If you’re looking to rent an apartment, there is a list of nightmares in your head. Noisy neighbors, non-functioning heat, and roach infestations are often high on the list.
Cockroaches are major concerns for all renters. They are unwelcomed house guests, living rent-free, infesting the whole building.
It’s usually after you’ve signed the lease that you realize that the apartment has a cockroach infestation cooking up.
In these circumstances, our beloved renters have one major question:
Do all apartment buildings have roaches?
- Cockroaches are one of the most common pests in apartment buildings and homes
- While it’s impossible to check every building, the reality is roaches are everywhere in all environments
- Even if there’s no active infestation anywhere in a building, roaches are still likely to be exploring it.
We now know that roaches live almost as much as humans do in apartment buildings. These insects reside in most apartment buildings and can make living there a complete nightmare.
Let’s look a bit deeper into this.
Do All Apartment Buildings Have Roaches?
While it’s wrong to generalize, it is immensely common for apartment buildings to have cockroaches hidden away in dark, moist, and warm corners.
As sad as it is, these creatures tend to reside in apartment buildings and homes due to the consistent availability of food.
The reality is that roaches are basically everywhere, and are extremely well adapted to living in the same sorts of environments that humans live in. That means that even if there’s not an active roach infestation in your building, there are still likely to be roaches in the area, hunting for new places to set up shop.
Even if there’s not an active roach infestation in your building, there are still likely to be roaches in the area, hunting for new places to set up shop.
These insects emerge at night while hunting for food and drinks. However, don’t be fooled by their apparent hunger; these creepy crawlies don’t only look for crumbs. Your kitchen drain with food, your lid-less trash can, or even open packages in your kitchen pantry can be major sources of attraction for these pests.
It is also important to note that cockroaches are some of the most resilient insects. Therefore, their survival rate is fairly high, considering they can even live for almost a week without their heads. Additionally, these cockroaches are also open to eating everything and anything.
These insects are great at adapting to different environments, which makes them highly resilient. This makes these roaches a common sight at least once in a rented apartment.
Where do cockroaches hide in apartments?
Before determining the possibility of an infestation, it is integral to know that cockroaches are great at hiding and take pride in being sneaky. They excel at hiding to the extent that you won’t detect their presence within an apartment you plan on renting unless you know the exact hiding spots.
Since knowing the hiding places of these sneaky insects is integral, we encourage looking into the following areas if you wish to get to the bottom of a potential cockroach infestation:
- Behind, under, and even inside appliances such as your oven or fridge: cockroaches thoroughly enjoy kitchens because they’re warm and are usually stocked with food crumbs for them to eat
- Within cabinets: particularly those that contained food previously. Left-over crumbs that may not be visible to you might have attracted these cockroaches
- Next to water pipes: these are usually located in dark places, a roach’s favorite hiding spot
- Near water heaters: similar to water pipes, water heaters are usually in dark and moist places, which are nothing short of a party zone for these sneaky pests
- Within wall or floor cracks: as long as the place is dark, a roach will move towards it
Most large apartments are professionally treated for roaches, even as a prophylactic measure. It’s always a good idea to ask about previous roach infestations before you rent! It’s also a good idea to make sure that your lease states that the landlord will be responsible for roach and insect spraying.
Most large apartments are professionally treated for roaches, even as a prophylactic measure. It’s always a good idea to ask about previous roach infestations before you rent!
How can I detect a cockroach infestation inside an apartment?
Certain signs act as warning labels for a potential cockroach infestation. If you’re unaware of these, you won’t realize that there may be an army of roaches swarming about within your home. Therefore, here are some visible cues that may help you detect an infestation and run for the hills:
1. A musty odor
If you’ve entered one of the building apartments and sensed something off about the smell in it, we recommend packing up and leaving before the tenant could manipulate you into renting the place.
A musty and unpleasant odor can signify dirty old tenants or a possible cockroach infestation. Both options are heavily discouraged. Certain cockroach types let out a strong oily smell, so you may have to sniff around the apartment to ensure that there is no sign of a cockroach infestation.
2. Roach Tracks
Contrary to what it may seem, cockroach tracks aren’t typical footprints. On the contrary, a cockroach track usually comes in droppings. These insects are fairly open regarding their feces and don’t hesitate before doing it all over their walking trail.
These closely resemble coffee grounds or ground-up pepper and are usually out for the world to see.
3. Visits during the day
If you detect a cockroach sprawling around the apartment during the day, this is a major sign of a cockroach infestation going around. These insects are nocturnal and generally dislike light. They usually only come out at night.
Therefore, a visit during the day means that the infestation is excessively bad.
Therefore, a visit during the day means that the infestation is excessively bad.
4. Proof of releasing eggs
Two main functions that cockroaches operate on are releasing eggs and eating. If there is a cockroach infestation going around, you may come across an egg casing which contains 10-50 eggs.
If you find various empty casings around, you can be assured that a cockroach infestation is going around.
5. Molted Roach Husks
Roach nymphs will molt several times before they reach adulthood. They often will leave behind their exoskeleton as a moment for you to find. If you find roach husks, that means they’re growing!
6. Dead Roaches
If you come across dead roaches (often laying face-up if they’ve been poisoned), that’s a sure sign you’ve got an infestation. If roaches are dying in your presence, there are likely to be many more in the walls that you aren’t aware of.
Conclusion: cockroaches are a common pest in apartment buildings!
While it is impossible to state that every apartment building in the world contains roaches, we can safely assume that virtually all of them will have some level of presence of roaches in and around the building.
Homes and apartments are safe spaces for cockroaches. There are so many dark, warm, and tight hiding spots in homes and apartments, and so much food to eat!
Therefore, we recommend thoroughly scrutinizing the apartment, the surrounding building envelope, and the owner or realtor before you decide to become a renter.
After all, although cockroach infestations are manageable through adequate pest control services, they are difficult to remove permanently.
