Why DIY Pest Control Makes German Roach Infestations Worse

 

Michael Wienecke: What’s the worst German roach service you’ve ever had?

Travis McGowin: Ooh, I’ll be honest with you. I have one that still stands out in my mind that I went to in Montgomery several years ago. Uh, it was a residential property in, um, the northern part of Montgomery, and it was—it was bad. So, when they called about the infestation, on the phone, the lady advised me that, you know, it was mainly in one room. They’d been seeing them in the living room, um, and maybe a little in the kitchen.

I walked into the house, and she looked at me, I looked at her, and I looked around the room, and I said, “This is, uh—this is a little bit more than just the living room and the kitchen, isn’t it?” And she said, “Yes, sir, it’s the whole house.” And I said, “Yeah, that’s kind of what I was thinking.” When I—when I tell you that there were German roaches in every single room, pretty much every single corner, any appliance, uh, piece of electronics, any piece of furniture, it—it was—it was the most, to date, since I’ve been doing this, it was the most significant one that I have ever walked into.

Michael Wienecke: Were they trying to cure the problem themselves?

Travis McGowin: You know, I—I don’t know 100%. I don’t remember seeing anything that gave me that indication, um, that they were trying to remedy it themselves. But, you know, that—that’s the problem, right? Is that when people get in too deep with some of these pest problems, you know, and specifically German cockroaches, and they try to remedy it themselves, a lot of times they exacerbate the problem and make it worse, and they move it from not only just being in one room to being in multiple rooms, to being in the whole house because they’re using the wrong products and the wrong methods.

Michael Wienecke: 100%. So, um, I—I think that that would be the number one way that we get called out is that, would you say 90 days after trying to treat it themselves, it becomes an explosion that started probably in the kitchen or maybe in the bathroom, and now they’re seeing them in their bedroom, or they’re seeing them in, uh, you know, closets, things where they wouldn’t see them? And, uh, let’s explain why—why that’s happening.

Travis McGowin: Well, I’ll—I’ll give you an example. Another, um, German roach infestation I went to that was actually in a mobile home. Uh, when I got there, I believe they told me I was, um—or I was with the third company that they had called. And, uh—

Michael Wienecke: Wow.

Travis McGowin: Yeah, absolutely. So, they were pretty desperate to get rid of them. I remember asking them—and I—and I typically ask most people this question, um, “All right, so after the other companies treated, did they ever come back?” And, of course, no, they did not, because, uh, I guess they thought that, um, this treatment for this customer was one and done, which it wasn’t.

Michael Wienecke: Travis, it’s called a clean-out, okay? It’s—it’s a $199, and you’re good to go for the—for the next—

Travis McGowin: Oh yeah, you’ll never have roaches again. Right, okay.

Michael Wienecke: That’s—that’s right. Hey, they label it all day long. I’ve seen—I’ve seen the, uh—what are those things called? The yard signs. I’ve seen them.

Travis McGowin: Well, we’ll go into in a minute why that’s not actually typically possible for German roaches. But, uh, but then I followed up with the question, “After they sprayed, was the problem any better, or did it get worse?” And the answer is most always, “It got worse.” And, uh, followed up by the third question, which is, “All right, so they started—you said they started in the kitchen. But after they sprayed, were they still just in the kitchen?” And that’s when the homeowner, of course, advised me that, no, they had moved, and that they had been in other rooms off of the kitchen as opposed to just being in the kitchen where they started.

So, inevitably, what probably happened is the previous companies used a product that should never have been used. They got a little instant gratification by seeing some dead roaches. Um, but in reality, Michael, you and I both know that what happened was is that they just caused the infestation to relocate due to the product that they used that they should not have used.

Michael Wienecke: Look, Bifen’s a great product. It’s a great product. It’s just not the product.

Travis McGowin: Well, how many—how many times—

Michael Wienecke: ‘Cause that’s probably what’s being—I mean, let’s just face it, that’s probably what’s being used.

Travis McGowin: How many times have you heard me say, and anyone who’s listened to this podcast for any amount of time has heard me say, just because a product says it can be used for something doesn’t mean a product should be used for something.

Michael Wienecke: That is my favorite, um—like if—if I’m having a consultation with a customer and we’re, you know, they’re dealing with German roaches, and we’re having—that’s my—that’s kind of my first question is, “What products are we trying to use or what products have we been using ourselves?” But it’s going to be a pyrethroid chemical, and it’s going to say it lasts for what? Is it 12 years or 12—12 months. 12 months.

Travis McGowin: Mm, yeah. That’s one of my favorites, when you and I both know that a lot of those, uh, more generic products that they use last the, you know, if—if at all last 30 days, depending upon the environment that they’re sprayed in.

Michael Wienecke: No. I wouldn’t even say 30 days. 12.

