r/bullcity • u/[deleted] • 2d ago
Is Living with Roaches Just Something I have to accept as a Durham resident?
[deleted]
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u/therealyardsard 2d ago
Moved from a state without roaches a few years ago and am also very skittish about roaches. Few things I’ve learned. 1) they will still get in from time to time despite best efforts. Even with preventative measures, during warm months we still have one maybe every month. 2) clean. This one’s obvious but bears repeating. No dirty counters after cooking, dishes soaking in the sink, or unsealed snack bags. Clean something you dirty with food within the hour. 3) prophylactic roach traps. They work to varying degrees, but having a few traps reduces the chance that, when one gets in your house, you’ll see it alive. 4) this is probably one of the more important points: check your windows and doors, the seals on the bottom especially. We have a porch door, and we accidentally broke off the little seal guarding the bottom, leaving maybe 1/4 inch gap. Suddenly, we were getting them once every couple weeks.its possible you have an opening somewhere.
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u/RedPanda5150 1d ago
This is all great advice. One more to add - if you are in a house (vs apartment) make sure you cut brush away from the house. The big roaches thrive in dead wood, damp mulch, that sort of thing and the more you keep it off your siding the less likely they are to end up inside. At least in my experience.
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u/HeydoIDKu 1d ago
You’re mainly referring to prevention for exterior roaches like American or Smokey browns. German roaches are whole different breed and management must be swift and thorough. Rarely do people literally crawl into their cabinets and lay on there back with a flashlight shining up and check every crack void and crevice and seal any that they can and bait the others with pea size dollops of a bait like advion or vendetta igr. However your tips still stand. Exclusion is always first line of defense against the exterior roach species we have. They only need about the width of a nickel to fit into a space.
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u/VV-40 2d ago
Get roach traps. Will solve the roach problem for at least a year or two.
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u/Icolyclast 2d ago
Advion cockroach gel bait does the trick! It comes in. A syringe and you leave little trails of it in high roach traffic areas
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u/HeydoIDKu 1d ago
Not trails! Pea size dots anout 8-10 inches apart is the proper way. Many roaches wiling even attempt to eat something that’s bigger than their mouth so long lines is just a waste. Read the label.
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u/AntiHerosBeginnings 10h ago
That’s still a trail… Hansel and Gretel didn’t drag the worlds longest loaf of bread through the woods
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u/GarlicEscapes 2d ago
You can make these with a mix of peanut butter and borax. I save the kids of yogurt containers and soda bottles for this reason. Just keep them up high on top of counters or behind the stove where pets and children can’t reach.
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u/HeydoIDKu 1d ago
Unfortunately that doesn’t interrupt the breeding cycle only kills the ones you’re lucky enough to have eat it. As a professional I don’t recommend this route if you have an established population.
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u/GarlicEscapes 1d ago
Oh ok, I always thought they would take the food back and feed it to their babies. Good to know!
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u/journal_beebz 1d ago
the little faux-wood cardboard rectangle boxes with open ends are amazing! under your couch, sink, furniture. you can open them flat and slide them under the fridge or stove. it glue-traps them and i’ve had really good luck.
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u/Level_Lengthiness319 2d ago
Ok. Where should I place them?
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u/Jjayguy23 2d ago
Kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room.
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u/summercloud45 2d ago
I like the sticky roach traps with bait in them. I put them behind the trash can, in the back of my food cupboards, and anywhere else I see a roach that my cats can't get to. (While it would be funny for a trap to get stuck to a cat, it would also be a mess to clean up.)
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u/AdultContemporaneous 1d ago
I use the Combat roach houses from HD/Lowes, the. Seem quite effective.
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u/Level_Lengthiness319 2d ago
Dear lord!!! Thanks for this info. I’m convinced they are coming through my patio door because they are always coming from that location! I sprayed all across the bottom of the door today and today, one came running across my floor from that direction.
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u/RogueRobot023 2d ago
You will get "Palmetto" roaches that come up through your drains- make sure the traps have water in them.
Clean the drain catch in your dishwasher.1
u/hessiansarecoming 1d ago
Is the drain catch the same thing as the filter?
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u/RogueRobot023 1d ago
Yes, the strainer in the bottom of the machine that stops food from going down the drain.
