Why You May Have Cockroaches in Your Home

Proudly Serving South Carolina | North Carolina | Georgia | Florida

In order to treat an infestation or keep cockroaches out of your home, it is first important to know why they invaded your home in the first place. Like many pests, cockroaches generally enter a home looking for shelter, food, or water. With their flat bodies, cockroaches are able to easily squeeze through small cracks in your home’s walls, windows, and foundation or even under drafty doors. They like to live in dark and damp places like behind appliances, under sinks, and in drains and sewers and will feed on anything from food on your counters to the glue on your wallpaper.

What Attracts Cockroaches?

A cockroach will enter a home looking for food, water, or a place to live and breed. Having an infestation is not an indication of a dirty home, cockroaches are known to eat almost anything that was once organic matter. Favorite food sources of a cockroach include:

• Poorly stored food or food that has been dropped or left out

• Pet Food

• Paper or cardboard products

• Garbage

• Hair

• Soap

They will also be attracted to sources of water such as:

• Leaky faucets

• Sponges

• Plants

Once one cockroach finds a suitable food or water source it will release a pheromone that will attract other cockroaches leading to an infestation.

Habits to Prevent Cockroaches

The first step in any pest prevention is to find the areas where they are entering the home and close them off. This includes finding any cracks and holes in the foundation, floors, windows, and walls and making sure they have been sealed as well as closing gaps under doors. To keep cockroaches away it is important to ensure food and garbage are stored properly and the kitchen area is kept clean. They like to eat cardboard and paper products as well, so make sure to remove boxes, newspapers, and other paper products from the floor. One of the best ways to ensure pests such as cockroaches stay out of your home is with routine preventative extermination.

Smokey Brown Cockroaches Get in South Carolina Homes

One very common type of cockroach here in our region is the smokey brown cockroach. These pests can gain entry to our homes in a variety of ways. They will even climb into grocery bags, backpacks, boxes, and other items, and you will be unaware you’ve transported a cockroach or two or perhaps even some eggs into your home until it is too late. Smokey brown cockroaches also come inside by squeezing through tiny spaces or cracks in your home’s foundation or exterior walls. Smokey brown cockroaches are especially drawn to areas of warmth, moisture, and darkness.

Getting Rid of Cockroaches

Cockroaches are excellent at hiding and you may only be able to see a fraction of the roaches in your home making them difficult to fully eradicate once you have an infestation. There are many DIY and at-home remedies to rid your home of cockroaches but the most effective way to rid your home of cockroaches is using a trusted exterminator. At Rocket Pest, we understand how frustrating it can be to deal with a cockroach infestation and want to ensure our customers that you do not have to deal with it alone. Our trusted technicians have over 65 years of experience and are here to lead their expert advice to quickly and effectively rid your home of these annoying pests. Give us a call today!