Cockroach control in Newton Park kitchens, homes and shops

The cockroaches you're seeing in Newton Park will be one of two kinds, and that decides the treatment. Small, light-brown German cockroaches live and breed indoors, usually in the kitchen, and are cleared with gel baits placed in the cracks where they hide. Large, reddish American cockroaches come in from drains and outside, and are stopped with targeted treatment of drains and entry points. We work out which you have and go after the source.

Two cockroaches, two sources

German cockroaches are about the size of a fingernail, with two dark stripes behind the head. They never really leave the building. They live behind fridges, inside the motor housings of appliances, under sinks, in the hinges of cupboard doors and inside electrical boxes. They breed fast, and a few can become hundreds within a couple of months.

American cockroaches are much bigger and can fly short distances. They live in sewers, drains, stormwater pipes and damp outdoor spots, and come inside at night through floor drains, gaps around pipes and under doors.

Food businesses along Newton Park's main roads

Newton Park has a long run of restaurants, takeaways, coffee shops and food retailers on its busy roads, and Greenacres next door adds many more. Commercial kitchens are warm, wet and full of food, which is exactly what German cockroaches need. Hot equipment such as fryers, dishwashers and warming cabinets give them shelter that's hard to reach.

For these businesses, we set up a regular cockroach service planned around your trading hours. Each visit is recorded, and we'll point out structural problems such as gaps behind wall tiles or broken seals around equipment that keep giving them somewhere to hide.

Cockroaches that arrive with the delivery

A lot of German cockroach problems in shops and offices start with cardboard. Boxes from suppliers and second-hand appliances bring egg cases in with them. If you run a shop, unpacking deliveries outside the storeroom and getting rid of the cardboard quickly makes a real difference. At home, check second-hand fridges, microwaves and kitchen units carefully before bringing them inside.

Older houses and the big cockroaches

In Newton Park's older homes, American cockroaches are the more common complaint. Old drainage, cracked gully traps, gaps where pipes pass through walls and spaces under wooden floors give them a way in from outside. They're often seen in bathrooms and kitchens at night, or in the garage. Here, a residual treatment of drains, gully traps and the outside perimeter, along with sealing gaps, usually solves it.

What our treatment involves

1. Inspection of the kitchen, bathrooms, drains, storerooms and anywhere warm and damp, to find where they're breeding.
2. Gel baits placed in cracks and crevices for German cockroaches. They eat it, return to the harbourage and pass it on to others.
3. Odourless, non-staining residual spray in drains, gully traps and entry points for American cockroaches.
4. A follow-up where needed, because German cockroach egg cases are protected and hatch after the first treatment.

You don't need to leave home or close your business for the day. Keep children and pets off sprayed surfaces until they're dry.

Why you may see more at first

For a few days after gel baiting, you may notice more cockroaches out in the open, sometimes during the day. That's the bait working: it's drawing them out of hiding. Don't spray them with an aerosol, because that contaminates the bait and makes the rest avoid it. Activity should fall away clearly after the first week or two.

What we ask you to do

• Don't leave dirty dishes or food out overnight.
• Wipe stovetops and counters before bed, including crumbs around the toaster.
• Fix dripping taps and leaks under the sink, because cockroaches need water more than food.
• Put plugs or covers on floor drains at night.
• Don't clean away the gel bait spots we've placed.

What does it cost?

A house with a few American cockroaches coming from the drain is a fairly quick job. A home or flat with an established German cockroach infestation takes more time and almost always needs a follow-up. A commercial kitchen is best handled on a regular schedule. The size of the space, how bad it is and how many rooms are affected all play a part. We'll quote once we've had a look.

For cockroaches across the city, see cockroach control in Port Elizabeth, or read our detailed cockroach guide. If ants are raiding the same kitchen, we also do ant control in Newton Park. Nearby, we treat cockroaches in Mill Park guesthouses and homes, and our Newton Park pest control overview covers other local pests.

Call 087 012 5550, or WhatsApp us a photo of the cockroach and we'll tell you which kind it is.