Why German Cockroaches Do So Well on a Parade
A German cockroach is about a centimetre and a half long with two dark stripes behind the head, and it has no season. It breeds all year while the temperature stays up, water is within reach and there is food a short run from a hiding place. A High Street building supplies all three whatever the state of any one kitchen in it: warmth that never fully drops away, condensation in a small room, and food handled somewhere in the building most hours of the day.
Where They Sit During the Day
Daylight is spent squeezed into narrow gaps beside something warm: the motor housing at the back of a fridge, the underside of a worktop, the dark void behind the kickboards, the casing of a microwave or a dishwasher. Ten minutes with a torch after midnight tells you more than a week of daylight looking. Where cockroaches hide in kitchens lists the places in order, and why they appear at night explains the timing.
Sideways Along the Parade as Well as Upwards
It is easy to assume the only direction is up from the unit below. A run of shops built as one terrace also shares party walls, a continuous roof void and boxed-in service and extraction runs passing from one address to the next. Cockroaches follow warm pipework and cable holes horizontally without ever going outdoors, so the flat two doors along can have them while the one directly overhead does not. The guide on cockroaches spreading between flats describes the same movement in a block.
Treating the Flat and the Premises at Around the Same Time
Where cockroaches are in a business and the homes around it, timing matters more than almost anything. Dealing with one address while the one beside it waits a fortnight leaves the survivors somewhere to sit out the work and a way back afterwards. When you book, say which other units you know about, and ask the landlord or managing agent whether the flats and the premises can be arranged close together.
If you cannot get an answer from downstairs, book your own kitchen anyway; delay gives the problem several more generations to work with. Cockroaches also arrive in ways that have nothing to do with the building, and how cockroaches get into properties covers those: deliveries, cardboard, and second-hand fridges and cookers carried up the stairs.
What to Do Before We Come
- Go in after dark, switch the light on and note where they run to, because that is where they live
- Empty the cupboards under the sink and beside the cooker so the backs can be reached
- Keep rice, flour and pet food in sealed boxes and clear the worktops every night
- Wipe the sink dry and mend a dripping tap: a damp cupboard draws them as strongly as crumbs
- Leave sprays and foggers on the shelf: they scatter cockroaches deeper into the building and next door
If you are unsure what you are looking at, the signs guide covers droppings and egg cases. A slow, very dark insect near a ground-floor drain or in a damp back storeroom is more likely the Oriental species, and this comparison tells them apart.
Booking and What Happens Afterwards
Tell us the kind of address — a flat over a shop, a back flat behind a parade, a house or trade premises — which floor you are on, where you see them and whether neighbours have them too. We will explain what to do beforehand and what to avoid afterwards. Cockroaches showing up for a while as eggs hatch is not by itself a sign something has gone wrong, and this guide explains why. How long it takes depends on the building and how far they had got; if you are still seeing them after the time we give you, come back to us.
Shops, Takeaways and Restaurants on the High Street
Food businesses are quoted per site rather than at the flat or house price, because the kitchen, the storage and the trading hours differ in every unit. Anyone running a food business has a legal duty to keep pests out of the areas where food is prepared and stored, so a sighting needs acting on at once. Call us to talk the premises through, and mention the flats above. Bins and yards bring rodents in as well, so rat control in Harlesden and mouse control in Harlesden deal with the scratching in the ceiling.
Keeping Them From Coming Back
Once they are dealt with, fill the gaps around the pipes under the sink and behind the boiler, and ask about the holes where services cross walls and floors, which belong to the building owner. Keep waste in a bin with a lid rather than a bag on a landing, and check a second-hand appliance outside before it comes into the kitchen. There is more in how to prevent cockroaches returning, the borough page is Cockroach Control Brent, and the Brent cockroach advice goes further into the first steps. Premises in neighbouring Park Royal are quoted the same way.
