Pesky Cockroaches

[NickiH]

After staying here 12 days we encountered our first cockroaches yuk. Last night was the first night we have eaten in since arriving. I’m assuming they smelt the Thai curry I cooked. God knows where they come in as we have doors and windows closed from 7pm. My husband was chasing them around until he eventually captured them after moving various furniture bits. Got them into a plastic container and took them down to the wasteland at the bottom of Altomar II. Any ideas how we can stop them coming in the house ? We thought we have sealed every crack up, we never leave food around even crumbs. Everything is washed and put away after eating. Maybe they get in under the door although the gap looks very small. Need some deterrents as Slept with one eye open all night. 😳

[phil]

Hi  Haven't got an answer how they get in but i have just returned back home again from a week out there painting  , After buying 6 years ago this was the 1st time i have ever seen a cockroach in the house  My grandson put his shoe on and thought there was a stone in there but when he tipped it out a great big cockroach fell out  " days later opened the cupboard and there was another big one on the plates
I have a place in Tenerife and we pay for a visit once a year and have the place treated which cures the problem. I would think there is someone similar around Gran Alacant that offers this service. Perhaps i have been lucky so far because several other people seem to have them.  I must say i think i would rather tolerate a few cockies than those bloody tiger mozzis later in the year. 

[NickiH]

Thank you for replying. We only seem to have a problem June to Sept with cockroaches I’m assuming it’s the humid weather. Generally it’s only one maybe two on a visit so we had our 2 last night !  We are currently pulling all furniture out and disinfecting all the floors. Think I may try and get one of those front door sweep type things you can get in the UK maybe that will help. I have roach powder and blocks not used them for years but will pop some down later

[wilson]

We were roach free for 15 years then on a visit 4 years ago we had several running around, like you house is scrupulously clean. It took 2 years of visits before we got on top of it. On leaving each time we sprayed and put down 12 traps on arrival back months later usually 1 or 2 dead but none live. We then started sealing each room, by closing door and stuffing material under door, the entry points were the fan grill in bathroom which vented onto room chimney so meshed and sealed, the next was the extractor hood in kitchen again this led to another chimney vent on roof, expanding foam and mesh sealed that. The other culprit was furniture which came in from outside at the end of the season, any eggs insects lying dormant got taken in like a Trojan horse.

[chris and jackie]

They can also come up through the drains & out through the sink overflow!!

[NickiH]

We think we may have solved the problem as the front wooden door had a small gap in it at the bottom on one side and we think they may have been getting in there. So we have now sealed that up. We bought sink overflow mesh covers with us last time so they can’t get in that way and the overflow in the kitchen sink we have taped up 😂. The extractor thing on the ceiling in the bathroom we have shears had mesh on it. So definitely not coming in this time.  We have put powder down and had a couple of dead ones as a result on the outside patio the following morning. We keep the front door shut from about 6pm onwards. But hasn’t thought of the outside furniture we take a table and barbecue indoors when we leave but yes I can see that could be a problem. We are now back home in the UK until October so hope we don’t encounter any then. Seems to be May-Sept. Touchwood never seen any in the autumn or winter.   

[wilson]

I think our problem on Puerto Marino started one season when the administration decided not to do there spraying. You first started to see the odd roach on garden walls. Both our Spanish neighbors have cluttered gardens with plenty of vegetation to hide in, ours by contrast is empty when we’re not there. Another point of entry was an aircon unit outside drain which had an open end, one day I was cleaning unit filter when I saw a large dead roach in the drain tray. Like before I found the best way was isolating each room on departure so if any trespassers you could focus in that specific area.