A lady in Corrimal told me last summer she'd spent more on cans of surface spray over three months than I'd have charged to do the job once. And she was still seeing them on the bench every night. I hear some version of that story most weeks.
So before anything else, two things.
One: cockroaches are not a sign your house is dirty. I walk into spotless homes with cockroach problems all the time. Warm, humid Illawarra summer, a bit of moisture, one small gap to hide in. That's all they need.
Two: the reason they keep coming back isn't you. It's the spray.
The ones on the bench are the tip of it
Here's the bit that surprises people. The few cockroaches you see wandering across the bench at night? That's a tiny fraction. The rest, including all the ones doing the breeding, are tucked away in the warm little gaps you never look in. Behind the fridge. Inside the dishwasher housing. The cracks down the side of the cupboards. Behind the kickboards under the sink.
You spray the ones you can see, you kill those ones. Fair enough. But the colony behind the scenes just keeps breeding, and German cockroaches breed fast. Give it a week and you're back to square one, except now the survivors have learned to steer clear of wherever you sprayed. You've basically trained them.
What we do differently
It's not a stronger spray. It's smarter delivery.
We use gel baits, and we put them exactly where the cockroaches are living and feeding. They eat it, carry it back, and it works its way through the colony, getting to the ones you'd never reach with a can. That's the whole trick really. Treat the hidden source, not the few that happened to wander into the light.
Funny thing is you'll often see more of them for a day or two after, as the bait does its job and draws them out. Then it falls off a cliff. One proper treatment usually keeps them down for months.
Keeping them gone
Once they're knocked down, a few boring habits keep the kitchen quiet. Wipe up crumbs, don't leave dishes overnight, fix that dripping tap (cockroaches want water more than food, genuinely), keep the bin sealed, and don't leave the dog's biscuits out all night.
Do that and the gap between treatments stretches right out. But if you're stuck in the spray-and-repeat thing, the fastest way out is to stop treating what you can see and start treating what you can't. Give us a ring and we'll sort it properly.
Need a hand with this in your home? Get a free quote or call 0430 007 651.