Cockroaches

Household Cockroach Control

For EBS to exterminate cockroaches in private houses or flats, treatment details and fixed costs can usually be discussed over the telephone after talking to one of our technical Surveyors who can then arrange for one of our pest control technicians to visit and start treatment.

 If you're unsure of anything, or would prefer a face to face, no obligation chat with the Surveyor at your property, we will happily arrange to do that with you, however below is an outline of what to expect from EBS cockroach control service.

For all commercial clients, the service provided is generally as below, but geared to your site and specific needs.

We will always carry out an initial survey to commercial sites to identify the nature and extent of cockroach infestation.  

Cockroach Treatments - How We Achieve Control and Get Rid of Them

In the UK, the Oriental (or Common) cockroach and the much smaller German cockroach are the prevalent species. Other species can include include the Brown banded and American cockroaches however these are very rare in this country.

More detailed biological information is below, however generally, Common cockroaches are dark brown-black and about an inch long, German cockroaches are light brown and about half an inch long. This is how untrained persons can best identify the species.

Treatments against the Common cockroach is usually carried out using a high performance residual insecticide that once dried, leaves a film on surfaces where cockroaches are present. They ingest the chemical during cleaning which acts on the nervous system to kill them.

Common cockroaches are normally found in environments where people don’t usually inhabit (see below), therefore, sprays are usually safe to use.

We can use insecticidal spray against the German cockroach, however, because of where they tend to be found (e.g. kitchens) insecticidal gels have equal or better results and this also means less chemicals present in your property because we only put tiny dots of gel around in a very targeted manner.

Usually, more than one cockroach treatment is required to clear the infestation completely. After each visit the technician will place non-toxic insect monitors. These will trap remaining insects to further identify where cockroaches are still present on site so we can repeat the treatment accurately.

To walk into a property ’sprayers blazing’ will kill cockroaches but at the risk of having excessive amounts of chemical present.

To achieve effective control does depend a lot upon the training and experience of your pest control surveyor and technician.

Our staff are all trained to national standards with plenty of practical field experience in dealing with cockroach problems.

To continue effective cockroach control after your technicians visit, you may well be advised to carry out some maintenance work - eg, repairing cracked tiles, woodwork, floor edging, pipes etc where cockroaches may harbour and to clean up any food residues which will attract them.

The technician will leave a report after each visit detailing actions taken that visit and any such recommendations to reduce the risk of future infestation.

Cockroach Biology & Habits

The Oriental Cockroach (Blatta orientalis )  or Common cockroach is dark brown-black in colour and around 25-30mm long.

Females deposit 16 eggs in their Ootheca (egg case) which hatch after two months, with nymphs take 5-9 months to develop into adults. They can tolerate lower temperatures than other species and can be found outdoors on rubbish heaps etc as well as throughout buildings, especially basements, floor drains, sewers and kitchens.

They are nocturnal and omnivorous. These Common cockroaches are usually sourced from sewage or waste pipes.

The German Cockroach (Blatella germanica ) is 12-15mm long and brown with two dark stripes on the thorax. Females carry 35-40 eggs in their Ootheca which hatch after around one month. Nymphs take between six weeks to six months to develop into adult cockroaches depending upon temperature and the availability of food.

This species prefer higher temperatures and are frequently found in kitchens and boiler rooms. They are common on ships and like the common cockroach are nocturnal and omnivorous.

Cockroaches prefer to eat decaying organic matter, such as rotting, spilled food-stuffs from the ground, overflowing bins, dirty drains etc. but being scavengers will eat anything they can find. Sweets are attractive to the cockroach. They also will feed on starchy items like book bindings, and the back of wall paper.

Bearing the above in mind, getting rid of cockroaches in any property is aided greatly by employing high levels of hygiene throughout the work place.

Ensuring structural integrity, eg, replacing broken tiles, damaged woodwork, crack/crevices around drain edges and floor/wall junctions will help greatly with cockroach control as this reduces the availability of insect harbourage.

Cleaning practices should definately include cleaning through of waste pipes with a suitable cleaning agent to remove greasy build-ups, food waste etc, all of which are attractive to cockroaches.