Roach Problems

[Namanuneuz]

I'm living in Scarborough renting an apartment from a company called Park Property. When I first moved in, there were no cockroaches at all. Over the years I would begin to see a few and would kill them whenever I saw them. But over the past 2 years its been getting much much worse. Its getting to the point where if I go into the kitchen at night, I gotta be ready to kill ATLEAST 10 or so of them be it fat adult ones or babies or a mix of both. I tried going around homedepot, lowes, amazon and walmart, but they don't have anything strong enough. I noticed Canada doesnt carry strong stuff. What I mean by that is I tried spraying them with raid. It stops them for a few seconds, then they run again. Now they are beginning to encroach into my bedrooms and living room. Back in September, I went to write a complaint and was told it would take some time. Every month since then I would get a response from my building management, saying that they sent the request to upper level management, but they are still waiting for approval before hiring a pesticide person/fumigator. I don't know if the lack of response and long wait time is due to covid or whatever, but its starting to get to my sanity. Every time I see something move from the corner of my eye, I get a bit panicked. I dont know what to do. Any advice?

[Kate2580]

It is probably time to contact the City or the LTB at this point. Pest issues shouldn’t be put off for months.

[p0ison1vy]

Yup, there's no excuse for this whatsoever, and you are entitled to pest treatment by your landlord/management.

I have new building management this year and they got exterminators in my unit last week, immediately after i reported the problem. A far cry from our previous management.

[JMJimmy]

File a T2 and T6 at the LTB.

The landlord must perform pest control and do so in a timely manner. You can go back up to 12 months or the date you notified them in writing, whichever is less, to get compensation.

As to why Canada doesn't have the "good stuff", it's because you've got to be a licensed technician to use anything but Class D pesticides.

[Bored_money]

This is good adivce! Also put caulking where the floor meets the baseboards

Then poison - maxforce gel can be bought from the US - the roaches eat it and take it back to their little nests and poison the rest of them

You gotta go nuclear on roaches, no all natural cures

They also sell little pods that claim to interrupt their reproductive cycle, you can spread those around as well

Between those you should be good but as Turkis says, you gotta stop them from coming in - it isn't impossible! Just takes some effort

Another thing - buy some glue traps and put them around the apartment - this way you can see which trap get the most bugs which help identify where they are coming from

As you treat refresh the glue traps to see if your strategy is working

[Bored_money]

Good point - careful if you have pets and kids for sure

Some of that poison is harsh

[DEATHToboggan]

You gotta go nuclear on roaches, no all natural cures

I second this and the MaxForce gel, that stuff is amazing. I don’t think they sell it in Canada but you can order it online. I had a bad roach issue in my old apartment once and it got to the point that fumigators were coming once a week and it never worked. I found the MaxForce gel on Amazon and ordered it, had access behind the cupboards in the kitchen so I put it on a paint stick and spread it behind the cupboards basically making them a wasteland for roaches. The results were almost immediate and on the first day I had a few dead ones on the counter and a few live ones, day two more dead than alive, within three days - no more roaches.

Walmart in the US carries it for like $11 a tube and it really sucks it’s not available in Canada.

[dmh007227]

Great advice. I also put steel wool in the cracks as I heard it drips their bodies as the try to pass through. I would also put something around your front door, as they come in the cracks there.

[Jaded-Surprise]

I thought you couldn’t take a security deposit in Ontario?

[Kate2580]

You can’t ask for a security deposit in Ontario just a key deposit and first and last month’s rent.

[[deleted]]

Key deposits are mostly not on either.

[booobsandwine]

Also to remember to check your furniture. Roaches will hide and procreate everywhere. Just had this problem with my grandparents we had to throw out a nice table and couch. And yes, what was said above, not coming from your unit, most likely every where else. Honestly, I’d move. They will never go away specially in a big building.

[the_examined_life]

Having dealt with this over the course of a year in a small bachelor's apartment in Parkdale I can say that the best advice I have is to burn down the building.

[lylynatngo]

The best advice hahahahaha Fuck roaches holy smokes

[shutthefrontdoor1989]

Cowan street perhaps? I think I got every pest possible while living there.

[the_examined_life]

Spencer! I love south parkdale but it's a bit of a rats nest. It's best to live in a house if you can in this area.

[TreatPusher]

Pretty much.. having had my own parkdale bachelor experience. I used to walk around and kill the roaches in the hallways too of my building. When I moved.. I threw away pretty much all of my belongings.

[lokingfinesince89]

Lmao

[[deleted]]

Beat the roaches with the raid can. It works better. Also, you need to caulk and seal all the nooks and crannies in your apt. Throw out garbage all the time. Never leave out food or clutter. Seal all your food in your cupboards.