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u/Cool-Egg-9882 9h ago
Ugh, I hate that people in the south give them different names. It’s a giant roach, the south is infested with them. Water bug, camel crickets, palmetto, it’s not changing anything, it’s a roach.
Get Bifen, from a agri supply store. Spray around your house. Start on the foundation and keep spraying 2-3 feet out.
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u/Visible-Specific5329 2d ago
Small light brown roaches are of concern.
The big huge darker colored "water bugs" or "palmetto bugs" are less of concern unless numerous. I find that the big guys actually sneak in the doorways when I come in and out of the house. They wait by the doorway for the split second to get in.
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u/Tricky-Mousse4768 1d ago
I agree with this. The kind of "roach" matters because the Palmetto bugs (big roaches) don't/can't live inside so poison is useless. They are escaping the rain outside and are too dumb to find their way back out. Smaller roaches are a food/cleaning based issue that poisons and traps may be helpful with tho.
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u/gonnagotohellforthis 1d ago
There are different kinds of roaches.
The little ones with the the yellowish A shape on their back are the ones you need to worry about. Those are German roaches, they eat our garbage, and are what normally causes an infestation.
There are also a lot of native species of roaches. In the wild they like to eat dead decaying plant matter and leaves and stuff. They're not likely to cause an infestation in your house, but they can if conditions are right. If you see a lot of them then you should seek help.
The large darker ones are probably American roaches, also known as palmetto bugs or water bugs. There's also a medium size paler ones that are just a solid light brown - those are wood roaches. If you're finding only one adult now and then it's probably one that wandered in from outdoors and has gotten lost. Adult male wood roaches in particular are attracted to lights, so they often get confused and wander into our brightly lit houses at night thinking they're following the moon. They're like lost moths in that way.
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u/Utterlybored 2d ago
They’ve been waiting hundreds of millions of years for human to appear, evolve and invent air conditioning. The wait paid off!
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u/russianmuse90 1d ago
Highly recommend getting a feral ass cat- my street cat is sooo sweet and loving but will destroy anything that moves. Haven’t seen a live roach since getting her :,)
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u/randonumero 1d ago
My frank answer is that living with roaches all year is not something you have to accept. A lot of parts of Durham (as well as other cities) is in what was formerly the woods, a swamp, wetlands...and that means bugs are present. If you're having issues where you see a bug weekly then there's likely a deeper problem. I know it'll seem gross but next time you kill one, store it in a glass jar or plastic bag. Then ask your apartment manager to put you in touch with the exterminator or call one yourself and ask them or the internet to identify the bug. Do this because different treatments work on different bugs. The we purchase an exterminator thing could be we have someone spray for termites and other things that will damage the property.
My practical advice is to look for openings into your home and make sure to spray thresholds. You won't really stop them all from getting in but you'll find them dead instead of crawling around more often than not
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u/Late_Insect_5838 1d ago
As a lifelong central North Carolinian—it is normal to get a couple in your home every year. They will literally walk in from outside through your front door if it’s open. I’ve seen it happen multiple times. More than that, you likely have a sealant problem somewhere around your home or you have German roaches.
German roaches are small and live in homes. If you have these you NEED an exterminator.
If you have the other species, they are just wandering around looking for food and places to chill but can’t live inside for long periods of time because it’s generally too dry for them. Somehow they are ending up in your house. It’s likely because you have an opening they can access. Check around all exterior doors, windows, and skylights for gaps in weatherstripping. We had an issue with lots of roaches coming in until we changed the weatherstripping on one of our exterior doors. Also get roach bait traps and put them out to kill ones who do make it inside.
Are you on the first floor? Some complexes seem to have an issue with large amounts of outdoor roaches (American roaches, smoky browns) just roaming around outside. Therefore more can get in. I lived somewhere like this and it was disgusting. Have you noticed this? If so, you may need to bring that up to apartment management and maybe they can step up spraying efforts.
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u/Candid-Ability-9570 2d ago
Yep.
I also was phobic of them at first when I moved here. Still don’t like them, but don’t have an intense visceral reaction anymore.
As others said, they’re unavoidable, but keeping things clean and using roach traps and boric acid can be helpful.
