If you arrive at your Reebok house after a few weeks away and find cockroaches in the bathroom or kitchen, the likeliest cause is dry drains. When the water in the U-bends evaporates, there's an open pipe from the sewer or outside gulley straight into your house, and the big outdoor cockroaches simply walk in. If they're small, pale brown and in the kitchen, it's a different problem, one that has been living with you. Either way, we can clear them and stop it happening again.
Reebok's mix of homes
Reebok is a small coastal village next to Tergniet, with a mix of holiday homes and people who live here all year. Close to the sea, homes deal with humidity and salt air, and many have outdoor showers, braai areas and gardens running into coastal bush. That's all good habitat for large American cockroaches, which live outside in drains, manholes and debris and come indoors when it suits them.
Permanent residents more often call us about German cockroaches, the small ones that breed indoors around fridges, stoves, dishwashers and kettles. They usually arrive in shopping bags, cardboard boxes or second-hand appliances, not from the bush.
How to tell what you're dealing with
Large, reddish-brown and turning up near drains, the shower or the back door: American cockroaches coming in from outside. Small, light brown with two dark stripes behind the head, mostly in the kitchen, with babies about: German cockroaches breeding indoors. Our identification page has pictures if you'd like to compare.
The treatment for each is different, which is why we always confirm before we start. Occasionally a house has both, with Americans coming up the drains and Germans settled in the kitchen, and then we deal with them together in the same visit.
What we do
For American cockroaches, we inspect the drains, gulleys, manholes, outdoor shower and the base of the walls, find where they're living and getting in, and apply an odourless, non-staining residual spray as a barrier around those entry points, outside and in. Gel bait goes into the places they hide indoors.
For German cockroaches, gel bait does most of the work. We place small spots in hinges, cracks and appliance housings where they shelter, so they feed on it in their own hiding places. A light residual treatment backs it up. Established infestations usually need a follow-up visit to deal with young that hatch from egg cases after the first treatment.
Either way, you don't need to empty the cupboards, and treated areas are safe for children and pets once dry. Our cockroach treatments carry a 3-month guarantee.
Stopping them before your next visit
This is the local tip that saves many Reebok holiday homeowners a call: close off the drains before you lock up. Put plugs in basins, baths and sinks, and cover the shower drain with a plug or a weighted rubber mat. When you arrive, run every tap and flush every toilet for a minute to refill the traps before you unpack.
Other things that help:
- Leave no food, pet food or dirty dishes in the house when you go, and wipe the stove and counters.
- Keep the outdoor shower and braai area clean and draining freely.
- Check that outside gulleys have grates and manhole covers sit properly.
- Seal gaps where pipes come through the walls under the sink.
- Don't store flattened cardboard boxes in the kitchen or garage; they make ideal cockroach hiding places.
What most people get wrong
Setting off a bug bomb before leaving the house. It feels like a sensible precaution, but a fogger settles on open surfaces, doesn't reach the cracks where cockroaches hide, and does nothing about the open drain they came through. You come back to the same problem and a film of insecticide on the counters. Plugging the drains is cheaper and works better.
How much will it cost?
It depends on which cockroach you have, how far it has spread, the size of the house and whether a follow-up is needed. A few American cockroaches coming in through dry drains might not need a treatment at all once the drains are plugged, and we'll tell you if that's the case. A German infestation through the kitchen and into appliances is a bigger job, often over two visits. We quote before we start, so there are no surprises.
We're SAPCA registered and have worked along this coast for more than 25 years. For ants, fleas and other insects, see insect control in Reebok. For the broader picture, there's pest control in Reebok and our main cockroach control page. Phone 044 012 5011 and we'll find a time that works.
Questions we get asked
Can cockroaches really come up through the drains?
Yes. American cockroaches live in drains and sewers, and when the water seal in a U-bend dries out, there's nothing stopping them climbing into the house.
How soon can we use the kitchen after treatment?
As soon as the treated surfaces are dry. The gel bait sits in cracks and hinges, not on the counters, so just avoid wiping those spots away.
Are cockroaches actually harmful?
They can be. Cockroaches walk over food and surfaces after being in drains and rubbish, and their droppings and shed skins can trigger allergies and asthma.
How do cockroaches survive in a house that's been empty for weeks?
They can go a long time without food, as long as they find water. Leaking taps, condensation and drain traps keep them going, which is why moisture matters so much.
Will the treatment leave a smell in the house?
No. The residual sprays and gel baits we use are odourless and non-staining, so there's no chemical smell when you or your guests arrive.