Embarrassing Question About "Pests"

Certain areas tend to get more than others, especially apartments. I've never had even one in the 15 years I've lived North of the River. But when we used to live in midtown KC, it was terrible. I hired a company called Regan Pest Control. Because of the daycare kids and my pets he used this paste that gets slathered on the walls of the cabinets, up high and in corners where the kids wouldn't notice. But even if they did, the stuff would not harm them, only make them not feel well. This stuff worked very well at keeping them at bay so long as the guy came every month. If I tried stopping the service they would immediately come back. So we had them out every week for 6.5 years! That was 50 dollars per month and it started out back in the late 80's and early to mid 90's. I am so happy I don't need a pest control company and haven't in so many years.

Suzi

You may want to do a little research about roaches online. Educate yourself about them and then talk to the pest guy about what he is using. He maybe spraying often, but not the right pesticide. However, what I think you will learn is that it is incredibly difficult to get rid of roaches. I have had them. My husband studied entomology in college and always told me roaches would survive a nuclear blast. They are built to survive EVERYTHING. That was a long time ago and maybe they have more effective chemicals now. But, my opinion, I would live with seeing only 1 or 2 roaches a day then having my two year old around some pretty heavy duty chemical spraying every week.

You certainly have the right to talk to your landlord, and you are right to NOT do it when you're angry. However, you need to consider that your neighbors don't expect anything to be fixed, because in their experience, nothing gets fixed.

My daughter is the only white person in her neighborhood. She felt like she stood out for awhile. I don't think she was obviously stared at or anything. Of course, you may be being stared at because you're new to the complex, not because you're white. It didn't take long for her to fit in. One time I was there, her neighbor called me over and told me how much he liked having her around and that I should be proud of her for working so hard to make something of herself. Either you have nice people in the complex, or you don't, my guess is that you probably have some of each. You just need to decide what kind of neighbor you'll be.

Hi Carrie,

You have my simpathy. As a military spouse who has the move every two to three years usully into base housing which is townhouses and duplexes. Roaches are very hard to get rid of. I lived in a duplex and my neighbor was not the neatest person. The problem is the whole complex needs to be treated at once. If the bug guy sprays one place then they will just move next door til the coast is clear. That was my problem, things were fine but when ever my neighbor went on vacation she would fumeagate her house the the little buggers would show up at my house.

I would see if you could get out of your lease and find a new place. Barring that the only thing you can do is buy a lot of air tight containers and keep ALL your food in it. Also make sure there is no water laying anywhere, no paper bags or cardboard boxes(they like the glue)and keep your drains plugged when you are not using them. And obviously keep you kitchen spotless. If there is nothing for them at your place hopefully they will stop coming.

Why don't you get your own exterminator to spray your apartment. If that is not affordable, then definately talk to the manager. Talk to her/him about your delima and that you think the pest control guy isn't doing what he should. Unfortunately with roaches, they lay thousands of eggs and hatch quickly...they live in the walls and if the exterminator isn't spraying everywhere then they'll keep coming back. I grew up in Louisiana and we had roaches all the time. Especially where I lived, our houses where built on what used to be swamp land. It could take years to completely get rid of them. This probably wasn't as helpful as you'd hope but it is good to be informed. Good luck and God Bless.

I agree with your other responses, move and/or look into tenants rights! If you find out useful info on your rights try and educate your neighbors. It would help to get a lot of people on board to persuade the landlords easier! If you already have a relationship with your immediate neighbors they can introduce you to others and help you spread the word!

If your neighboring apartments aren't staying clean they may be attracting the pests. It's very difficult to get rid of the bugs once they're there. It sounds like you are in a low-income area where most people really don't care a whole lot about their surroundings. That being the case, they probably don't keep their apts. very clean (ie., dirty dishes in the sink, trash overflowing, etc.). This makes a perfect living environment for roaches. Once they truly infest a place they can live in the walls, floors (under carpets), everywhere! They live on our detritus. They especially love nasty food leavings, cardboard, adhesive (think wallpaper glue, etc.). I hope you are able to find other accomodations quickly. I think the bugs are probably there to stay.