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u/grovertheclover 1d ago
to answer your question: yes. you can spray and bait to your hearts content with pesticides and traps, but I’ve found that the best solution is a cat. my cats will hunt and then torture kill any and all roaches that cross a threshold in our house, then leave the dead body by the door.
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u/Specific_Camera1310 2d ago
I guess it depends where in Durham county you live, I am in the southeast part and have not see one roach enter my home in three years.
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u/mst3k_42 2d ago
Yeah, we have to spray to keep tiny ants out but it’s rare to see a roach inside the house. And when I do, it’s already dead.
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u/Amazing-Confusion-66 22h ago
This has been my experience as well. We’ve been in a house in southeast Durham for a year now and haven’t seen a single one.
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u/Ornery-Height-9181 2d ago
Diatomaceous earth. Sprinkle in hard to reach corners and along where the wall meets the floor on exterior walls. They are probably getting in through cracks in the walls or tiny gaps between the floor and walls.
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u/THElaytox 2d ago
Are you seeing roaches or palmetto bugs? Roaches aren't something you should have to live with but palmetto bugs are kinda unavoidable, especially if you live in a heavily wooded area, but they also don't infest they just wander in from outside
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u/ritaPitaMeterMaid 2d ago
Palmetto bugs are roaches.
They don’t tend to live n your house though, they mostly come in from the outside and as you said you’re especially going to see them if you live in heavily wooded areas.
Seeing lots of the tiny ones is when you should be very worried
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u/Level_Lengthiness319 2d ago
I have a phobia so they all start to look alike to me as they’re all huge. I had a flying large one the other day and I almost broke my lease. I cannot deal.
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u/StrawsAreGay 2d ago
That’s normal. It’s the tiny ones that are the problem. Seal around your plumbing etc with foam and what not.
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u/THElaytox 2d ago
The big flying ones are American roaches (people call them waterbugs or palmetto bugs, even though they're not really either). Bad news is, they're huge and scary and fly, but the good news is you probably don't have an infestation, they'll wander in if they can but you won't end up with thousands of them, generally you just see them solo. You can try to figure out where they're getting in and use something like boric acid or diatomaceous earth or just plug obvious holes to try and keep them out. They're worse in the summer time, come winter you shouldn't see them anymore. You can see if the office manager has anything that can help ward them off. Also if you get a cat or a lizard they can be pretty good at taking care of them.
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u/Hog_enthusiast 1d ago
Roach traps and monthly pest control spraying will get rid of them. I recommend Cleggs or Kil Mor. Don’t use EcoMan, he’s recommended here a lot and he’s a nice guy but his stuff doesn’t work.
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u/30Helenssayfuckoff 2d ago
Came here to ask the same question. The big 'uns are more horrifying, but they don't settle into the crevices and breed. They also don't get into your food.
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u/BlockedNetwkSecurity 2d ago
It is the most North Carolina thing to make up a folksy distinction between cockroaches and claim that some are actually fine. Are you a landlord?
No, no one should have cockroaches anywhere in their home. It's Durham - everyone lives in a heavily wooded area.
https://hawxpestcontrol.com/the-difference-between-palmetto-bugs-and-cockroaches/
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u/GlassConsideration85 1d ago
Really you thought linking to a pest control place was proof?
German cockroaches infest homes, and breed in the house on your food and property
American cockroaches live outside and occasionally wander inside, mostly at the end of their life
Huge difference
You can control American cockroaches to some degree by controlling the area around your house and also the crevices and openings.
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u/THElaytox 1d ago
"This website that stands to profit from convincing people that American cockroaches are dangerous says they're exactly the same thing".
German cockroaches and American cockroaches are different genuses with different lifecycles and living habits. American cockroaches live in mulch and on trees, they don't infest your house, come winter you won't see any at all. I lived in Durham for 30 years and have dealt with damn near every infestation imaginable, American cockroaches aren't a problem if you seal entry routes and use boric acid and/or diatomaceous earth wherever they're coming in. That's easy enough in a house, in an apartment that's not so easy, you have no control over your neighbors and they can get in from almost anywhere. Roach traps won't do anything but maybe kill the odd one you see from time to time if you're lucky, it won't stop or prevent the problem at all.
German cockroaches are the ones where once you see one you already are dealing with hundreds or thousands and need to actually call an exterminator because you'll never get rid of them on your own. So yeah, knowing the difference is pretty fucking important.
