How to rid cockroaches from your bathroom?

[mal129]

Once or twice a month I discover a cockroach living in my bathroom (the ones that are that are about the size of a thumb). It seems they are coming out of my shower drain as I just now unknowingly stepped on one during my shower. As I opened my drain cover, another one popped out.

Can anyone recommend a solution?

Thanks so much.

[Rooo]

Moved to housing forum.

[FritsSikkink]

You can buy spray, to kill them.

[wprime]

You need something called a tua ngern tua tong, or hia. Put one of these in your home and the cockroaches will disappear.

[bealus]

Sprinkle them with concentrated toilet bleach does the trick for me. Results to be seen after approximately 10-20 minutes.

[rgs2001uk]

You need something called a tua ngern tua tong, or hia. Put one of these in your home and the cockroaches will disappear.

LOL, nice one, put one in my home and I will disappear.

Nice to see you using the polite name as well.

[Aussieroaming]

Try borax powder..they hate it

[Xircal]

How about one of these? http://pantip.com/topic/31594635

[IMHO]

There are many drain lid designs that simply won't give them a way up and out.

[ronthai]

This is Thailand, just learn to live with it.

Got the same problem for my place and got a big killing squatter ready for any intruders.

[Kerryd]

The problem with spraying or sprinkling anything down the drain is that it only lasts until the next shower.

Cockroaches are amazing for their ability to crawl through the smallest of holes. I was on the crapper one day and watched as a large one crawled up through a tiny opening in metal cover over the shower drain. I couldn't believe how big it was and how it had made it through that tiny opening. Fortunately I had a bottle of that nasty drain cleaner stuff nearby but my movement (not of the bowel kind) apparently scared it and it literally dove back down through the screen and out of sight before I could get the lid off the bottle !

I've sprinkled various pesticide powders and sprayed various bug sprays down that hole (more to try and control the flies and mosquitoes that seem to come up from there) but a day later they are back. I think one of those one-way drain valves may help, at least with the bigger insects (if you can get it installed without having to tear up the bathroom floor). I installed one in the kitchen drain at the back of the house and it has cut down on the number of roaches I find. Now I find that odd one (once every 4-5 months maybe) when I have the drain hose from the washer shoved into the drain hole (it leaves a wee, tiny little gap you could barely slip a knife blade into but that's enough room for them it seems).

I may try getting some fine metallic mesh and wrap the drain cover in that. It may help keep the critters in the sewer, but will plug up quicker as well. Personally I'd rather clean the screen every couple of days than deal with the flies and other nasties that can come up through the drain now.

[ggt]

In addition to your drain...they may be coming in a bathroom window that is left open over night...without a screen to keep out pests...

[Luxfare]

A tub of my wife's facial moisturizer is covering my shower drain now....never seen once since...not sure whether it blocks the hole or whether the moisturizer is laced with uranium, either way it's done the job.

[jacko45k]

Make bug spraying a regular routine.

I have guys who come round once a month and spray everywhere.

By the way, the shower drain should really have a water trap in it, which should keep out smells and deter bugs.

I pour a bit of Dettol in mine weekly.

[Ragzilb]

i use the trap as well. I bought a plastic disc shaped dish to feed my hens in. The roaches come at night to feast on the crumbs, but cannot get out. In the morning, the hens are greated with hundreds (depending on the time of year) of treats.

I have been warned by well meaning friends that with this large concentration of roaches in their diet, they will suffer wilh parasite issues. After 3 years, so far, so good:)

[hkt83100]

I am using Haiter Bleach to keep the smell and bugs from coming out of the drain. Works quite well.

[Djaotchou]

You need something called a tua ngern tua tong, or hia. Put one of these in your home and the cockroaches will disappear.

I tried, my cat disappeared, but the cockroaches are still here.

[Guest]

(1) You need to be smarter than a cockroach.

Meaning - If you beleive they are coming up through the drain ... unless you live in your shower ... any tight cover will do.

And yes, many on the forum have suggested proven chemicals to pour in there...Which would be doing it's job pretty much most of the day.

Have a good one.