Well... I don't know that I have any advice or insight to give other than a little empathy.. I've lived in my place for about a year and a half and have dealt with roaches most of that time.. Once it was SO bad, that within 30 minutes, we had 26 of them crawl out of our ceiling (the smallest of which was over an inch long).. So did everyone else in the building.. apparently their nest was disturbed, or something.. Anyway, in the time we've been here, it seems like twice a year - when the seasons change into spring and into fall - they'll beef up in numbers... So the bug guy comes every six months or so and that seems to take care of it.. Occasionally we'll still see them around - maybe 2 a month.. It's just hard when you're living in apartments, because no matter clean you are, you can't always guarantee how clean your neighbors will be... Sorry this hasn't been very helpful, but just know that you're not alone! ;) (I, too, feel like the annoying tenant.. However, when I called today to tell them I've had no hot water for the last 12 hours, I didn't think that was out of line..) Good luck!

First of all, I don't think your roach problem has anything to do with the race of your neighbors. That's just retarded.
S., if the place is infested, you do have grounds to get out of your lease, which is probably your best bet. If the place is in as bad a shape as you say (other than the race of your neighbors) you should find someplace better, but your "whiteness" doesn't make you better than anyone else.

I'm not really sure I understand the relevance of you mentioning the fact that your family is the only white family there, are you insinuating that the minority families are to blame for your roach problem?? And also the respondent "Sheryl" who is still using the terminology 'colored'; people, people, will we ever really change???
Roaches know no color, see no color; I can't help but wonder if the both of you didn't mean to taint this sight with your prejudices for the devilment of it??
Anyway, there are many all white trailer parks, motels, and apartment complexes that suffer from the same plight, it's not a "colored" problem only. Good Lord, give me a break.

If you are in Kansas, contact HCCI. It is my understanding that not taking care of pests IS a breach on the part of the landlord, and you are within your rights to break lease and move if the problem is persistent. Here is their website: http://www.hcci-ks.org/TLLservices.htm

They are a pain and sometimes the roaches are immune to the sprays or so I was told by a few bug sprayers. We lived in military housing that had them bad. We survived 10 years of marriage through military moves and never had them until our last duty station and had to deal with them for 2 years until we finally moved out of housing because I just couldn't deal with it anymore. We had a duplex and both my neighbor and I had the bug man spray at the same time hoping that would get rid of them and they sprayed every month. My other neighbor across the street started paying for her own and got rid of them so I do think that bug sprayer contractor was ripping off the military as it was just not working but the neighbor that hired her own service had results so that should say something. A year before my hubby retired from the military, I moved near my family and started working and he moved everything into an apartment off post which was not in the best area but was ok for him to live there and we visited one weekend a month. I told him if all our stuff still had roaches after that year then to get rid of it all because I wasn't going to have bugs the rest of my life and drag them along with us to infest another house. Well after 3 months of living in the apartment all the bugs were gone. The apt complex sprayed every 3 months and after that first time they were gone so we didn't have to get rid of everything and start over. So many people in the south tell you that it is just life living with the bugs so I just had to deal with them. Well after that experience, if I had it to do over again, I would have moved out of that housing a lot sooner and probably would have enjoyed living there more but as it was, I hated it with the bugs and tons of spiders and always trying to keep my house clean because the live roaches would eat the dead ones if they couldn't find crumbs to eat so they will survive unless you can keep cleaning out all the cabinets and everything to make sure there are no dead ones which was very hard to keep up with along with 3 little kids. If you can afford to hire your own bug man, try that and see if that works. The problem is that they will come through the walls from other apartments so it may not help. You can buy sprays at the store and spray your window sills, door ways, baseboards and any other places they could come through and do your own every week. Spray right before you leave when you know you will be gone a few hours.

Hey Carrie; I have been in U'r situation I lived in a 3 bed. rm. house with trashy neighbors on 3 sides of me & the other side was a open field & when one family would move they would walk over to my house so on & so on I was fighting a losing battle, I would notice bugs bad especially when winter hit cause I would turn my heating stove on & they came from every crack & crevise the house had any way I was having my house sparyed every 2 mo.s at first & it smelt really bad then in a 8-9 mos. span it seem like u could'nt smell the spray very well I think the bug guy was deluting the spary so I have found a liquid jell made by "combat" that comes in like a large serienge , u can place it any where out of site, u can place it to where U'r young'n does'nt come into cantact with it & within 3-4 weeks I saw a dramatic difference in bug siteings. I will say within 6 mo.s I may have seen 1 or 2 bugs especially after someone would move eventualy I had no more. I swear by this product it is'nt that expensive. I will not buy any thing else if I happen to run into that problem again. Good luck

Good Morning Carrie, I am so sorry for the fire experience you three had to go through. Hubby's cousin went through it in Sept.