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u/Hog_enthusiast 1d ago
Palmetto bugs aka roaches ARE avoidable. At my last old house surrounded by English Ivy and mature trees we had tons of roaches originally. Fixed it with lots of roach traps and a pest control person spraying the inside and outside of the house monthly. First few weeks living in the house we saw dozens of roaches, last couple years we didn’t see a single one.
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u/mfullington 1d ago
What’s your cardboard situation? Roaches luv cardboard. We see cardboard, roaches see housing.
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u/llcoolray3000 1d ago
Part of being in an apartment. You can keep your place spotless and regularly treated, but all it takes is one nasty neighbor to infect the entire building.
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u/throwjobawayCA 2d ago
Knocking on wood right now, but no. I previously lived in an apartment that had roaches and they were all the big kind. It was to the point that I now know that it is a lie that the big ones don’t cause infestations. Anyways, I moved to another apartment because of this issue and I haven’t seen one inside in the two years that I’ve lived here.
Try finding a newer apartment and getting to the highest floor. For any apartments you’re looking at, go walk around there at night and see if you see any outside. If you don’t, there’s a good chance you won’t see any inside either. Don’t let anyone gaslight you saying they are just “palmetto bugs” or “water bugs” that wandered in. They are all roaches as far as I’m concerned.
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u/Hodgechevich 1d ago
Did you live at Hawk's Nest by any chance? I had an infestation of the "big ones" there years back. I stopped going into my kitchen at night 🤣
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u/throwjobawayCA 20h ago
Nope, but I understand not going into the kitchen at night! One time I turned on the light and there TWO big black ones crawling on the walls! I heard the horror movie music playing in my head! I found out the wall was rotted away behind the stove and spent hours the next day trying to seal it. I found poop behind the outlet covers and everything. Absolutely traumatizing and disgusting!
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u/Amazing-Confusion-66 22h ago
Agree with all of this. We moved from an infested, first floor apartment to a house built three years ago. Haven’t seen even one. I was afraid to walk the dog at night at the apartment because of how many were running around everywhere, so I second walking around at night before renting.
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u/The_One_True_Ewok Can Opener? I hardly even know her! 1d ago
They’re very gross but very much a fact of life here, depending on your place. My old apartment I’d get a couple every summer, in my new place I’ve had hardly any in 3 years but that’s including a professional external treatment (not sure how much it helped, but if you have a phobia I’d say the relatively low cost is worth it) I have an upstairs and downstairs RAID kill-on-contact roach spray, works FAST. I’m sure it’s horrible for me but so are roaches
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u/raleighdurhamrtp 2d ago
The encore on Courtney Creek blvd is roach infested no matter how much you spray your own and also their weekly extermination service. It is nasty people that live there no matter how clean you are. do not get me started on the overflowing dumpster .
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u/EXploreNV 1d ago
Yes… the triangle is cut into a dense forest lol… there will be bugs no matter how clean you keep it.
Just get a can of raid or a trusty sandal and handle them whenever you see them, you are human, they are bug… no need to let something like that disturb you.
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u/smollsmom 1d ago
We have four cats that take care of any inside the house. Haven’t seen a live roach inside in awhile — though we do find an occasional half a roach. Can confirm. Get cat.
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u/Significant-Screen-5 1d ago
If you're in an apt, its inevitable since you have ajoining walls. If you want more control, rent a house
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u/Jazzyy0000 1d ago
I moved out because of having a problem with the big ones (people call them water bugs or palmetto bugs but they’re still roaches), like seeing at least one each day. New apartment had the same problem. The first night was the worst. Didn’t have issues until I moved to Durham even with living in an older place by more trees, but I’m assuming we just got unlucky. Problem has died down but pest control sprayed 2 weeks in a row, we have traps everywhere, advion, gentrol, and a cat.
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u/Ok_Total9502 1d ago
Nah I don’t have any roaches. I live NOT near the woods, in a new apartment. And we have loads of spiders that I allow to kill as many bugs as possible
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u/HuckleberryNew1363 1d ago
I’ve had at least occasional ones at majority of places I’ve lived at, yes… this is even with keeping a clean apartment. I think they’re just here /:
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u/sunnyopals 1d ago
What type of roaches are we talking? Water bugs/palmetto bugs — the big roaches — are seasonal to the warmer months around here. They come in through your shower drains and at my house, also the air vents. I hate them! But they’re not from uncleanliness.