[alfalfa19]

The drain is irrelevant. Cockroaches come from anywhere, and as somebody else mentioned, they can squeeze through the tiniest of holes. I used to have terrible problems with them, even moved because of them. I had many battles with them using sprays, poisons, and even the fogger bombs, where you must leave your house for the day. The last one is very impressive, killing hundreds of them in one attack. However, these methods are all impotent, because many of them scramble back into the recesses of ceiling, walls, and floors at the first sign of any attack. They come out later when the poison dissipates. However, I have found one method that keeps them at bay for months. After 2 or 3 months, at the first one I see, I just refresh the baits, and they are gone again. Here is my method, it's cheap and simple:

Make a paste of equal parts of these 3 ingredients:

sugar

flour

boric acid

add a bit of water to make a thick paste.

spread a bit of the paste onto many little squares of paper or plastic wrap

put the papers anyplace you have seen cockroaches. good places are under toasters and microwaves, and back in the corner of shelves in the kitchen.

the sugar and flour attract the roaches, they eat bits of the paste, and go back to the roach den. they soon die from the boric acid poison, then they are consumed by their colleagues in the den, and then they too are poisoned. soon, you will not see any roaches.

[elgenon]

Just use the Roach Motel. The roaches are attracted by the smell and get stuck. They check in but do not check out is the slogan. No poison.

[PLW]

Aproper size drain grate cover may help. The main problem is your shower drain is not properly trapped. The cheap one they use in Thailand (in the cover) either falls apart or is taken apart to facilitate drainage. To properly repair the job would be to break out floor around drain and install a p trap and patch hole. If bathroom is upstairs go through ceiling to install new ptrap. The cockroaches are coming in through yor septic tank so; poison you septic tank through through your shower drain using bleach or insectecide. Problem is due to improper plumbing.

[Daniel Ingalls]

So why are they coming out of the drain, and of all places the bathroom? Could it be 1. you leave your

underwear with skid marks in the bathroom until the next wash load? 2. The Royal thrown isn't cleaned frequently?

Or are those little pests are of the homing pigeon type? In any event, take care of the items listed above routinely and they will not bother you. Personally I kind of like the little things scamping about. My Cat (you should get one) loves chasing after them, and manages to catch one or two now and then. You will never get rid of them for they have taken over Thailand

more than a thousand years ago when the first Chinese came with their Chop Suzy!!

[dotpoom]

How about one of these? http://pantip.com/topic/31594635

Nawwwwwww....we use them to light up our "dog ends" back home.,,,,5555

[saab]

Bay leaves

[gigman]

Try to move to another bathroom.

I've tried to find out for 6 month where they are coming from...and I've spent a lot of bht's for poisons without success .

I killed them step by step...."mothers, fathers , kids" and for 4 weeks it was ok but I had to go to Europe for a month and after my arrival back in Bkk mothers and fathers just started visiting me again....

Probably easier to learn to like them...in time maybe they find my bad character and they spread the news and leave... who knows.

Regards to all fighters

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Buy moth balls and place a bag (unopened) at the shower drain and bathroom window. The smell keeps the roaches and gecko's at bay. Normaly they don't come through the drain but through the window. The one you found under the drain cover was hiding in the darkness (which they like to do). Roaches can't swim and thus will find it difficult to enter through the drain system.

[rgs2001uk]

You need something called a tua ngern tua tong, or hia. Put one of these in your home and the cockroaches will disappear.

I tried, my cat disappeared, but the cockroaches are still here.

Brilliant post, thanks for the laugh.

[KhnomKhnom]

just close the drain when not needed. Get your Thai wife to do the rest of the exterminating job. If you have no Thai wife, get one !

[nithisa78]

In the U.S. they have little traps that they can walk through. Then go back to their nest and eliminate the family. There is also this stuff it is like tooth paste. You put little here and there. It lasts very long and if you see one of those creatures, they're usually on their backs and just need to be tossed.

Though the flame thrower idea and the lizard idea, opt for the lizzard. The flame thrower isn't at all energy efficient and can't tell the difference between your roach and the rest of the world. Good luck mate.

[Moonlover]

There is no secret to keeping your home free of cockroaches (and ants). It's called 'domestic hygiene'. This insects will invade your home if you give them feeding opportunities, so the solution to that is don't! Keep your home clean and keep all food in sealed containers and/or in the fridge.

You will never eliminate them completely. There will always be the occasional exploratory visitor, this is how they operate. These insects lay chemical scent trails and can quickly attract their mates to a food source. If there's no food on offer, they will not come in their droves.

OP, if you're only getting 1 or 2 'roaches a month, you needn't be worried. You're on top of it. Just whack 'em with a flip flop or spray 'em with insecticide if you're squeamish! You're doing just fine.