I'm currently living in a single family home that had problems with the big American cockroaches (1-2 every night) but I was able to spray pest control every 2 months to eliminate them.
Now my lease is ending and I need to find a place. Rent is so crazy high for single family homes here, so I'm considering townhomes. However, I'm concerned that they may be like apartments where it is near impossible to control a roach infestation since they easily travel in between units.
Does anyone have experience with a roach infested townhome in the Miami area? Was it like apartments, where you couldn't resolve it due to the other units? Please let me know, I am terrified of roaches (german, American, any type).
Welcome to Miami!
lol thank you. Been here 1 year and it's difficult as someone with an extreme roach phobia.
You’ve move to the wrong place. I spray the perimeter of my place but when it rains heavy…one might show up dead or dying because of the perimeter spray but it is what it is. I’m a native and I am petrified of them. I knew my hubby was a keeper when he killed one…with his bare foot. We were living on the beach then🤣
Need to spray perimeters and use insecticide they don’t avoid a take back to their nasty little colony. I used Alpine WSG. They don’t avoid it, and when they walk over it, they basically get cooked from the inside out. Since these fuckers love the smell of roaches bc they’re cannibals, they kill themselves. The residue stays on them and creates a domino effect where they start dying exponentially. Spray it on top of cabinets, baseboards, and any nooks and crannies. You’ll need to buy one of those spray pumps and mix it per the instructions on the packets. I heard that with Advion Gel can just about cover you. I never used the gel, though.
Advion and Optiguard is the cocktail for killing ants in SoFL. I don't know how it works with roaches.
Roaches are a fact of life in Miami. The only people I know who do not have them live on the 20th floor or above.
I don't have roaches and I live in a single res two-story home. Once a month, I spray the inside and outside of my home with this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ortho-Home-Defense-Insect-Killer-for-Indoor-and-Perimeter-2-with-Comfort-Wand-1-Gal-Controls-Ants-Roaches-and-Spiders-4659905/327469574
I spray especially around the door frames, bottom, top, and both sides.
We also keep our home clean.. we do not leave dirty dishes in the sink, we do not leave dishes, cups or food around the house.
Empty the garbage can every night do not have any food out (fruit bowl) and seal the top of all open food
I like to put my bag of chips and other stuff in ziploc bags. I'll also spray down the garbage can. It's all possible to be a roach-free house!
Yes! I spray the same way with this one: https://a.co/d/cObJCiG , and keep the house extra clean as well. Been blessed to not see any in months.
Thank you! I will try that too.
If you don't have roaches then why spray insecticide?
You have roaches or you would not bother spraying.
... I don't have roaches because I spray.
You spray to keep the roaches from coming inside your house. I cannot stop what happens outside but I can what happens inside.
Yeah… it wasn’t until this apartment I had issues. Before that roaches were not existent in my life. You’d get the random one that sneaks in somehow, but not the tiny ones that are multiplying in your walls.
It’s preventative.. there are sprays to detract them from your home, and others they don’t avoid and bring back to their nests for mass extinction.
Again. You have roaches but found a way to control them.
There are people who do not need to spray or take any preventative measures because.....they do not have roaches.
Spraying the same product again and again is an awesome way to have a population build a resistance to it. .
I live in the 6th floor, never seen a single roach. Back in my parents single family house, saw roaches maybe a few times a year. I think the people you know are dirty
Sixth floor may be high enough. I have never lived above the third floor in Miami and without pest control I would have roaches.
(I know this because if I skip a treatment, they start coming out.)
I've lived on the 8th floor most of my life and have definitely seen plenty of roaches.
Live on 12th floor for 13 years. Not a single roach.
I really think the only way to avoid roaches in Miami without insecticide is living on a high floor like you too
I bought a condo on a low floor and am resigned to a lifetime of pest control
I lived in South Beach even the highest towers have roaches, they travel in people's groceries from the stores, vans etc.
You think they are afraid of height ? Roaches and flies are everywhere seen them at airports and even inside airplanes.
They don't discriminate. But it's a Miami thing haven't seen a location without roaches the city hall has the biggest and they are named corollo and suarez
Maybe it’s individual because until you the only people I knew in Miami, who didn’t have roaches lived high off the ground
I lived on and off for a month in the one residential icon tower with a girl she was clean,
But the roaches were coming thru the vents. Maybe from the neighors but I cannot use what I seen there. ROACHES 🪳
You can have a clean house and still have roaches.
Roaches, or more likely the Palmetto Bug, can come inside for a million different reasons.
Maybe it's raining outside and they want to be dry. Maybe it's flooding and they don't want to drown. Maybe the cracks in your house are more warm/humid for them. Hell, maybe your kid is hiding food underneath their bed to feed the monster they're convinced lives under there.
Point is, down here, you'll likely find them in your home eventually. In my case, my apartment complex was super clean and the staff sprays down for bugs on semi-regular basis. We still see roaches maybe once or twice a month, and that's considered amazing.