Travis McGowin: 12 days?

Michael Wienecke: 12 days.

Travis McGowin: So, yeah. And so what—for—for as an example, so what I did in that extremely bad situation—and let me paint a little more backstory. So, the house was completely infested. Um, so we did actually initially perform a clean-out service. I’m not—I’m not trying to knock that to anyone listening. I’m not knocking a clean-out service. I’m not knocking a ULV fog. I’m not knocking any of that. It has its pur- purpose and its place. It does. And in this particular situation, we needed a significant knockdown on the population immediately. Um, it was ex- it was out of control.

So, you have this family living there. It was a mother and—and her adult daughter, and then the daughter’s two children, so the lady’s grandkids. Um, so you had a—a family of four living there, and they literally, I mean, just were sharing—actually, I won’t even say sharing the house with roaches. Roaches were basically—they were—they were guests of the roaches at this point. It was that bad. So, I went in, uh, the—the homeowner, the family—

Michael Wienecke: Could you—could you smell them?

Travis McGowin: Heh, yeah. Yeah. Smell—smell-o-vision, is that what—that what we’ll call it?

Michael Wienecke: Smell-o-vision? No, it’s—

Travis McGowin: Yeah, you know, if you see something, you know, you—you watch these TV shows like Hoarders or something like that, and you see they’ve got significant German roach infestations, I’m like, “I know exactly how that house smells right now.”

Michael Wienecke: Oh, yes. Yes. Yes, I can relate. Yes.

Travis McGowin: Yeah. So, I went in, uh, initially, the first treatment I did, I ULV fogged. Um, left for several hours and then came back that same day, but later on in the day after everything had dissipated, and then started our normal treatment with, uh, you know, with different liquids and—and then some bait and some different products. And, um, I will tell you, when I opened the door after the initial clean-out ULV fog, the amount of dead German roaches on the floor was—was pretty significant. Um, and there was even, uh, an American roach dead, and I’m—he was like the only one. I’m like, “Well, buddy, you just picked the wrong house.” Like, heh!

Michael Wienecke: That just goes to show you the, uh, the infestation level between an American cockroach and a German cockroach right there.

Travis McGowin: Sure. Uh, and I’ve got—I’ve still got photos from this infestation that I took. So, this next time I went in there, I—I did the normal treatment, um, and then I went back, you know, usually our protocol’s 30 days. So, the next time I went back, um, the—the population, the activity was significantly, significantly reduced. But that’s the unfortunate part is that after that last time, I never got to go back. Um, they—they canceled service, um, by no fault of us. I—I think that they saw improvements, they thought it was better, didn’t want to pay for it anymore, and so they canceled service. And, uh, so I can only imagine that they probably ended up maintaining German roaches even after that because we didn’t get to follow through with our treatment protocol. But I—I do know this: it was significantly better than when I found it, when I left it. Heh.

Michael Wienecke: Well, that’s, yeah. So, yeah. I mean, that’s—that’s all you can ask for. I mean, we have so many German roach services that we do, and I try to always let customers know that, hey, we—we need to stick this through. Even one roach—I mean, one roach can produce how many? 40? 46, babies?

Travis McGowin: Yeah, I mean, it—it—it varies. But I think here another key point to remember and why what we were talking about a few minutes ago about the clean-out service being one and done is not a good idea: Michael, can any pesticide penetrate the egg of an insect?

Michael Wienecke: No.

Travis McGowin: Absolutely correct. No, it cannot. So, if you go in and you, let’s just say, you go buy a store-bought little fogger canister that people like to buy, or even a pest control company comes in and ULV fogs, once that product’s gone, it’s gone. It doesn’t penetrate the eggs. So, after you’ve killed—even if you killed every bit of the adult population, you still didn’t get the eggs. So, the eggs are still going to hatch, and the eggs are still going to, you know, continue to further along the population of this German roach infestation.

Michael Wienecke: Look, I’ve got to go off on a little tangent here. Please stop—please stop using those things in your crawlspace. Heh. Please! I mean, I crawled a crawlspace the other day, and there was 17 of those things in there. And I’m like—I mean, I’ve got a respirator on and a suit on, and I’m definitely safe as far as that, but it’s just, first of all, that’s way overkill. And second of all, there’s nothing to kill in the crawlspace.

Travis McGowin: Well, I actually had a customer the other day tell me that every so many months they buy foggers and set them off in their house per—just—just to make sure. Yeah. They said that she’s overkill on bugs, and—and maybe she—maybe they’re only termites with us, I can’t remember. Maybe—I think they said they handle the other stuff on their own, obviously. So, but she said that they—every—every few months, she will go buy foggers, set them off, and leave the house. Just—just because.

Michael Wienecke: Inside?