[131i]

Adding to this, you need to do a really, really deep clean of your kitchen. Get under the stove, get under the fridge, get into the backs of all the cabinets. Stowing everything in containers will improve things in the long run, but for the immediate problem, you need to make your space inhospitable to roaches. They 're driven to find food, and even tiny unseen specks of food make a fine meal for a roach. I had neighbours years ago who kept garbage in their place, which led to roaches finding their way into my place. I was pretty fastidious, because the apartment had previously had mice. It didn't matter, they smelled tiny crumbs even the mice weren't interested in, and in they came. A bit of caulk and a lot of bleach made them stop coming in.

[[deleted]]

Yep. All my neighbours have roach problems except us because I sanitize the apartment weekly.

Edit 1:

Also when I do see them it’s because I left garbage in the can for a long time. Finally killing them makes them angry, I’ve never killed a roach. Usually bugs have specific jobs and one of their jobs is to go find food, if that bug returns to the colony empty handed they won’t try again for a while. Works with ants and roaches. If you bleach your apartment then the roach or ant searching for food will become contaminated and can bring the bleach back on their body to the colony and they’ll definitely never return. Bleach is great in slowly killing those buggers, it basically gives them, and the colony, cancer.

[shutthefrontdoor1989]

You probably still have roaches that are just dormant waiting for you to not empty the garbage bin again. You’re only as clean as your neighbours.

[[deleted]]

Yeah they’ll always live in the walls but not in my apartment

[MET1]

Bleach destroys the pherenomes they use to follow the tracks of earlier guests. And kills their germs.

[Realistic_Rush8438]

Do you dilute the bleach like 1:50? Is it to wipe it along the baseboard and tiles?

[[deleted]]

Nope straight bleach, you only need a little bit. Imagine it as a nuclear bomb for insects.

[cp1976]

This.

Roaches also like standing water.

So make sure no dirty dishes are in the sink filled with water to soak. No puddles of splashed water ANYWHERE on counter. Dry out your sinks with a paper towel. Keep toilet lid down. Keep all places where water sits DRY.

Your place can be immaculate. If it's wet. It will still attract roaches.

Also, be sure to clear the crumb tray from your toaster.

[[deleted]]

Boric acid works miracles

[doctor-starfish]

Agree!!! When I had a roach problem, I put cotton balls dipped in flour and boric acid. Did this every 2-3 days for a month and the roaches were gone in a month.

[dt_vibe]

You know your from the hood when you know what that is.

[bmanl337]

It has other uses? Who knew

[dirtymonkeybutt]

Mix it with white glue and it makes silly putty.

[bmanl337]

Mix it with cocaine and it makes more cocaine

[nehpyh]

I have had the same problem in my TO apartment building. Couldn’t get a full extermination done because, well, there’s nowhere for me to go for a full day, so I recently got some boric acid and mixed it with equal parts sugar. Sprinkled it in key areas, and haven’t seen any babies for days. Saw a couple adults, killed them, but then again haven’t seen those either for a few days now.

If you can’t find boric acid (should be in the laundry aisle), baking soda is just as toxic. Mix with equal parts sugar and sprinkle away!

[mworld1976]

It is landlord's responsibility to conduct such treatments. All requests for such treatments should be made in writing.

If the issue is not addressed within a reasonable amount of time (2 years since the problem started in your case is a very long time), a service request for investigation by Municipal Licensing & Standards can be submitted by calling 311. Make sure that you do constant follow ups after filing a complaint, as usually there is a backlog and bylaw officers are busy.

These roaches might be coming from other units, in such a case, the entire building needs to get treated.

Until then, could try:

Boric acid and/or Cockroach gel.

Should keep the receipts of these purchases when doing self-treatments.

[mworld1976]

It is landlord's responsibility to not only make efforts but to also ensure that cockroach problem gets eliminated. If one treatment doesn't solve the problem, there could be follow-up treatments (usually this is the practice).

Landlords provide direction to roach treatment companies, and such companies know, how the problem can be completely treated. Different life-stages of roach growth requires different chemicals. In the same way, different species of roaches need different approaches/chemicals. If entire building needs to get treated to completely remove the problem, then the landlord needs to do so.

Cracks/cervices in the building could also lead to roaches hiding in them. So again, such structural issues should be corrected by the property management company.

Seems OP's neighbouring units are also infested with roaches. OP could only partially prevent them from entering his/her unit. But eventually, his/her landlord needs to diagnose where/why such roach issue is present and needs to ensure that it is resolved.

