Pest Control Advice When Renting an Apartment

This page is a general DIY article that discusses common apartment pests to look out for during tours or move-in. Throughout this article you will find links to effective pest control, professional products, and information about how to handle apartment dwelling pests.

Renting your first apartment generates a lot of excitement and a long list of new tasks and responsibilities. For most apartment owners, the first step to take is to inspect for pests such as ants, German Cockroaches, house mice, fleas, and bed bugs.

Whether your complex is located within the city or among the countryside, a welcoming committee of the previously mentioned pests are inevitable. Understanding that these pests are hard to control, but not impossible is the first investment to take. By acknowledging this, you can help to lessen financial loss and a long-term commitment to a less ideal home environment.

This DIY guide will explain accurate pest inspection and management before or after apartment rentals. For more information, you can always contact one of our trained professionals in person at our store, email, or phone.

Ants

So many people within one environment are bound to draw pests such as ants. Witnessing one or two ants does not cause immediate alarm in homeowners so they do not respond promptly.

Ants are small and easily make their way inside your apartment through cracks and crevices, window frames, where the plumbing meets the wall, and other holes or gaps such as electrical outlets.

Seeing ants within the apartment could be an indication that there is a larger colony residing nearby or on the way to infest the homes interior. Ants are constantly searching for food and water and will leave a pheromone trail for their fellow ants to follow. This path will attract a large amount of ants, which makes it easier to spot potential infestations within the apartment.

German Cockroaches

As a current or future apartment owner, one pests that is inevitable is the German cockroach. These pests are the most commonly seen within apartment buildings and complexes since they enjoy warm, dry environments near constant sources of moisture. Considering these conditions, it is pretty clear that German Cockroaches can make their homes almost anywhere.

Any presence of cockroaches is not ideal, but what makes the German Cockroaches most severe is one sighting of this pest indicates a large scale infestation. Even one sighting during your move-in or tour of your apartment will require immediate attention.

Female German Cockroaches can produce 400 roaches during her lifetime. If left untreated, these pests can grow their populations behind hard to reach areas within a matter of weeks.

Living in an apartment has many opportunities for German Cockroaches to invade. The most common method is through drains, cracks, crevices, holes, or air conditioning vents. You or the previous apartment owner could have unintentionally brought them in through grocery bags, plastic storage containers, or packing boxes.

House Mice

House mice are species of rodents that are commonly found within apartment buildings. They are similar to rats, but are smaller in body at about 4 inches with their tails being between 2 to 4 inches long and weighing about 2 pounds. Most house mice are light brown, black, or gray in fur color.

Like all pests, house mice will invade your apartment in search of food, shelter, and warmth. They are known to survive on seeds, fruits, and grains such as cereals or bird food.

For new apartment owners, you may be considering that the environment has none of these attractants or that you are instilling the best preventative methods. However, due to the shared walls within your complex you are at risk of mice infestation due to your neighbors activities.

Mice are able to push themselves into your home through the smallest opening, crack or crevice within walls, underneath doorways, areas around windows, chimneys, roof vents, air conditioning vents, and wherever the plumbing or wires enter your apartment.

Fleas

If your apartment complex allows pets, then you may face a flea infestation. Even if you never owned a cat or dog within your apartment, there are plenty of ways to gain this unwanted roommate.

Fleas are year long pests that can lay 1 egg per hour and up to 50 eggs per day. Completely removing fleas from an apartment complex can take weeks or months, but never truly removed. Reason being is previous flea infestations will lay their eggs within carpets, fabrics, between the baseboards of your floor, and upholstered furniture if your apartment is furnished.

When flea eggs are confronted with insecticide products they do not perish until they have hatched. This allows flea populations to suddenly occur out of nowhere and cause discomfort through means of biting. It is recommended to take a white towel or fabric material and wipe multiple surfaces or inside drawers. This will display black pepper material which will be flea eggs.

Bed Bugs

Bed bug control has always been difficult, which makes inspection for these pests very important. These blood dependent pests can invade your apartment from almost anywhere such as your workplace, friends home, or overgrown foliage. Typically, bed bugs will invade your homes through means of travel by staying in already infested hotels, air bnb, motels, or sitting on infested furniture within the lobbies of hotels.

