important to remove things that attract cockroaches in the first place. To do this, store leftovers and repackage open boxes of foods inside airtight containers, invest in trash cans with tight-fitting lids, clean out your pets' food and water bowls before going to bed at night, and be careful not to leave food or beverages out in the open.

Seal Off Entry Points In Your Home’s Exterior

Another great strategy to help keep cockroaches out of your living areas is to make sure your home’s exterior is properly sealed. This is done by filling in gaps and cracks in its exterior using a caulking gun, repairing damage to window/door screens, installing door sweeps under exterior doors, fixing damaged siding and window/door frames, addressing gaps and spacing around utility piping and utility units, and keeping unscreened doors and windows closed as much as possible.

A Simple Solution To Cockroaches

Keeping up with DIY cockroach control is a hassle. To avoid the extra work and still guarantee your home is protected against cockroaches, partner with American Pest Solutions. Our team handles pest problems using industrial-grade products and cutting-edge control strategies. We will implement measures around your Springfield property and ensure invasive and dangerous pests like cockroaches stay outside where they belong.

Reach out to our team now to find a service time for your property. One of our friendly pest control technicians will make sure you and your home get the care you deserve.