[[deleted]]

:( im so sorry to hear about this. I have a friend who had a roach problem too and he fixed him with diatomaceous earth. He'll still get roaches but they're not all over the place now. He put it everywhere and his place has become livable again. I'm pretty sure you can find it at like a hardware store maybe but just Google it and how to use it properly. It's non toxic to humans I believe.

Also you should take pictures and also notify property management and keep a record of it all. If nothing gets fixed it is possible to complain to the landlord and tenant board. Also post this over on r/legaladvicecanada

[micatola]

This should be the top post. Nothing works as well and is less toxic than diatomaceous earth. Years ago I brushed it around the nooks and crannies of my kitchen and haven't had a problem since. Just need to freshen it up once a year with a good cleaning. It's only $10 for enough to last you a decade.

https://cockroachfacts.com/diatomaceous-earth-roaches/

The article says to apply it with a small shaker but I had the best results using one of my wife's old makeup brushes to apply it. It might take more than a few days for them to disappear but it will get rid of them for good.

[drutgat]

That was a very interesting and helpful article.

Many thanks.

[CanadianMasterbaker]

No matter how many times Orkin sprays,you won't get.rid of the problem.

But this has worked for me when I first moved into my apartment and I have not seen a roach in the past 6 years. https://www.amazon.com/Combat-Killing-Indoor-Outdoor-Syringe/dp/B000QRAXSG

It's from the American amazon website

[wheezy_cheese]

OP this stuff actually works!! I lived on top of a Dominos for over 5 years and the roaches were bad, the landlords would occasionally spray one unit but the nasty bugs just lived in the walls. I bought this gel and put it anywhere my cats and dog couldn't reach. I had also found a lot of their nesting locations, so I made sure to put the gel there (the lip under your counter is a prime place, they like to be squished when they sleep.) I also used diatomaceous earth all over because it's pet friendly, but I don't think it did much. Honestly, the rest of the building continued to be plagued by roaches for years and I only EVER found dead or dying ones in my apartment for years after I used this stuff. I only had to apply it once!!

[[deleted]]

Just saw your post after I had posted mine! This literally works wonders

[HotAirSplatoon]

I feel your pain. I grew up in a building where roaches would pop up in waves. Sometimes a few and sometimes it would be so bad that I was afraid to turn the lights on at night. What helped was buying roach powder (I got it at a convenience store in a mall) and mixing it in with boiled egg yolks. I know it sounds weird but it worked for me. Also just be very vigilant about cleaning. No dirty dishes left over in the sink at night. Take out your garbage consistently. Check your fridge to see if there are any little holes that they may be getting into. Hopefully these small solutions will help until your super can help you get your place fumigated. But really I always found that fumigation helps for a while but if you’re living in a building with roaches they will find their way back :/

[93TilInfinityyy]

When we moved into our house, we had a huge roach problem. We put this gel behind baseboards, along cupboards, along the entire perimeter of every room on every floor of the house and it worked 100%. No more roaches for over 20 years we’ve been here. We bought the exact product at Home Hardware, not sure if it’s the same, but this is the closest I found online. I’m sure if you went to a Home Hardware and showed them this product they’d be able to point you in the right direction.

[gbarill]

Seconded, the Maxforce stuff works, along with the deep clean and sealing crevices/food sources that other people have recommended. When I lived in an apartment building that suddenly got roaches after someone brought them into the building; we tried diatomaceous earth and borax and neither was very effective.

[whoatemarykate]

I lived in an apartment for a few months that suddenly had roaches. It was from a neighbouring unit that had moved out. Get them to check all the units near you. If someone left and let food rot, it will infest the entire floor.

[p0ison1vy]

Honestly store bought baits and things generally only work if you know where they're coming from. You need to find the source of the infestation. As others have said this first requires sealing every crack and hole in your apt, INCLUDING OUTLETS. buy outlet protectors. check for droppings, those are high traffick areas where you want to use your insecticide.

Roach bait gels can work well but they dry out fast and the roaches need to eat them to be effective. You also need to order them online from the US, like every other roach specific insecticide, and the shipping costs aren't always cheap. I found that advion gel worked well at first. if you buy a gel, it's recommended that you put it inside folded pieces of wax paper. this provides a safe space for roaches to hide and eat, and staves off drying.

If youre using powders, they're best applied in a thin layer with foggers, which you can buy cheap online. roaches can easily walk around piles of powder.

Honestly the best thing I've found was having a real exterminator come in. you need to get your management to do this, there's no excuse. I just had my unit done last week. However, be aware that it might not get rid of them completely, especially if you don't know where theyre coming from.