If you live in south Florida, have a nice clean home, and don’t “have roaches”…… you just haven’t seen them.
There are sooooo many factors that allow roaches into a home and being dirty isn’t always a clear indication if you have them or not
I’ve seen roaches on higher floors than six in older buildings along Biscayne Bay
Think of it this way: in townhouses, whatever pests problems your neighbors have, you also have. Worse if it’s wooden. Because when they have rats, you have rats.
Boric acid tablets around the inside definitely help. Can of Raid to blast at any stragglers. I’ve heard great things about Advion gel bait, but haven’t tried them yet so can’t speak on them.
Don’t bother with the pet/kid friendly sprays like Zevo. They’re good for pets/kids while needing to spray a gallon to take out a bug (and at that point, you’re drowning it more than killing it with poison spray). The only good one is Raid. Probably because Raid makes it 🤷♂️
Fellow Miamian and also scared of roaches, not sure how we do it, good luck soldier 🫡
Always gonna be roaches here in Miami but you’ll definitely have to defend them on your end, so it’s possible to not have roaches, best of luck OP!
Don’t forget about the rats and ants that also easily travel in between units.
I never had roaches. Granted I left many moons ago but I never had roaches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_woods_cockroach
"It is found in its native habitats, such as the U.S. state of Florida and the West Indies. The species wanders indoors at times, especially into damp locations, such as bathrooms; however, it prefers the outdoors..."
AKA palmetto bug
edit: I only occasionally find one in my house, but do not like to spray. Better to use diatomaceous earth and if you have to spray, do it around your house and on thresholds to doors coming into the house.
Lived on the second floor next to a neighbor that was very unkempt and dirty; pretty sure I had a roach problem mainly from her and other neighbors. I was very anal about cleaning and putting out traps, but it only minimized the problem. Florida is just a humid place where they thrive, both the smaller German cockroaches and palmetto bugs that come from outside.
Roaches have this weird ability to squeeze in tiny spaces. They can live through a nuclear winter. Get roach tabs and sprinkle Borax is other areas. It will help, but not eliminate them.
Not me thank God
I swear by this the Advion roach bait/gel stuff. I'd recommend putting a dab or two in places like under your sink, behind appliances, etc.
The big ones are here to stay unfortunately. They are not from being dirty . They like to be outdoors in warm, damp places like mulch and sewers but come inside during rain.They also live in certain plants which are normally planted close to houses like bromeliads.
Yes you're definitely correct, thank you. I realized spraying inside the home regularly was crucial to not have those roaches come in, especially during rainy nights.
I’m a fellow roach-phobic person so I understand your struggle.
I’ve lived in south Florida for 7 years and have only lived in apartments and condos. For the most part it’s been fine. We’ve had clean neighbours so it hasn’t been a problem on that score.
In our condo, there was a leak under the kitchen sink and I learned that roaches are really drawn to that so we ended up with American cockroaches In our kitchen 🤢
Thankfully Harris’ roach tablets cleared 95% of them and advion gel got rid of the rest.
It’s unrealistic to think that you’ll see zero cockroaches, but if you stay clean and vigilant you shouldn’t have more than the random one here or there.
One apartment we lived in suggested keeping the AC at 75 or lower to discourage roaches from coming in the house, but that’s too cold for me. In our current place we keep it at 78-80 and it’s been fine.
I was with you until the 78-80. I feel sweaty just thinking about it.
In all seriousness, I for the first time in my 30ish years of life, had roach issues. It took me having to tell the PM where I live to get someone to check for openings in the kitchen. Turns out they left the wall uncovered and they had to come in and reseal the kitchen. That combined spraying my own industrial pesticide every two weeks (the stuff the pest control people were using was arguably doing NOTHING)
Ugh that’s awful. I’m so glad you got that figured out.
It’s never gone down to 0 roaches. I know it’s a pipe dream, but I’ve lived in old areas with huge trees and never had issues. Last roach I did see here, though, was probably 3ish weeks ago now. That said, I’m actually moving 3 apartments down soon to avoid them and avoid the guy next door that smokes too many cigs. PM is going to do a deep dive once I’m out of here.
I want to add that I leave no liquids or any type of food out. Ever. I keep my place very clean.
roaches are normal in Fl
It’s impossible to resolve and hard to maintain in Miami. If you’re in a connected living area like a townhouse or apartment it’ll never end unfortunately. A house you’ll have a better time but it’ll still happen occasionally. As long as you can keep still water to a minimum and no food in the kitchen that’s all you can do unfortunately.
If you have roaches in a single family home , then you’re a filthy mfr, there’s no reason for it other than you being a pig. Apts and townhomes is a different scenario, whether you keep your apt spotless doesn’t mean your neighbor does so unless THEY tackle their roach issue first, they’ll keep coming back. That’s one downside of shared walls.