What I know about roaches is gross. If they are in the neighboring apartments they will make their way to yours also. Even if you get yours under control they do and will return, from Theirs. Been there with our youngest son's apartment they lived in. They even made it into our Home. Ewwwwwwwwww
Took me forever to get rid of them. I finally put those roach motels Every where. Sprayed inside and outside our home. When the grand kids came for an over night, I shock out their backpacks OUTSIDE cause those nasty critters hid every where.

What would the cost be to break your lease? Lose the deposit?

Calling the health department May help, since you mentioned your neighbors problem etc.. If I felt uncomfortable living there no matter the cost (easier to say when we weren't all going through this down flux) and for the health of my children I would Move. Asher would get roach Bites, Believe it or not they do bite. They Multiply Quicker then Rabbits.
They moved to a rental duplex and brought the dang things with um. Next time they moved they threw out just about everything. Roach's will get into your VCR DVD players, anything that has heat attached. Under Frig, under stoves dishwashers. They Gross me OUT. When I would go to babysit I took my own roach spray.. No Joke.

I would Move Carrie,

God Bless and Hopefully some one has less expensive advice
K. Nana of 5

Carrie,

Here is the link for the Kansas Tenants Rights, they actually have a book you can get which goes into all the detail and they have phone numbers you can call to get help! http://www.hud.gov/local/ks/renting/tenantrights.cfm

I too would recommend the roach motels as they worked when we were dealing with them, but again as others have said if it's an apartment complex they will never be entirely gone unless they do the entire place at one time! Start looking for a place to live and get the city health inspectors involved, they may be able to help you out.

One thing most people don't know is that the landlord cannot keep your deposit without a very good reason, and if there is a problem you can generally break the lease without worrying about it costing you! As a tenant you do have the right to a healthy living environment without problems, so don't be afraid to speak up!

If you have to move everything immediately to a new house, have it bombed immediately. And get rid of as much stuff as you don't need to take! Just be prepared to take action so as to not let them in to your new place. Don't pack boxes and leave them in the apartment, pack and take them out immediately! If the appliances are yours and the furniture, clean it out before you take it to your new home if possible! I know it is a problem, but you definitely don't want to take them with you!! We did what someone else suggested and put everything in storage for a bit and bombed it, then unpacked one box at a time and eliminated them that way!

Hope things work out for you!
L.

We had a roach problem last year, and live in a mobile home. I finally called a exterminator at tax time last year, and he came out and sprayed. We had to remove all of our food from the cabinets, and everthing from all the cabinets in all the bathrooms. He sprayed everwhere and then we did the same thing a month later. He also gave us a special roach bait to use if we did see any. There was a significant drop off within a week, and as time went on, things only got better. He did not want to be at our house more than twice-so he did a great job-and gave a six month guarentee. If you are not having to remove all of your food so he can spray everywhere, (our two girls also had to be gone for 6 hours) and if the whole complex is not being sprayed at the same time, then your problem is not going to be solved.

Hi Carrie, my husband and I have lived in several diffent states in the past few years, due to his job. Often the places we live are not up to our "regular" standards, but I can make due when necessary. I did find that many of the places we stayed (mostly in the south) had a bug problem. If it truly is roaches you are dealing with, Wal-Mart has a product, COMBAT. It is like a caulking gun that you put a line of the product in a windo sill or on the back of the kitchen counter. It kind of works like a buffet line for the bugs. They come and feast at it, then take it back to the nest and within a week or so, the bugs are gone. You may have to put it out several times, if the whole building is infested. Water bugs are a different story, and much harder to deal with. Any borax product should help. Just remember to disenfect your boxes and suitcases that you move back to your permanent home with. You DON"T want to get them started at home!!! Good luck, and remember you can't always count on others to help you with this problem, you have to take care of it yourself. May God be with you in your time of need. D.

you need to try and get out of your lease. I lived in a house that had roaches and they could not get rid of them. It is unhealthy and especially if you have a child. Cover your plates and bowls and cup unless you want to wash them before you use them. Just think the roaches will crawl all over them. Good luck

I don't know much about roaches except it is really hard to get rid of them. With everyone in the complex having them it would really be hard just for you yourself to get rid of them. When ever you do move you will have to do cleaning, shaking and maybe even spraying your clothes because you can take them with you either in adult form or more likely in egg form. I would suggest looking online for gels or other methods. Yes the guy could be ripping them/you off but that would be hard to prove.