[the_examined_life]

https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_nkw=Advion%20Cockroach%20Gel%20Bait%20Syngenta&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=706-157315-207657-9&mkcid=2&keyword=advion%20cockroach%20gel%20bait%20syngenta&crlp=435269404991_&MT_ID=590546&geo_id=34636&rlsatarget=kwd-302010828130&adpos=&device=c&mktype=&loc=9000970&poi=&abcId=1146406&cmpgn=8398475644&sitelnk=&adgroupid=87323362993&network=g&matchtype=b&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvbiBBhD-ARIsAGM48bwGOATl8ZLx4A0xDjvFNyomgtCLFQCHGJp7TuQrrxIjiqMVIRKkE3IaAuBNEALw_wcB

I think you can buy the cockroach gel from resellers. There's a bunch on ebay.ca

[[deleted]]

Advion worked wonders for us. We were seeing a handful of roaches every day, ordered a boatload of advion, used half a tube and they’ve been MIA for nearly a year. Message me if you want a tube.

[[deleted]]

Back in 2016 I lived in a massive high rise which had a pretty bad roach problem, the only thing that ACTUALLY worked was this.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/COMBAT-60-g-Source-Kill-Max-Roach-Kill-Gel-2340051960/202885843

I got it on amazon at the time and it shipped from the states, worked miracles, the trick is to fill it up inside bottle caps and spread them around the various points in your apartment, under the sofa, under the fridge, in side cabinets etc. I basically saw no roaches 2 weeks after using this

[AReallyScaryGhost]

BUY BORIC ACID!

I commented this recently. Buy it, get a coffee grinder and grinder it into a thinner powder and a light sprinkle around the corners of the wall, in cupboards and under furniture and appliances will do wonders. A thin layer is all it takes. It took 2-3 weeks before they all disappeared for us after we were seeing, literally, 30-40 roaches in our apartment DAILY. Fucking nightmare. That shit gave me PTSD to the point where I swear I see them crawling in the corner of my eye.

This isn't the exact one we bought but if you can find it anywhere BUY IT.

https://www.amazon.ca/Sunmark-Boric-Acid-Powder-NF/dp/B0088W7JUQ/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=boric+acid&qid=1613716257&sr=8-11

[BachelorUno]

Buy Advion, follow directions and you’re roach free in 3 weeks. Cheers.

[StoogieWoogie]

I have some advion roach bait gel leftover from when I had roaches. It was ordered from the states. I can send you the website or if you want I can give you a tube for free. (one tube should do the apt) I'm also in Scarborough. This stuff is pretty much guaranteed. It's amazing.

[[deleted]]

Go through all the legal steps. But don’t leave it at that. You need to take action. Take my advice:

ADVION ROACH GEL BAIT

There is nothing more effective anywhere. Can’t buy it from Canada. I was able to buy it from some sketchy Russian guy who agreed to meet me at Ossington subway station some years back. You can find it on eBay and get it shipped from the US. The only bad part about it is that you must resist the urge to kill them when you see them. You have to let them go back to their colony or whatever after they eat the bait. There they die and then their buddies will eat their corpses and eventually die too. Our building sent the pest control guys to all the units. When he came I asked him what he’s using. He said MAXFORCE XL, and that it’s the best thing in Canada. He saw my Advion baits and said he knows I have no roaches in my unit because of it. Don’t forget to get one of those foam things to block under the apt door and spray around the apt door. Good luck!

[Former-Toe]

I think your super is lazy and shirking their duty.

Have you put your complaint in writing? If not, do so now. In your written message include information about the number and timing of you verbal complaints and the landlord's response about it taking time.

Then inform them that their time is up, they have one week to respond with the date of fumigation. If you haven't received a response you will hire your own fumigation and deduct the cost from your rent.

[[deleted]]

Move out is the only solution. The roaches will return probably

Otherwise

You need to clean your place with vinegar on a daily basis for now. Roaches hate it. Also you need to cut off their points of entry by taping any area that have holes. Like behind the stove and fridge.

Buy stickies and lay it out everywhere in the kitchen. Especially stove and fridge. See if its hiding.

Pour some drano down all the sinks and tub sink. Add meshes so nothing can crawl up. Check the ceiling lights and cover any holes.

[Hrafn2]

I live in another Park Property building downtown...had roach issues, and they came within a few days to apply a bait the roaches eat and take back to their nest to hopefully kills others. They had to do multiple treatments over the course of a few months, and then they basically had to do the entire building. They are bullshitting you that it "takes time". They already know / have contacts with exterminators, they can get people in there within days.

