There is no real way to stop cockroaches from coming into your home. They can flatten themselves out to get under doors and they are small enough to fit through almost any entryway your house could have. Sealing entryways off can help but nothing will prevent them from getting in if they are intent on getting in. There is a lot you can do to stop cockroaches from having access to food in your kitchen but stopping them from coming into the kitchen in the first place is very difficult. Storing all your food in glass or metal containers with tight-fitting lids will stop them from eating it and using a drain cover that is either weighted down or sealed with silicone caulking with also help stop them from coming up through the sewer. All of this will make the infestation easier to treat if you get cockroaches. Taking precautions like storing food properly and making sure to dispose of your garbage regularly, every day will help a lot. Inspecting your home for the signs of cockroaches regularly will keep you ahead of the curb and help you stop an infestation in its earliest stages. Inspecting for cockroach feces is important. Their feces look like tiny spots of black pepper and can also be smeared in places. Dead cockroaches and, of course, seeing a live cockroach is an instant tell that you have them as well as finding their egg sacks. These ootheca as they are called are smaller than a penny and look like leather purse with no straps or handle. They are often the same colour as the cockroaches you have and will clearly indicate an infestation. You can kill the egg sack with fire or acid. An acid like strong vinegar or simply putting it on a metal surface and burning it will kill the eggs inside.
If you have a cockroach infestation you can get it treated professionally by a licensed exterminator. However, you can first try a domestic treatment. For a large infestation that has been going on for more than a few months, professional treatment is what you need but if you have just discovered it and have been inspecting for it before then you may be able to treat it domestically. If you do treat it domestically and they are still there after a month it’s important to get a professional treatment done. The best way to do your treatment is by taking a three-pronged approach. This includes insecticide dust, a pesticide spray and gel bait. Use these tools correctly and you may not have to spend money on professional treatment. Insecticide dust is silicon dioxide and can be found naturally as diatomaceous earth. This is harmless to humans and mammals but deadly to insects. The material is microscopic and made up of tiny shards of crystal that can scratch the waxy coating of the cockroach’s carapace that keeps moisture inside them as well as get into their nooks and crannies and break off limbs. This is a very effective treatment and can be dusted all around the floor of the kitchen and bathroom where the wall meets the baseboard as well as in cupboards both high up and low down. Once they try to crawl through this dust it cannot be removed and will slowly kill them. The next step is to place gel bait behind the fridge, microwave and oven, and in the bathroom behind the toilet. These are areas of high activity and if you keep food away from them it will be the only food they can access. The last step is a baseboard spray of permethrin which will kill them when they touch it. This three-pronged approach is the most effective domestic treatment you can do to get rid of cockroaches yourself.