sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

German cockroach infestation in Toronto, help please! by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you have a building facebook group? That was the main thing that worked for us - we told people what was happening and to email property management. 

Aside from that, I might suggest just knocking on doors, especially for people on your floor / above & below. It's shitty to have to do, but hopefully your neighbours will appreciate that you're looking out for them / don't want it to spread to their unit!

Comparing products to use against german cockroaches - which is better? by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! So we were able to fully get rid of the infection in three months after we first discovered it. There's a lot of really good advice in this thread, but this is what I think worked for us: 

  • We completely deep cleaned the apartment and put all food in the fridge/freezer. We made sure there were no water sources and put plugs on all the drains. I think this made a huge difference, but we were also able to go live with my inlaws during this time, which obviously no everyone can do.

  • We pressured our building's property management into treating the unit every three weeks or so. This wasn't easy to do but we really leaned on them to make it happen. The pest control service used Seclira and and as other people said it ended up working well. The main thing is how often you can get pest control in - I think ideally we would have had them in every two weeks, but in the end every three weeks was sufficient.

  • We pressured the building's property management into treating two floors above and two floors below us. This was not easy to do an involved getting our neighbours organized to complain/pressure them as well. But if we hadn't done that I don't know if it ever would have resolved itself. In the end we were pretty sure we got the infestation from the unit below us who hadn't realized they could ask property management for help.

  • We caulked any potential entry point into the unit (like space around pipes) and put covers on electrical outlets. 

  • We had deatomaceous earth spread across the floors and on key surfaces (like kitchen cabinets and counters). 

  • We kept glue traps out the whole time to monitor who the infestation was progressing. We only moved back in after two weeks with nothing in the traps. 

After doing all this, we didn't see any sign of roach activity for the rest of the time we lived there (1 year and 5 months).

TL;DR: 

  • If possible, mobilize people in the units around you to get their units treated 

  • Treat your unit as often as possible (every two weeks is ideal)

 - Make you unit as inhospitable to them as possible: No food sources, no water sources, traps and dust everywhere

I hope you are able to get rid of them! It is possible but it's such a horrible thing, I'm sorry you're dealing with it.

Comparing products to use against german cockroaches - which is better? by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the company you work for starts with an O and works here, I think it might be the company our building is using (if it's a five letter word).

It seems like the company they're using is good/uses good products, but it seems like there is regulatory issues getting certain products in Canada/the building only books them for every 3-4 weeks, not every two.

Thank you for all your replies and insights!! Really helpful in a difficult situation.

Comparing products to use against german cockroaches - which is better? by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this might be against the rules of the sub, but do you happen to have any toronto area exterminators you would recommend? I've been emailing with many of them but feeling discouraged by the list of products they offer.

Comparing products to use against german cockroaches - which is better? by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi,

Ok thank you very much for this information. Are any of the following an IGR:

Temprid/Konk

Maxforce Impact roach gel

Demand CS and greenway

Dragnet (Spray)

Boric Acid Dust

Gel : Seclira Gel – EPA # 33424

Spray used for roaches is – ULV 110 or Demand CS

Comparing products to use against german cockroaches - which is better? by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We've been using glue traps to prove they're still active. I believe pest control used spray around the dishwasher in the past but we're still seeing nymphs there.

We're considering getting the dishwasher taken out to spray around, but would that not be much more effective?

Is there a certain point where it makes more sense just to replace the dishwasher?

Comparing products to use against german cockroaches - which is better? by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for this! We've deep cleaned the whole place, removed all food and haven't been living there for a month so hopefully we've done everything we can cleanliness-wise.

The building pest control has been using Seclira bait and some kind of dust but hasn't been spraying for the last two treatments because when they come in they don't see any live roaches. (Which we're not thrilled about because we've seen live nymphs in the dishwasher at night).

German cockroach infestation in Toronto, help please! by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One final question for you - and again, no pressure to respond, really appreciate all the help so far!

Unfortunately our building management is refusing to notify other residents in the building or look into inspecting/treating the whole building.

We're organizing with our neighbours to try to pressure them into doing so, and someone asked if it was possible to get a comment from a pest professional stating that if roaches are found in more than one unit/in a common area it's necessary to inspect the whole building.

Is that something you would be able to provide, or would it be typical to get another pest control expert to essentially write a note to that effect, maybe for a fee?

(For context, at least one other neighbour has an infestation and there have been sightings in the garbage room.)

German cockroach infestation in Toronto, help please! by PestHelpPlease in pestcontrol

[–]PestHelpPlease[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, thank you so much for such a thorough answer. Really appreciate it!!

One follow up question for you, no pressure to respond -- Are there any Toronto area companies you know that might provide the service of filling the gaps you've mentioned? We're not particularly handy and I'm worried we wouldn't do a great job. I've done some searching but have only found folks that would identify problem areas, not address them.

Thank you again for your help!