Roaches in appliances

[Matthew C. Frey]

I just bought a place and found German roaches in the dishwasher. We had the house professionally sprayed and a follow up spray is in a few days.

While we were cleaning, we saw that two of them were inside the control section of the range walking over the time. They were under the plexiglass.

If they’re in that deep, I assume I have to disposed of the range. Is there anyway to get them out?

If the right answer is to get rid of the range, should I assume they’re that deep into other appliances (dishwasher, microwave, refrigerator) and dispose of them as well?

[Todd Rasmussen]

@Matthew C. Frey

Keep the exterminator coming back for weeks after you think the problem is resolved. Have them bait as well. Roaches are tough to get rid of. We had roaches recur for a couple months after treatment was completed the first time. They can hid any and everywhere. I'd toss the appliances if they were a few years old and not worry about trying to clean them out.

[Matthew C. Frey]

@Todd Rasmussen

Thanks Todd. They’re decent appliances that are relatively new, but I agree that it’s time to get them out and move on.

[Dan Maciejewski]

Roaches are a pain.  I go nuclear when I see them.  Everything goes!  If they're walking across the time under the glass, there's probably thousands in there.  Watch yourself when getting the appliances out, they'll probably be falling out by the dozens.  Get a painters jumpsuit/coverall.

Definitely get a bug company involved.  They will probably have to come back a bunch until they get all the eggs.

[Daria B.]

@Matthew C. Frey

For the first time one of my rentals suffered a horrible tenant - they just went complete opposite of anything we (me and the PM) just didn’t see.

They were evicted but left on their own after the order was approved. With that, I had to do a major clean up including dealing with roaches.

This stuff works like a charm.

Syngenta 383920 Advion Cockroach Gel Bait 4 X 30 Gram Tubes Roach Control, 4 30, Brown

Found it on Amazon and applied it to the hinges and under drawer corners.

Unfortunately, the new tenant came along and couldn’t just say no “we need to rid the roaches first”. So there are still some left but this stuff is being used to continue getting rid of them. Had I had another week they would have been gone. It was working well and easier to deal with in an empty house.

[Peter M.]

German roaches are a nightmare. Youll need monthly treatments for at least 4 months to be sure they are gone but it can be done. If theyre in the appliances they are probably in the walls behind them too. So even if you get rid of the appliances they might come back. The problem is compounded if this is multiamily. Good luck

[Bill Hoo]

If no one is occupying the unit and you are in the cold winter months... unplug all appliances including the fridge (they love nesting near the warm compressor motor, and the dishwasher also provides a warm humid environment), open all cabinets and appliance doors.  Then open the windows and patio door for a day or two.

Roaches and their eggs die if exposed to temperatures under 40 Deg F for 10 hours.  Freeze them to death.

Then, look behind all cabinets, appliances, heating convectors and seal up any holes and voids.  Use "Great Stuff expanding foam, plastic sheet and tape, whatever does the trick.

Then use Gentrol capsules to stunt their growth so they do not reach egg-laying maturity.  Gentrol is good fo 2 to 3 months.

Get a duster and some Cimexa dust.  blow a light film into cracks, under cabinets, stove, bathroom cabinets, etc.  Cimex is harmless micro silica that sucks up moisture (it is used to keep electronics and beef jerky from getting damp and moldy).  Roaches walk across it and ingest it when they clean their legs.  It dehydrates them and kills them.

Apply roach baits.  Most exterminators just put baits on cabinet edges.  Rutgers university did a study and found baits are most effective in tight spaces as roaches feel safer when eating if they have at least TWO sides of their body making contact with a surface.  They recommended making "roach tacos" - basically take a 4 inch square of wax paper.  Fold it in half to form a triangle.  Aplay a pea sized gob of roach bait at the center, and leave them around where roaches hang.  They found a significant reduction in surveyed roach population when applying bait this way.

As for the dishwasher, I too had a tenant in Alexandria who NEVER cleaned the kitchen and NEVER notified me of the roach problem!  The roaches bunched up in the control module and shorted it out.  It was an older dishwasher, but still worked fine until the roaches.  The control module was sealed in a way I could not open it to get the dead roaches out and repair the circuit.

Repair person came and tried to sell me a new dishwasher to include a $50 a month maintenance program to cover any repair.  Hmm $50 a month x 12 months = $600 plus the $350 for new dishwasher!  I paid him the $100 service visit and told him to get lost.

Got a new dishwasher at Home Depot and found a huge hole in the wall behind the old dishwasher that building maintenance had cut to access pipes in the wall!  I sealed that up with plastic and tape!  Roaches had been coming in from other units via that hole!

[Bill Hoo]

Also, a good idea to install a door sweep at the entrance.  Roaches and mice can come in from other units from the front door!