The first thing a technician does on a roach call is identify the species, because the program depends on it. Large reddish brown roaches that show up in bathrooms and garages, often after rain, are American cockroaches, called sewer roaches here, and they come from the sewer through floor drains, shower drains, cleanouts and dry P traps. Smaller dark roaches outside in block wall cracks, water meter boxes and under pavers are Turkestan cockroaches, now the dominant outdoor roach in the low desert. Small tan roaches with two dark stripes behind the head, found in kitchens, under the sink and behind the refrigerator, are German cockroaches, and they never came from outside. The inspection covers drains, cleanouts, the water meter box, block wall cracks, the garage, and inside every kitchen and bathroom cabinet with a flashlight.
Sewer roaches are a monsoon story. From late June through September, rain floods the sewer lines and pushes American cockroaches up through drains and around cleanout caps, which is why the calls spike after the first big storm. Older flood irrigated neighborhoods in central Phoenix, Mesa, Tempe and Glendale with mature sewer systems get it worst, and Yuma's irrigated farmland and river humidity keep roach pressure high year round. Turkestan cockroaches live in nearly every block wall in the Phoenix metro and Tucson and move indoors when summer heat passes 110 degrees. German cockroaches are an indoor, people driven problem: apartments, restaurants, rentals with high turnover, and homes where they arrived in a box or a used appliance. Flagstaff and Prescott see far fewer sewer roaches and more German roach calls tied to rentals and restaurants.
Products are applied under an Arizona Department of Agriculture Pest Management Division license and by the label. Sewer and Turkestan roach programs use a residual on the exterior foundation, block wall and around drains and cleanouts, granular bait in the yard and meter boxes, and drain treatment, and they work best combined with mesh drain covers and keeping P traps full of water. German roach programs are built on gel bait placed in the cracks where they hide, an insect growth regulator to stop the nymphs from maturing, and dust in wall voids behind outlets, never a broadcast spray, because a repellent spray scatters a German roach population into new rooms. Commercial kitchens follow the county environmental health department rules for their food establishment license, with product placement and documentation that satisfy an inspection.
The mistakes are specific. Spraying a kitchen for German roaches with an over the counter aerosol makes the problem worse and contaminates the bait. Treating the outside of a home for sewer roaches while the shower drain in the guest bathroom has been dry for 3 months leaves the front door open. A cleanout cap in the yard that is cracked or missing is an entry point no barrier treatment covers. German roaches in one apartment unit are usually in the units on either side, and a single unit treatment does not hold. Cardboard boxes stored in the garage are Turkestan and German roach harborage. A dishwasher with a leaking gasket is a German roach water source that keeps the population alive through a treatment. Sanitation is not optional on a German roach job.
Technician insight
On a sewer roach call the first question is which drain has not had water run down it in a month. A guest bathroom shower or a laundry room floor drain with a dry P trap is an open pipe straight to the sewer, and no exterior treatment fixes that. Running a gallon of water down every drain once a week does more than most homeowners expect.
Roaches in the Bathrooms After the First Monsoon Storm
A single story home in an older flood irrigated neighborhood with large roaches appearing in two bathrooms and the garage the night after the first big August storm. The guest shower P trap was dry, the yard cleanout cap was cracked, and Turkestan roaches were in the block wall. The drains and cleanout were treated, the cap was replaced by the homeowner, the exterior and block wall got a residual and granular bait, and mesh covers went on the floor drains. Sightings stopped within a week and the home moved to monthly service through September.
Cockroach Control Services We Offer
✓Sewer Roach Control
Exterior residual treatment, drain and cleanout treatment, and drain cover guidance for American cockroaches coming up from the sewer, especially after monsoon rain.
✓German Cockroach Treatment
Gel bait, insect growth regulator and void dust program for indoor kitchen infestations, with follow up visits until monitors show zero activity.
✓Turkestan Cockroach Treatment
Block wall, meter box, paver and foundation treatment for the outdoor roach that dominates Phoenix metro and Tucson yards.
✓Drain and Cleanout Treatment
Treatment of floor drains, shower drains and sewer cleanouts, plus checks for dry P traps and damaged cleanout caps that let roaches in.
✓Apartment and Multi Unit Roach Programs
Building wide German roach treatment across adjoining units so the population is not pushed from one apartment to the next.
✓Restaurant and Commercial Kitchen Roach Control
Scheduled service with product placement and records that hold up to a county environmental health inspection.
✓Monthly Roach Service
Recurring exterior treatment through monsoon season and summer heat for homes that get sewer and Turkestan roaches every year.
How it works
- 1
Species Identification and Inspection
The technician identifies American, Turkestan or German cockroaches from the specimens and sign, then inspects drains, cleanouts, meter boxes, block walls, the garage and every kitchen and bathroom cabinet.
- 2
Program Explained
You are told which roach it is, where it is coming from, the products and why, the dry time, what needs fixing on your side such as dry drains or a leaking dishwasher, and the price.
- 3
Treatment
Exterior residual, granular bait and drain treatment for sewer and Turkestan roaches. Gel bait, IGR and void dust for German roaches, with monitors placed to measure results.
- 4
Follow Up
German roach jobs get a return visit in 2 weeks to re bait and check monitors, repeated until activity is zero. Sewer roach jobs are re serviced if activity continues, and monthly service is set up for monsoon prone homes.
Pricing
The price moves with the species. A sewer and Turkestan roach exterior program is priced by home and lot size and whether it is one time or monthly. A German cockroach job is priced by how heavy the infestation is, how many rooms and units are involved, and how many follow up visits it takes to reach zero on the monitors. Commercial kitchens are priced on a service schedule. The number is set after the inspection.