So, after a couple of years of dreaming, and two months of stress, I finally found an affordable apartment in downtown Salt Lake City. So far, it's been both good and bad. I'm within walking distance of one of my favorite coffee shops, the library, and my sister's house. I can actually go to the farmer's market without making it an all day excursion. And best of all, I'm closer to all of my friends.
The only trouble is, the apartment I was given is infested with cockroaches. I'm OK with living with moderate number and variety of insects and arachnids, but these things look big enough to sue for voting rights. I complained to the management, and they explained that the exterminator is currently working his way around the complex, starting with building A (I'm in H) and I should expect him to come by in the next month or so.
It goes without saying, I'm a little pissed at my landlord right now. I was led to believe that this apartment would be ready for human habitation. Instead, not only am I stuck with creepy bugs for roommates, but the carpets were stained and I could still smell the litter box from the previous tenant's cats.
I'm working on the stains and the stench with some success, but the roaches just keep coming.
So I appeal to the collective knowledge of Hatrack. Anyone have any tips on how to get rid of them?
Posted by Lostinspace (Member # 11633) on :
There is a powder that you can pick up that will do very well..you put it down behind the fridge and under the cabinets and in all those out of the way places and they grab it with their bodies and it causes them to dry out...the nice thing is they carry it back to the nests too. I just can not remember the name of the powder but it works very well!
Posted by Shigosei (Member # 3831) on :
You probably won't be able to get rid of them completely on your own (since they're living all around you), but you can try. Diatomaceous earth is a good bug killer (non-toxic to humans and pets, but shouldn't be inhaled), but from what I've read it'll take about 2 weeks to work on cockroaches. It may be what Lostinspace is thinking of - it acts like miniature caltrops, scratching the cockroaches so they eventually dehydrate (though they'll get more pervasive as they search for water to try to stave off their demise).
Edit: eh Shigosei is faster!
Posted by Lostinspace (Member # 11633) on :
Yes thank you!
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Your landlord should be paying for that.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
And yes, your landlord should have taken care of the infestation before you moved in. Were I in your position, I'd raise a huge stink about the apartment not being clean (carpets and smell) and sanitary (the cockroaches) before having you move in. Are there any tenant advocates you can talk to about this?
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
With the combined costs of pest control, carpet cleaning and Febreeze bottles, I'm going to see if it's within my rights as a renter to send her the bill.
Thanks for the tips so far everyone. I'll see if I can find some Diatomaceous earth tonight at the store.
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Boric acid with cocoa powder could work for that.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
I talked to her about the smell and the infestation before I moved in. She dismissed the smell as leftover from the remodeling,(I was willing to believe it as it was faintly chemical, I didn't find out that the previous occupant had four cats until after I moved in) and she told me I was free to use any cleaners I wanted on the carpet. As a safeguard, I wrote down and took pictures of every carpet stain and cockroach (dead and alive) that I found in the apartment. I also refused to sign a clause in the lease that said I accepted responsibility for the apartment's condition "As is."
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
If you can't find any, I could send you some. A couple years ago I bought 50 lbs of food grade diatomaceous earth. I've given lots to friends, but I still have a lot left.
Hmmm, sending white powder in the mail.... Posted by Lostinspace (Member # 11633) on :
quote:Originally posted by Epictetus: With the combined costs of pest control, carpet cleaning and Febreeze bottles, I'm going to see if it's within my rights as a renter to send her the bill.
Thanks for the tips so far everyone. I'll see if I can find some Diatomaceous earth tonight at the store.
The only thing that might affect you here is if you did not contact her before making the actions. Then she could say well I would have given you this or went out to buy it but may refuse to cover it other wise. If the former tenat had cats, she may have refused the fumagation in the past...when I lived in an apartment in Texas in the past, I had lots of cockroach problems because both my neighbors with dogs would not get their apartments sprayed for fear of what would happen to the dogs. The powder did wonders and I put it outside my door on a regular basis to control ants too!
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
Update: I just got home. What was a minor infestation the last couple of days has spread to a major one. I turned on the light and the kitchen floor moved.
I'm going to clean my apartment tomorrow and call my landlord and demand an exterminator by Wednesday at the latest. This is intolerable. I'm actually afraid to go to sleep because of all these things.
Posted by Trent Destian (Member # 11653) on :
quote: Update: I just got home. What was a minor infestation the last couple of days has spread to a major one. I turned on the light and the kitchen floor moved.
*shudders
At an old apartment of mine I exprienced a terrible palmetto problem. These things actually flew, I open a cabinet and the insect would launch at me. Nightmares, therapy, and paranoia ensued. Left for a weekend and had people come and set off bug bombs, cockroach carnage.
Posted by Slim (Member # 2334) on :
Have you tried poisoning the quadro-triticale? In an apartment filled with wheat... they'll starve to death.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
Not yet. Currently, I've mopped the floors with a solution of boric acid and water, sprayed Raid Roach Spray into cracks in the molding and walls, and put out a few roach motels (haven't been able to find any diatomaceous earth yet.) It's like there's been a little cockroach massacre on the kitchen floor every time I come home.
I also talked to my landlord and she's sending maintenance over with some bait as well, hopefully, it will make a big dent in the population. Meanwhile, I'm trying to find a renter's advocacy group that I can talk to, just in case things get worse.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
I can feel your pain.... I hope you manage to get your problem cleaned up.
I live in an old "peer and beam" house with a wonderful crawl space underneath (Think "Lost Boys") AND in a small town with a fairly empty field on one side. Under my house is apparently a haven for every kind of small pest known to man. I fight an unending battle just to keep the house not looking like a jungle, but I've decided I'll never get rid of spiders, roaches, ants, June Beetles, moths, water snakes, etc completely. Once we even had a skunk get under there - and something must have frightened it because it sprayed. My house smelled like skunk for almost THREE MONTHS!!! We did manage to finally patch up all the holes that would let anything with a head bigger than a golf ball in. Unfortunately, as the ground shifts, so to all the patches, so small holes and cracks are inevitable - hence the variety of reptilian, rodent, and insect life. I sometimes wonder if I'd find some new sort of light phobic plant life if I explored down there - but I haven't been that desperate yet!
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