Cockroaches are most active when temperatures are between 85° and 95° Fahrenheit. If your Honolulu home is not temperature-controlled, you can expect more trouble from cockroaches during the summer months.
But roaches don't need perfect temperatures to be active in your home. They can be quite busy in spring temperatures as well. And if you're like most people, you probably maintain springtime temperatures in your home all year long. Cockroaches mustn't discover this. Here are some tips to keep cockroaches out of your Honolulu home.
How To Protect The Exterior Of Your Home From Cockroaches
When the weather is warm, cockroaches are most active outside. The warm weather makes their bodies run like well-oiled machines. That means they're going to be actively looking for food sources in every nook and cranny of your yard. The following tips will help keep them away:
- Make sure your exterior trash is in sealed receptacles.
- Keep the outside of your trash receptacles clean to avoid smells that attract roaches.
- If you have a compost pile, make sure it is properly balanced to reduce the aroma that attracts cockroaches.
Now with the exterior of your home covered, let’s move on to the interior.
How To Protect The Interior Of Your Home From Cockroaches
If cockroaches are outside, they will likely find a way into your home. Keep in mind that they can try to get into your home any time of year. These tips can help you with cockroach exclusion all year long:
- Check your foundation walls and use a foundation repair kit to repair cracks and gaps.
- Use a caulking gun to seal gaps, cracks, and holes around pipes, window and door frames, and other penetrations.
- Use a caulking gun to fill in holes created by rodents, carpenter ants, and other pests, or have this damage repaired.
- Repair or replace damaged door and window screens.
- Repair damaged door sweeps and weatherstripping.
Cockroaches are constantly in search of water, so it's important to do your best to keep moisture out of your home:
- Check your exterior pipes and spigots and fix any leaks you find.
- Check your gutter system and downspouts and remove clogs.
- If you have areas of dense shade, trim tree branches to let sunlight dry these areas.
- Remove any clutter near your home that can cause damp ground underneath. Clutter is also inviting to cockroaches because they use these items as hiding places.
- Keep your landscape vegetation trimmed and remove unwanted vegetation.
- Remove leaf litter regularly as it is an ideal hiding spot for cockroaches.
Just keep in mind that while these steps can be a big help in keeping your home roach-free, if you’ve started noticing them around your home, it’s time to call for professional assistance.
Unexpected Ways That Cockroaches Can Find Their Way Inside Your Honolulu Home
You may think that you can't get a cockroach infestation if your home is tidy, but you actually can. Cockroaches sometimes hitchhike into homes. There are many ways they can do this. It is important to be aware of them. Here are a few of the most common ways you might get cockroaches:
- If you pick your groceries up from a place that selects and bags them for you, cockroaches could get into those bags while they sit in staging. Always check bags and items thoroughly.
- If you pick out your own groceries, be sure to check for rips and holes in all packaging. A young German cockroach can pass through a hole in an outlet. So look closely for even the tiniest of holes.
- Some species of cockroach have females that carry their eggs on their backs. If you step on a cockroach, you could get eggs on the bottom of your foot. These eggs don't need the mother to hatch. If an egg survives in the tread of your shoe, it could hatch within your home when you set those shoes down somewhere.
- Do you have kids? Do your kids have friends over for the night? Keep in mind that a cockroach could hitch a ride in a sleeping bag, duffel bag, or some other item being carried from one home to the next.
If any of these factors have caused an infestation around your Honolulu home, don’t fret: just call the experts here at Able Pets Management for help.
Partner With The Experts At Able Pest Management
When cockroaches get into our Honolulu homes, they can be active all year long, and the last thing anyone needs is active cockroaches in their home. Roaches spread sickness in many forms. Get fast control of cockroach problems any time of year with assistance from Able Pest Management or check out our residential pest control plans that help to prevent cockroach infestations. We're here to help; reach out to us today to learn more.