I mean, I just, again, not my—I don’t recommend it. We don’t recommend pesticide in your home or—or any insecticide or—or any chemical unless you need it. Um, but I—I definitely wouldn’t fog it just to fog it.

Travis McGowin: So, I think another—here’s another thing, and you’ve probably heard this, too, when speaking with clients or potential clients. I think there’s this, um—and I—and I hear this repeated from a lot of folks, but I think there’s this stigma that, “Oh, I have roaches, I’m dirty.”

Michael Wienecke: Oh no, not at all. Not at all.

Travis McGowin: Right. And I hear—and I hear people say—say things like, “I’m not dirty. I’m not dirty.” And—

Michael Wienecke: That’s like having rats and saying you’re dirty. That’s not fair at all.

Travis McGowin: Right. So, the—the thing is, people need to understand, it—it’s the same way with residential property, it’s the same way with restaurants and commercial properties: you don’t necessarily have to be dirty or have an unkempt house or an unkempt business to have these insects. They—yes, they thrive on dirty environments. Yeah. They thrive on dirty environments. If you have a dirty environment for them, the likelihood that the infestation’s going to balloon into this really big problem quicker is—is almost 100% chance. But these insects can travel to your home super easy and infest under your nose before you know it, even in the cleanest of homes. That’s what I want people to understand, just because someone has some German roaches does not mean that they don’t keep a clean house.

Michael Wienecke: I was about to say that. Yes.

No, not at all. I mean, I—and throwing that out there, and this is something that I personally do myself, but look. Look behind—if you’re buying a new refrigerator, just look at the appliance and make sure you don’t see any egg sacs, uh, glued to it, or something just strange that—that looks kind of alien-like. Um, or just a roach. Um, or if—I mean, hotel, motel, I mean, look, because if you put a bag down there and they get in that bag, then they can come to your house. I mean, we—we see it all the time. You know, uh, I—I had a house, what, probably $3 million home that—that had them pretty bad because they bought a refrigerator, and who knows where they came from out of the refrigerator, but they, uh—they got the prize.

Travis McGowin: You know, that’s a typical one I see, too. Uh, the—with the creation of—of online marketplaces, Facebook Marketplace, you know, um, Craigslist, if that’s even still really a thing anymore, uh, eBay. But, you know—

Michael Wienecke: Oh man, mm.

You just brought it back, Travis. Heh! You just brought it back!

Travis McGowin: I know, right?

Michael Wienecke: People probably like, “Craigslist, what is that?” No.

Travis McGowin: I’ll give you a throwback: The Bulletin Board.

Michael Wienecke: Oh, is that that magazine? The—the—the country—

Travis McGowin: Yeah. Yeah, I used to—I used to look through that as a kid. The Bulletin Board.

Michael Wienecke: I did, too. I bought so many—I bought so many four-wheelers off of that. I forgot about that. Man, that was—that’s a long time.

Travis McGowin: But second-hand furniture, second-hand appliances, that’s—there’s nothing wrong with that. But you just have to do your due diligence when you get it before you bring it into your home because I—I had a lady—I’m not going to say the business where she got it from, uh, but I had a lady, um, get a refrigerator from a rent-to-own establishment and ended up with German roaches in her house from this reputable place, you know, that you can get items and rent-to-own. She got a refrigerator. So, uh, the other thing, too: cardboard boxes. If you’re ordering things online, I mean, keep in mind, these boxes sit in warehouses in boxes. They get shipped on, you know, 18-wheelers and box trucks and things like that. And you can’t control, um, you know, what insects might or might not be in these places. And, you know, you bring your cardboard box in. My advice to people is, hey, when you order something, open the box, get your item out, and then dispose of all the trash. Don’t leave it sitting in your house for days or weeks at a time. I mean, these are, you know—these are ways, simple ways, that you can help yourself avoid a potentially very frustrating infestation of an insect.

Michael Wienecke: Well, I mean, that’s how all these insects and—and rodents and—and everything has—it’s come from shipping routes, and it’s come from travel and all that. So, um, it’s no different than with the deer. It just goes from state to state to state. Now, some can survive cold, some can do better in the heat, so on and so forth, so.

Travis McGowin: Absolutely. But, you know, my—my advice to anyone that feels in—in over their head, uh, feels like they just can’t get ahead of the insects, um, you know, is unsure where to start or unsure where to go from, you know, trying to buy store-bought products that just haven’t worked or have made the problem worse, call yourself a pest control professional that has the knowledge, skills, and abilities to use products on the market that are effective against insects like German roaches, um, and not only just the product, but proper product placement, knowledge of how to use that product and where to apply it, because that’s just as important as the active ingredient itself.

Michael Wienecke: I would say the most important.