If you’re talking small roaches — THAT is a problem! They’re attracted to filth and will infest. These need to be treated, possibly professionally.
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u/HeydoIDKu 1d ago
Little Germans are not handled by apartment maintenance spraying. They require a proper clean out regimine all apartments I contract pest control for require the tenant to pay for. German roaches can not be handled with just a preventative maintenance spray. Flushing with a vacuum, crack and crevice residual treatment and igr baiting is the gold standard. I treat weekly multiple apartment complexes and the biggest issue is one tenant in one apartment just lives in trash and filth and the plumbing, air conditioning and electrical lines are like a interior highway for German roaches so you can do everything right and never solve the issue. Trust me, we tell the complex that and they don’t care. They also won’t evict the very worst offenders. I recommend not getting any apartments that are in old original Durham buildings like crossings at 501, Emory woods, pinewood station, eno haven, heritage, fox crossing, any owned and managed by Friedlam partners or apple realty. Also, don’t move into a place that keeps the same appliances unless you’re going to take the time to properly clean it out and bait it.
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u/homicidalunicorns 1d ago
It’s part of living in the south but it varies by location and personal preventative measures. I’ve never had them THAT regularly even when living at ground level. Currently averaging one every other month; my last apartment I only saw a handful in 2.5 years.
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u/stargazercmc 1d ago
The absolute best thing about moving to Asheville from the Gulf Coast was no more palmetto bugs. Absolutely epic to not have to deal with those anymore.
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u/TheKingCowboy 1d ago
Not normal for me. Saw my first one in years recently, figured it came up through the drain
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u/MollyWinter 19h ago
German roaches (small, light brown) are an infestation. The black/dark brown big ones likely aren't, unless you're seeing tons of them at once. They get into our house weekly. Not as bad as it used to be before we renovated and sealed up a lot of doors. Use Diatomaceous Earth anywhere they may get it. It's non toxic and very effective.
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u/MiketheTzar Straight outta Durham Regional 19h ago
It's just a fact of life in this climate. Treat the areas with water access and set traps in odd spots and you'll be alright.
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u/TheHumanPrius 19h ago
2014 new construction in a neighborhood of older ranch style homes. I’ve never seen one at my place. This year I signed up for pest control to target mosquitos because the pooling water turned into a breeding ground.
You can live without roaches - but it might involve a serious battle to turn the tide in your war.
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u/barbtries22 17h ago
No. If you can afford it, get a pest guy. Mine comes out quarterly. I'll still see the huge ones on the patio occasionally, but in 9 years the only infestation I've had to deal with inside was rice weevils.
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u/sugarbearmo 14h ago
Roach bombs. Several years ago I lived in apt in Cary that had a horrible roach problem..noticed right after I moved in. The exterminator sprayed several times but to no avail. I purchased two home fumagator smoke bombs and set them off and left for work. When I came back there were roaches dead everywhere. No more roach problem. Apparently, there was an infestation in between my appt and the one above. Read the directions on those bombs, remove any animals, pet birds..etc....and disable smoke alarms. Hope this helps.
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u/ReadySetGo_99 9h ago
I've lived in a downtown apt for 4 months now and I've yet to see a single bug of any kind (knock on wood). I guess that's what $2K/mo buys you. 🙃
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u/Tcha_kovsky 1d ago
Do a bug bomb. You’ll have to leave your apartment for a few hours but it should help
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u/Dry_Key_2985 19h ago
You really typed this bullshit as IF Durham is the “roach” issue!!! Absolutely NOT, your credit score is the issue! The high rises down town don’t have roaches, the luxury apartments don’t have roaches, my town house in Hope Valley doesn’t have roaches. I’m not even trying to brag about the town house, it was built 25+ years ago and it’s pretty basic in the inside HOWEVER we don’t have roaches
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u/MaxFunkensteinDotSex 2d ago
Big roaches/palmetto bugs are really common, but finding live ones weekly in spite of intervention seems like two common. Little roaches: are a problem you can and should deal with.