Cockroach Control in Phoenixville: Name the Species Before You Treat

Three cockroaches show up in southeastern Pennsylvania buildings

When someone calls about roaches, the first question is which roach. Three kinds account for nearly everything we see in Chester County and Montgomery County homes and businesses, and they need three different responses. A wood cockroach does not need the bait program a German cockroach infestation does, and German cockroaches handled with exclusion alone keep breeding.

If you can catch one, put it in a sealed bag or take a clear photo next to a coin. The size, color and markings tell us most of what we need, and our inspection confirms the rest.

German cockroaches live in kitchens and multiply fast

The German cockroach is the one that causes real infestations. Adults are 1/2 to 5/8 inch long and tan, with two dark parallel stripes running from the head back toward the wings. They hide in warm, damp cracks during the day: behind the refrigerator and stove, inside the dishwasher door, under the sink, in cabinet hinges, inside microwaves and coffee makers, and behind loose baseboards.

A female carries a purse-shaped egg capsule holding usually 30 to 48 eggs until they are nearly ready to hatch, which takes about 28 days, and she produces four to eight capsules in her life, according to Penn State Extension. Carrying the eggs protects them from sprays. German cockroaches come into a home in grocery bags, cardboard boxes, used appliances and suitcases, not from outdoors.

If you see German cockroaches in daylight, the population is usually large enough that the hiding places are full.

Shared walls let German cockroaches move between units

German cockroaches travel between rooms and adjoining apartments through walls, ceilings, pipes and wiring, according to University of Kentucky entomologists. That matters in older boroughs with a lot of attached housing. In Norristown, 47.1% of homes are single-family attached units, and Coatesville is at about 45%, based on American Community Survey data reported by Census Reporter. Apartments, twins and rowhouses share plumbing walls, and kitchens often back up to each other.

In a building with shared walls, treating one unit often works for a while and then roaches come back from next door. The best results come when the building owner treats neighboring units at the same time. If you manage rental property, our commercial pest control for property managers covers building-wide programs. Homeowners in attached housing can read our Norristown service area notes.

American cockroaches come up from basements and drains

The American cockroach is the big one, about 1 1/2 inches long and reddish brown. Indoors it sticks to warm, damp places: basements, crawl spaces, floor drains, sump pits, pipe chases and around bathtubs. It can travel through sewer lines and come up through drains. Penn State Extension notes it is common in restaurants, bakeries and food processing buildings with steam and moisture.

In a house, American cockroaches usually point to a moisture or drain issue. We look at floor drains without water in the trap, gaps around sewer pipes, damp crawl spaces and leaking pipes. Fixing those conditions and placing bait in the damp areas where they hide is more effective than spraying the open floor.

Wood cockroaches wander in from the woods and don't breed inside

Much of Chester County is wooded, and that brings in the wood cockroach. Pennsylvania has seven species in the genus Parcoblatta. They live outdoors under loose bark, in woodpiles and in leaf litter. Males can fly and are drawn to porch and window lights at night, so they turn up inside on warm evenings from spring through fall, often after firewood is brought in.

Wood cockroaches cannot make it indoors. Penn State Extension says they die within a few days from dehydration and do not feed or reproduce inside. Penn State also says pesticides are unnecessary for them. The answer is exclusion: tighter door sweeps, screen repairs, caulked gaps, firewood kept outside until you burn it, and yellow bug lights or motion lights near doors. We will tell you when a roach is a wood cockroach so you don't pay for an indoor treatment you don't need.

How gel bait and crack-and-crevice placement work

For German and American cockroaches, bait is the main tool. Cockroach gel bait is a food-based material with an insecticide, applied in small dabs right where roaches hide and travel. Roaches eat it, go back to harborage and die there, and other roaches in the group feed on what they leave behind.

Placement is what makes bait work. University of Kentucky guidance says many small placements work better than a few large ones, set flush against the corners and edges of cabinets where roaches walk. We place bait into cracks and crevices, door hinges, the gaps behind appliances, under sink openings and inside cabinet corners, following the product label. Bait placed in cracks stays out of open areas where people and pets touch.

Foggers and broadcast sprays are the wrong tool for kitchen roaches. Kentucky entomologists found that foggers put very little insecticide into cracks and voids, and many products repel roaches, which scatters them deeper into the walls. Penn State Extension gives the same warning about residual sprays for American cockroaches.

We also set sticky monitors under sinks and behind appliances. The count on each monitor tells us where the population is heaviest and whether the numbers are dropping between visits.

Sanitation and prep make the bait work

Bait competes with every other food source in the kitchen. Crumbs under the toaster, grease behind the stove and pet food left out overnight all give roaches something to eat besides the bait. Kentucky's guidance says housekeeping helps, but an established German cockroach infestation usually needs insecticide as well.

• Clean behind and under the stove, refrigerator and dishwasher, then keep crumbs from building up again.
• Store food, including pet food, in sealed containers, and don't leave dirty dishes overnight.
• Fix dripping faucets and leaks under sinks. Roaches need water more than food.
• Break down cardboard boxes and take paper bags out of the house. Roaches hide and lay eggs in corrugated cardboard.
• Don't spray store-bought roach spray or wipe cleaning products over bait placements. Kentucky entomologists note this can keep roaches from taking the bait.

Follow-up visits and what to expect

German cockroach work takes more than one visit because egg capsules hatch after the first treatment, and new nymphs need to find fresh bait. Following The Davis Inspection Standard, we set the follow-up schedule at the first visit and tell you up front how to prep and when you can use the treated areas.

You should see fewer roaches over the first few weeks. Kentucky's guidance says a substantial drop should be apparent within a few weeks when bait is placed well. At each follow-up we read the monitors, add bait where it has been eaten, and look for new hiding spots. A heavy infestation in an apartment with active neighbors takes longer than a light one in a single-family home, and we tell you which situation you are in.

Roaches and mice often share the same kitchen gaps and food sources. See mouse and rat control if you are finding droppings too, or the pantry pest page if the bugs are in your flour and cereal instead. To schedule a cockroach inspection in Phoenixville or anywhere in our area, contact us or call (610) 935-9130.