Should You Hire a Cockroach Exterminator? Is It Worth It?

Cockroaches are one of the most common indoor pests. Living with cockroaches can be a nightmare, as they can rapidly multiply and infest every possible space they can fit into. These creatures are infamous for posing various health risks, like spreading Salmonella and Escherichia coli, which are common causes of food poisoning and diarrhea. Cockroaches cast skins and excrement also contain allergens that can trigger skin rashes, sneezing, watery eyes, nasal congestion, and asthma attacks.  

Roaches can eat virtually any plant or animal material, including fabric, paper, leather, grease, and starch. These sturdy pests can also readily adapt to different extermination strategies. As a homeowner, you can get quite frustrated after failing several DIY cockroach removal attempts. Here are a few factors to help you decide if you need the help of a professional cockroach exterminator to handle your cockroach infestations.

Cockroach Warning Signs

Encountering a cockroach on your kitchen counter is often the first tell-tale sign of a cockroach problem. With many other pests lurking in cracks and crevices, you need to be on the lookout for other cockroach warning signs like:

Roach Feces

Roaches tend to leave behind droppings in places they occupy, like small crevices, pantry shelves, dark corners, and beneath shelves. Small cockroaches produce peppercorn-sized or ground coffee-like feces, while the larger variety excretes cylindrical droppings. In fact, different cockroach species may produce slightly varied droppings. The more roach droppings you find, the greater the infestation you may be facing. You can also find exoskeleton casts and egg casings around the feces.

Roach Odors

Cockroaches tend to produce pheromones that have a musty or pungent odor, which helps them communicate. A single roach may not be enough to produce a noticeable scent. During a serious roach infestation, though, a sufficient number of these pests can produce a uniquely unpleasant odor which is a sign you need to take pest control measures. When a sufficient number of dead roaches start decaying, they can produce oleic acid, which emits a lingering foul smell.  

Chewed Packages and Disappearing Food

Cockroaches need a constant supply of food to survive and multiply. Leaving spilled food like bread crumbs, snacks, flour, and uncovered food sources open encourages these pests to thrive in your home. They can also survive on small water puddles or drips, so a competent roach exterminator would tell you to look for stagnant water sources they can drink from.

Roaches have naturally destructive features that enable them to chew holes through food packages and wallpaper. The presence of small holes in packages and worn-out fabric are possible signs that you need a pest control professional.

Odd Noises

Cockroaches are relatively silent creatures that may produce hissing and chirping noises during courtship or mating. These barely audible sounds only become noticeable when there is a significant roach invasion in your home. A sufficient number of these nocturnal creatures may also produce a detectable sound with their feet when scurrying along in a hard-tiled kitchen or bathroom. This is a clear sign that you need to engage in serious pest control.

Location of Infestation

When assessing the urgency of hiring a good cockroach exterminator, you may need to identify possible roach infestation sites in your home. The idea that seeing one cockroach means that several others are hiding elsewhere can be quite disturbing. Even after exterminating the one, the chances of another creeping up on you are often high. An experienced roach exterminator can tell you exactly how to get rid of cockroaches. If you’re trying to DIY it then here are a few common cockroach hiding spaces you can consider exploring: 

Electronic Devices and Kitchen Appliances

Food particles can get into a keyboard, where cockroaches can easily slip through to consume them. The moisture, warmth, and food crumbs present in kitchen appliances also create ideal nesting grounds for cockroaches. You can inspect under your stove and behind your fridge and dishwasher to assess the level of infestation.

Good cockroach control methods include regularly cleaning and pulling at these appliances which may help disrupt this perfect roach habitat. You’ll also have to sweep away any food residue and repair any water leaks to reduce the pest’s nourishment.  

Drawers and Cabinets

Under-sink kitchen cabinets or drawers are often warm, humid, secluded, and dark. These cabinets provide the perfect breeding conditions for cockroaches. The roaches can devour not only the stored food items but also cooking ingredients and toiletries.

Properly cleaning your kitchen cabinets and repairing pipe leakages will make the space less attractive to roaches. You should also organize your toiletries and store cooking ingredients and food substances in airtight containers.

Furniture

The nooks located underneath pieces of furniture can provide roaches with warm and dark nesting spots. The pieces of food and snacks that slip through cushions and furniture fabrics provide a sustainable food supply. Regular vacuuming is a great cockroach control method because it helps keep out food crumbs, which helps limit the roaches’ food variety.

Trash Bins and Compost Bins

Litter bins and compost heaps often provide cockroaches with abundant food and water sources. Maintaining a tight lead over trash cans and regularly emptying compost bins helps limit the roaches’ access to food. You can take the further step of cleaning up these waste disposal containers to wash away any lingering food debris.

Severity of Infestation

Cockroaches can crawl through cracks, hitch rides on backpacks, and find openings around windows and doors to enter your home. Once they find a perfect nesting site, they can feed and begin to replicate rapidly. A single female German cockroach, one of the most common species, can produce one capsule containing 30 to 48 eggs every six weeks.  

The female cockroach can live for 20 to 30 weeks and can have more than 10,000 descendants in one year. Trying to count every cockroach you see is a hard task. You won’t even get the exact number from multiplying your counts. You may need the help of an expert exterminator to determine the severity of the infestation. Professional cockroach exterminators can categorize the invasion from light to heavy.

Cost of a Cockroach Exterminator

The average cost of cockroach infestation removal may vary depending on the extent of the infestation, the treatment type, and the size of your home. The longer you wait the more you will pay to eliminate your infestation. You may pay between $100 and $400 for typical cockroach extermination from a pest control expert. Severe cockroach infestations that need extra time and extensive solutions to kill roaches may raise the cost to as much as $6,000. 

Cockroach Removal With Budget Brothers

If you find signs pointing to a cockroach infestation during an initial assessment, consider calling Budget Brothers. We’re passionate about ridding your home of these pesky creatures and have the appropriate tools and personnel for cockroach extermination. Based on your budget, home, and level of infestation, our experts can put together an extermination plan that works for you. Contact us today for professional roach extermination services.