How to rid cockroaches from your bathroom?

[mal129]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. For now, I have simply put a mesh cover over the drain. Thanks for the idea.

You all are right that these roaches can come from anywhere. I suppose I'll just learn to live with them

[attrayant]

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.

I came here to suggest this. Moth balls are made from naphthalene, which is an insecticide that sublimates into a heavier-than-air gas, settling to the floor. Keep them low to the floor, but not low enough to get wet from shower runoff. Caveats: Naphthalene is poisonous to pets who might be drawn to its sweet smell and taste. Not recommended in houses with small children or where anyone might be sleeping on the floor.

[jacky54]

Are there different sorts of them here? Ours seem to live outside and die pretty quick when they get in the house, looks like they dry up maybe? Nobody can like them, they are worse than rats, well not quite.

[Gonsalviz]

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:)

You keep your hens in the bathroom?

[thailand49]

This one I can answer easily for you! In spite of someone saying they can't come from the drain I can attest that they do! Based on what you posted you have removed or loosen the drain cap so the water can drain faster? When you lift off the drain cover there is normally a metal cap under it with a screw on top this cap was design exactly for this purpose of keeping them out. When you remove cap or loosen the screen you let in the light this is what attract them to come out of the drain.

I recently replaced my sink drain with one of those pop up drain fixture. Thereafter, I noticed from time to time one around the sink area then one day there were four to five. I was wondering why the sink area? and although the crack is small so small it makes you wonder how they can squeeze in but they do? Now after finishing using the sink I have to push down and close off the drain, the problem is solved as long as I keep it shut when no in use.

In regards to the shower drain. I too once loosen it didn't think too much of it because it drains so much better and faster. I started to get them thereafter had no idea what and why. I thought they were coming from the skylight and once went on vacation for two weeks when I came back there were like 200 hundred in my bathroom shower on their backs dead! I couldn't figure it out then one day sitting on the toilet I saw the drain pop up and one came jumping it. Although small they are strong enough to pop the strainer up without the metal cap attached, I reattached the metal cover back on and problem solved!

Now once in a while I put some drain cleaner inside to kill them. They are living in the drains!

[Kerryd]

In most of the standard (village) houses I've seen (even in shop-house apartments) the bathroom (shower) and kitchen pipes connect directly to the sewer system in the soi. As the outflow is (generally) gray water it's not a big deal to have it mixed with run off water as it mostly contains (water, various detergents, minor amounts of organic material). Black (toilet) water goes through a different system (fortunately otherwise this place would be a disaster after every rain storm) !

The roaches/rats live in the sewer system and as there are (normally) no screens on the outlet pipes, the critters can easily crawl up them. 10 years ago I had one of those apartments above a shop-house. Even on the top ("4th") floor you'd get the occasional roach pop out of the shower drain, but the worst was when the city would "fog" the sewers. Hundreds of roaches would scurry out of the sewers like an scene from a horror movie.

About 5 years ago (in a different house) I went away for awhile and left the (plastic) hose from the laundry machine stuffed into the drain hole in the kitchen area. Came back to find a rat had chewed through the plastic hose and had been having a merry time in the house for weeks. After that incident, whenever I went away I'd pull the laundry hose and place a tile over the drain hole, with a heavy bucket on top. Didn't matter how clean I kept the place, when I came back there'd still be 10-15 dead roaches scattered around the kitchen and bathroom. I had roach motels and glue traps scattered around to try and keep them contained to a smaller area.

In this house I had the "one-way" drain installed in the kitchen, but for the shower all I can do is place something over the drain that doesn't leave any gaps. In the last 2 months I've had only 2 roaches in the house. 1 I found in the bottom of the washer (guess he crawled up the drain hose and squeezed between the agitator and bottom of the washer). The other appears to have come in from the neighbours house through those slotted bricks at the back. (Plus one a few months further back so 3 in the last 4 months as opposed to a dozen(+) that I used t have to deal with in the same period.)

I don't think you can ever totally "insect-proof" your home but cutting them down from a "daily" or "weekly" problem to a "once every couple of months" makes it a lot easier to deal with (obviously) !

[dean008]

Avoid whacking them with a slipper it makes a mess, I get one or two now and then, and used my mosquito bat electric zapper. It sometimes take a while to get them, but the satisfaction of watching them fry makes up for it

[rgs2001uk]

Just read this, sounds like cockroaches are the least of your problems.

A meter and a half cobra in your bowl, dont know about you, but it would scare the living crap out of me.

http://hilight.kapook.com/view/116259

[siam2007]

when I am leaving my home for a couple of days or even weeks, I just put a small rubbish bin on top of the drain. quite simple, but since then I had never a roach in my home again.

usually when there is a steady water flow through the drains every day, they will not climb up the floors (I am on 8), but if there is no water flow for a longer period they do.

If the unit just below yours is not occupied, chances are that some roaches hang out at that level and sooner or later wanna explore whats above..... now if you live on the ground floor or at a town house that's another story {~_~}

Edited February 21, 2015 by siam2007

[DtemJai]

Allot of excellent real life suggestion for the OP guy, I got previously problem with –a local type of earth worms, centipedes, millipedes, coachroashe and a couple of baby sakes, in my bedroom. Gone now, used Chaindrite spray = P.S. they was living under our King size bed for years. Ughhhhh….

[NativeSon360]

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

where does one obtain a "tua ngern tua tong" ?

[NativeSon360]

Avoid whacking them with a slipper it makes a mess, I get one or two now and then, and used my mosquito bat electric zapper. It sometimes take a while to get them, but the satisfaction of watching them fry makes up for it

You get satisfaction from watching cockroaches fry to death?

Edited February 25, 2015 by NativeSon360

[NativeSon360]

Allot of excellent real life suggestion for the OP guy, I got previously problem with –a local type of earth worms, centipedes, millipedes, coachroashe and a couple of baby sakes, in my bedroom. Gone now, used Chaindrite spray = P.S. they was living under our King size bed for years. Ughhhhh….

Thanks for the usable info. Cheers

[NativeSon360]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. For now, I have simply put a mesh cover over the drain. Thanks for the idea.

You all are right that these roaches can come from anywhere. I suppose I'll just learn to live with them

They (cockroaches) were here long before people were. Those buggers have survived every cataclysmic event this planet has thrown @ them. Control them, yes can do. Get rid of them, no can do.

Edited February 25, 2015 by NativeSon360

[CapeThai]

Get your wife to stop watching so many Thai soaps on the Telly....???