Travis McGowin: Yeah, if you don’t get it where it needs to go, then, you know, you’re just spinning your wheels. I mean, you’re still going to be stuck in the same problem or the same situation. Um, and, you know, get someone reputable that is very well-versed and knowledgeable on the safe use of that product, too, because, obviously, we’re coming in to try to get rid of something that is a detriment and a harm to your family, um, from a health perspective. The last thing you want is for someone to come in and be a detriment and a harm with the products that they’re applying as well as with the insects that are already there.

Michael Wienecke: 100%. Well, and I mean, I’m glad you said something about the health of the—the roaches. I mean, those roaches crawling all over the food, salmonella, you know, the droppings, you’re breathing all that. The, uh—the little flakes, you know, that they—that they like to—to cause over time, you, you know, you’re breathing all that, you’re ingesting all that. So, uh, definitely, definitely a health issue.

Travis McGowin: Yeah, and, uh, that really bad infestation that I went to years ago, um, heh, when I started doing the regular treatment later that afternoon after the fog, the—the family had gotten home, and the two children, which were probably under the age of like four or five years old, were running through the house barefoot, and there were dead German roaches all over the floors.

Michael Wienecke: Ooh.

Oh my.

Travis McGowin: Yeah, so you can get that mental picture, heh, too. So, um, but I—I really did feel bad for them because I thought to myself, if—if the individuals living in that house did not have some sort of respiratory problem or other health problem associated with these, if they didn’t already, they, at some point, would without help.

Michael Wienecke: Well, and that type of infestation that you’re describing, heh, I’ve had quite a few, and it can take up to a year to get rid of. I mean, those guys are in every crack and crevice.

Travis McGowin: Oh, they were in the wall voids at that point.

Michael Wienecke: I’ve been on—I’ve been on some where you open the door, and they just hit the brim of your hat, and they’re just falling off the brim of your hat, and you’re like, “Well, I don’t need to—I know what we got.” Heh!

Travis McGowin: Right. Right, it—it makes it real simple to identify. Um, definitely, but—

Michael Wienecke: Yes. Yes.

Travis McGowin: Yeah, they’re—they’re definitely a big nuisance, they’re definitely a big health problem and a health risk, and, uh, it’s just not something that you want to share your living space with.

Michael Wienecke: Yep. So, hey, fun fact real quick, and then we’ll hop off this, but, um, I was over in Columbiana, and I experienced my first ever, uh, Asian roach. I wouldn’t say—I wouldn’t say infestation, but Asian roach, uh, um—I don’t know, they were just coming out of the pine straw. They were coming out—they were coming out like crazy.

Travis McGowin: Where—where have you been? Heh! Man, I couldn’t—I couldn’t tell you how many times I have been spraying, uh, doing, you know, exterior services and—and been treating around the outside of a house and hit pine straw or mulch and had them come out of the woodwork.

Michael Wienecke: Man, I have not seen one in Birmingham. I’ve not seen one in Vestavia. I—

It scared me ’cause I was like, “These are German roaches!” And what—and then, uh, they were flying! And I was like, “German roaches can’t fly!” So, I started—I started kind of, you know, getting my nerd—nerd-up book out there, and, um, yeah. So, Asian roaches, they’re flying all over the place. So, I even put in my notes, heh, I was like, “Uh, just treated, you know, Asian—” They were—they were everywhere. I have never—I didn’t know—

Travis McGowin: They go climbing up the sides of the house and everything, I mean, big and small, they just come out of the woodwork.

Michael Wienecke: Well, they seemed to all be the same size on—on my end, but I was just—I was worried about them flying into the—to the office that we were treating and everything. I was like, “Oh my god, this is—this is horrible.”

Travis McGowin: Yeah, they’re, uh—uh, for those that don’t know, they are kind of an imposter. Um, they look identical to a German roach, except they typically only live outside. Uh, they do fly, whereas German roaches do not fly. Uh, and German roaches have to live inside, whereas Asian roaches like your areas in mulch beds and pine straw beds underneath, uh, where the decaying vegetation, moisture is. Uh, but yeah, they can—they can give you quite a—a jump there when you, you know, treat them with a product, and then all of a sudden, I mean, just literally 30 of them come right out from underneath pine straw where you’re treating at. I mean, there’s right there—

Michael Wienecke: Oh, thousands! Thousands! I mean, I was just talking about in like a couple feet span there.

No, Travis. I don’t—It—it—it worried me for a minute. It was thousands! Heh!

Travis McGowin: Oh yeah. Well—

Michael Wienecke: They started dying off, but again, it was—it was quite—quite, uh, remarkable. I know you’re in—over in Montgomery, you always talk about them, but we don’t see them here, so.

Travis McGowin: Oh, you can have them. Heh!

Michael Wienecke: Well, we got them! We got them, they’re here. So, eventually, they’ll be in Birmingham and everywhere else, I’m sure. Coming to a town near you.