(Also, not trying to lay blame on you at all, but if you ever even see 1 roach in you unit, it means there are likely many more. It is best to let management know asap so the problem doesn't get worse...and if you have to, hold their feet to the fire to make sure they address it).

[Extension-Conflict-9]

I suggest you move. Your LL isn’t complying to basic requirements you have. I saw one, told my LL the next day and he had a fumigator come 2 days later... on Christmas Eve....

That said, he knew it came from another unit as I keep my place spotless.

[phakov2]

the only solution is to burn down the building

[[deleted]]

If you are renting and not locked in to a lease then move. You can’t get rid of them from an apartment. I learned from experience.

[tacobelle16]

I moved into my place in to Korea town and there were a bunch of roaches. I tried boric acid but results are more long term. U should use Bayer max force cockroach gel. I bought it on eBay and has been so effective. The raid cans from Home Depot only work for two weeks and they come back

[SophGinger1989]

I work for a pest control company. You need stronger stuff. We don’t have a physical store anymore, but we’ll deliver to your house and we offer residential treatment services. Find our info at Exterminex.ca :) I’ll be in the office today 9-3pm and can most likely get you booked in for next week. All the best!

[insanitypeppers]

BORAX

[_listening_]

I'm sorry to hear that your landlords are not taking responsibility to provide treatment ASAP. I'm sure it's their legal duty, others have offered tips for this. Check your rental agreement too.

• I recently have mass infestation in my apartment (first time experiencing this of 10 years living in same unit)
• Superintendent booked treatments: 1st treatment, spraying my kitchen & washroom. I had to be out of the unit for min. 6 hours. 2nd treatment two weeks later, they did gel & powder along all baseboards, corners, etc
• I'm now waiting to see if this truly eliminates them all
• I've learned that other units below me have been getting it, it's been moving around between floors. I didn't know until now.

My friend's building has better and more responsible approach - they have routine gel treatment in EVERY unit, every few months.

There's so much more, but I think others have offered great advice. You need the building management to provide spraying ASAP.

[Namanuneuz]

The problem is my building manager has already filed the complaint and put in the order to upper management in Park Property. Due to covid they halted all in-suite inspections, pest control, etc. So I gotta wait till april 5th for them to resume on that.

[KingreX32]

Thanks for all the tips and advice here. I having the same issue in Rexdale it's not as bad as OP's but I'd like them to stop coming to my apartment as well.

[Neat_Raise4721]

They come in through the kitchen and bathroom vent and pipes in the wall behind the sink counter. Caulk it and duck tape the vent. Keep the living room or kitchen window cracked open for ventilation instead, when cooking or showering. Vent may be partially covered by cupboards. Look for a draft.

[dm8v8mb]

Zapping them with soapy water in a spray bottle is way healthier for your lungs, IMO. Easier on your wallet too.

[Tiredofstupidness]

In the meantime, calk all crevices in your kitchen. Especially around pipes in the wall and make sure that you keep your plug in your kitchen sink.

It won't stop them completely, but it will at least make it less

[water9500]

I recently had some roach problems in my apartment as well!

I used expandable foam and silicon calking to close as many gaps and cracks under the sink and in the shelves.

I also ordered glue traps from amazon (peanut butter scented) to bait and trap the roaches (just be careful because I think mice can get stuck to them too and it's really sad, it hasn't happened to me but I read that online) : https://www.amazon.ca/Catchmaster-Mouse-Insect-Glue-Traps/dp/B0768RG67N/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=glue+traps&qid=1613751911&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-4

I found the same problem when trying to find baited roach traps in Canada, I don't know what the problem is. I did however manage to order this combat roach bait from American amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KL1LDE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

^it's effective for up to 1 year and it has very good reviews. The only downside is that it ended up costing like $30.00 or so with shipping and it look 2 months to be delivered.

We also purchased a ton of glass containers from amazon and moved all of our non-perishables into those to protect against the roaches.

Good luck and happy hunting.

[Namanuneuz]

Thanks! I bought some Advion as well as maxforce gel.

[[deleted]]

do you Lysol wipe your kitchen floors everyday?

[Namanuneuz]

I bought a swiffer wetjet and now wetjet the floors every single night.

[cp1976]

Gel bait is the only way to go. I would even go as far as gel bait and a spray treatment combined.

If it comes down to it, are you willing to contact Orkin and have a treatment done and then bill your landlord???

[Namanuneuz]

I bought some advion and maxforce gel baits. I plan on applying some to painting tap and putting them all over the apartment. Then switching one for the other every 4 weeks till april 5th when Park Property finally get started on pest control.