Apt complexes are responsible for being sure there are no bugs. First spraying more than once a month is a total waste. I would say that if they are using the same bug man and he is spraying the same spray for last few years the bugs have become immuned to it. You also need to be sure that all apts around you are also being sprayed. You probably keep your place cleaned but do the tenants on all sides of you keep a neat apt. If even one person has crumbs etc paying around it will creat bug problem and even spraying won't help. Talk to the manager. Yes this would be a way out of your lease if they can not fix the problem.

I am right there with you on the "make me sick" issue for the roaches. I had that problem in an apartment I had in college. It was bad. I don't know what my neighbors had going on as far as roaches, but me and my roommate had them all over the kitchen and in the bathroom, it was disgusting. To get out of the problem, after the lease was up I moved. I will be watching to see what the responses are for you, because occasionally I see them in our house now. College brings back such bad memories that I can't stand the sight of them! Hang in there!

Hello Carrie, I've had my share of pests, but the worst of them all were brown recluse spiders. Our bug guy recommended getting our house sprayed every month for six months then going to every other month. Your bug guy isn't doing you all any favors by spot-spraying. Your whole complex needs to be sprayed at the same time for it to work. Otherwise, the roaches are playing musical apartments.

If at all possible, my advice for you would be to move. Just make sure wherever you go, have your next place treated for these nasty things because you will take them with you. I wish there were a better solution for you, but unfortunately, there isn't.

You may want to call the Health Dept. I'm thinking because there is a child involved, they will want to be contacted about this. But I'd still move. The people who already live there, to me, don't seem to care. The problem will probably not change unless something drastic happens.

Our spider problem is now under control. When we first moved here, I saw 2-3 spiders almost everyday. Since we've had our bug guy, I haven't seen a spider in about 2-3 months... and it was only one. Before that, I hadn't seen one in about 4-5 months. We've lived here for a year-and-a-half. I've found out they are extremely difficult to get rid of, and we're winning!! So I'm hopeful.

I don't think you're going to be completely bug-free unless you move. Good luck and keep us all updated!!

On your side, ls

You can't get rid of roaches with spray. The first apartment my husband and I lived in had roaches and the complex claimed they had pest control spray routinely. They failed to mention that the people above us had changed their locks so pest control was unable to get in. Come to find out the people above us were aboslute slobs and they were the source of the issue. We tried to claim breach of contract for unhealthy living environment but that didn't work so we demanded they move us to a completely different building. Luckily, we didn't have any roaches follow us. A little advice...get rid of all cardboard boxes. They eat glue and if they get in your boxes they will follow you every where. We put everything in plastic storage tubs and taped them shut. Have you noticed that you probably have no other bugs besides the roaches? No spiders, ants, silverfish? Roaches pretty much take over and are impossible to get rid of with spray or bug bombs or bait traps, especially in apartment complexes. I would try to move as soon as possible. Good luck!

Hello,when your husband and you looked at the place if you noticed the holes in the screen doors and that majority of the neighborhood was of a different race.Then being uncomfortable is your own fault, but as far as the bugs maybe you can try purchasing your own bug spray and spraying yourself. Also you still might want to call the leasing building and advise them about the situation with you neighbors.If that doesn't work I would check into your lease. If they won't fix it I would think that would be a breach of contract.hopefully spraying youself will fix your problem. :)

I had the same roach problem when I moved into an apt. years ago. I had contacted management and they told me the same thing you were told. The spray didn't cut it. If it did, then the bugs would go from apt. to apt. to find a new home.
My mom gave me good advice...she said anywhere you have seen roaches or any where you think they're getting in, sprinkle a little Borax (the powdered laundry enhancer...really inexpensive) in that area. She said it worked when her dogs had fleas and brought them in the house, she sprinkled some on their bedding.
Anyway, I went along the window ledges, door frames, behind the fridge, in cabinets...everywhere. I had a friend comment that it looked like I was practicing voodoo. I didn't care because it WORKED!
I don't know how safe it is for your little guy, but I imagine it's a lot safer than Raid!
Hope this helps...good luck!
lb

You really need to talk to the complex manager and let her know that you have been having a lot of problem with these pests and the big guy is not doing his job. But then again if it was me I don't even think I would even bother the complex manager as I don't believe she would do anything anyway and just call Land Lord and Tenant hotline and tell them how bad it is there and I don't know the proceedure but if they come out and see this they will give the complex manager so many days to get this problem taken care of or go to court and pay a fine each time until this problem is resolved. I believe the big guy is just spraying sugar water and not caring what happens. Keep every single one of your table wear in ziplock bags after washing and before washing dishes wash the dish drainer with comet or bleach and make sure you wash your dishes and pot and pans before using them. Get some Combat Gold traps and the gel to help with your side. These things carry diseases and they do bite as well. All of your neighbors that have these pests need to make the call as well to the Land Lord Tenant Hotline as well. This is not good for you baby. I don't know it the health department can do anything but you really need to make that phone call ASAP.

Carrie...If I were you I would start looking for another place to live...it sounds to me like a problem that just isnt going to go away. I think that most apartment complexes are fighting an uphill battle with "pests" because all it takes is ONE neighbor that doesnt care...and the pests have a place to scuttle to when the spraying is done. I can't speak to whether the living conditions violates your lease or not, you would probably need to contact a lawyer to find that out. I would start keeping track of every contact that you have with your landlord, take pictures of the roaches...and any other problem that you are having there. Document and make a paper trail...if you are going to try and break a lease I would say that is going to be invaluable.
Good luck!!!
R. Ann

Carrie, a year is a LONG time to live with this! I would try every angle to get out of there! My husband and I owned the house next door to us where we used to live and he rented it out to some not so great people, I have to say that was the most miserable year of my life, I guess it made it worse that we owned the house and these people were destroying it. Its not good to live by people you feel uncomfortable with. What are you going to do when the weather gets nice and your little one wants to go out in play?

The only thing I can say about the bugs is that we just built a new house and the bugs are crazy!! I think we took the land they used to live on and now they are mad at us! I kept seeing things that I thought were roaches but they fly so I was like phew its not roaches, come to find out there IS flying roaches!!!! How disgusting, my worst nightmare! Its only in the summer time thank goodness! We will be spraying our house this year, I cannot live with that again. They never found a way in, they stayed in the garage. But my house is very clean, we only have trash outside or a day. So I cant explain it. So it doesnt totally mean the place is dirty and infested. We also rented a beach house last year in Florida, it was emaculate, and I happened to see a roach trap in the pantry and wondered hmmm why is that there, well when night fell I found out! The roaches come out! Ugh so gross. But I would just talk to the manager when your calm about it (if you ever are) and get to the bottom of it. If they cant do anything about it, they should let you leave, maybe if you complain enough they will get sick of you and let you go? lol! Anyways Sorry you are going through that, its not fun, good luck!

I can share my understanding with you, based on the experiences of family members that had to move into an apartment at one point as well. They sprayed their apartment before the moved in and they found dead roaches. Within a few weeks they were back. Apparently the spray kills those that are there, but if the can run away they will. They run to a safer apartment, after a few days to a week or so it safe for them to return, just in time for them to run from another apartment.

I am not sure that there is an answer when you live in an apartment setting like this. If there are roaches there, getting rid of them can be very difficult.

I want to add one thing. Be careful. We went to Florida one time and I had never seen anything like the roaches they have there. We stayed in a Condo. Arriving at the end of the vacation season in the fall, they doing the fall maintenance on the building. They told us they were spraying the building for pests, beginning with the level above us. Well the pests ran to our level and I freaked, they were big enough to run away with you. Apparently they are the norm for that area at that time of year. They then came in and sprayed our unit. We were gone for the day, and when we came back we could not smell the pesticide. I was young and had no idea how strong they really could be.

The next morning my son woke up with hives. With in a few days he was running a fever and throwing up. The day we flew home, he seemed better but he was so lathargic. After we got back home I put him to bed in his own bed, the hives were gone, the fever was gone, and he seemed to just need some rest. I thought he had the flue, and the hives had come from something he had eaten. The next morning when he woke up one whole side of his face swollen and deep red. His eye was swollen shut and his ear was huge. I called the doctor and she told me to get him in to see her immediately.

He was having an allergic reaction, and she told me we were lucky, apparently the whole time he had been having a reaction and I was too young and stupid to see it for what it was. Although there is no way to know for sure what caused it, after going through the events of our trip, she told us that it was probably from having our place sprayed.

She said that if he was sensitive to something that is normal for that environment that we should not take him back there until he is much older and his body is more mature. He is now 22 and he has never been back. We talked about it a few times, but just could not take that chance. He was just a little guy, but who knows. Any way, watch for any signs that he may be reacting. I hope I did not scare you, but I felt like you should at least be aware of what could happen.