There is no relevant information to suggest they transfer diseases, but they are very hard to remove from your home. Bed bugs can hide anywhere including mattresses, box springs, cracks in the wall, picture or bed frames, and behind electrical outlets.

Once you have witnessed one bed bug you should immediately inform your landlord or implement a treatment program. The best thing to do is not move any infested furniture or clothing throughout your apartment to reduce spreading the infestation.

How to Remove Insect and Rodent Pests From Your Apartment

For new apartment owners, you will want to begin an effective treatment program once ants, German Cockroaches, house mice, fleas, and bed bugs activity has been confirmed.

Remember to treat only the inside of your apartment as outdoor treatments can only be performed by the apartment manager or contracted pest control technicians

Step 1: Apply Ant-Trax Ant Bait and Apex Cockroach Gel Bait Indoors

Baits such as Ant-Trax Ant Bait and Apex Cockroach Gel Baits are ideal for treating large scale ant and German Cockroach infestation. These products are formulated with several attractants to encourage ant and German Cockroach ingestion.

Vice versa these products contain a slow-moving poison that can transfer to other ants and German Cockroaches by leading fellow pests to these areas or ingestion through passed fecal matter or deceased pests.

Apply pea-sized drops of the gel bait products on index cards or cardboards in the corners of cabinets, shelves, drawers, cracks and crevices, around toilets, underneath sinks or appliances. For Apex Cockroach Gel Bait, use 37 drops every 100 sq. ft. Apply 4 drops of Ant-Trax Ant Bait per square yard.

For one week, continually reapply the baits to allow ants and German Cockroaches to ingest the product. If you notice there has been a decrease in the population then you can proceed with the following steps.

Step 2: Spot Treat with Supreme IT

Supreme IT is a liquid insecticide that is labeled to treat over 70 varieties of pests for up to 3 months. As a long-lasting residual it will repel pests from the area so products like insect baits will become infective.

For best results, wait until the insect population has decreased or one week has passed before you implement Supreme IT. Depending on the pest and severity of the infestation, 1 oz. of Supreme IT per gallon of water will cover 1,000 sq. ft.

To apply Supreme IT, you will need to use a hand pump sprayer for direct application onto the baseboards, cupboards (remove all food and other objects from the area prior to spraying), around windows or doors, and other crack and crevice areas.

Remember that Supreme IT can only be applied as a spot treatment indoors and may not be applied to floor boards or walls.

Step 3: Treat Your Apartment with Novacide Flea and Tick Killer

Novacide Flea and Tick Killer is a dual action product that eliminates fleas and ticks in one swift application. Additionally, this insecticide contains an insect growth regulator that eliminates flea and ticks within the larvae, pupae, and egg stage by stunting their growth.

1 can of Novacide Flea and Tick Killer can treat up to 2,300 sq. ft. within your apartment. To increase this products success, vacuum the areas that you treat to remove any stubborn insect residue such as eggs or feces. Dispose of the vacuum contents outside in your nearest complex dumpster.

Once your treatment area has been vacuumed you will point the Novacide Flea and Tick Killer downwards towards the site and spray in a sweeping motion. You will only need to lightly spray areas such as hardwood floors, tile floors, carpet, or upholstered furniture. It is strongly recommended to not treat pets bedding with any type of insecticide or pesticide product.

Step 4: Apply Solutions Pro Glue Board in Hard to Reach Areas

Solutions Pro Glue Boards are traps that are infused with peanut butter scents to mainly attract pests such as rats or mice. However, these products have been known to catch other pests such as cockroaches, fleas, or sometimes ants.

Place Solutions Pro Glue Board near areas where you have seen insect and rodent activity like around baseboards, kitchen or bathroom cabinets, underneath sinks and other appliances. To use this product, you will simply peel back the paper cover to expose the glue and then fold into a tunnel-shape. While this bait is already formulated with pre-scented aromas, you may lay a small glob of peanut butter within the trap to further entice pests.

Monitor the glue boards daily, but do physically touch the trap unless your hand is gloved. Pests such as rodents are already in cautious in nature and wil avoid the Solutions Pro Glue Board if they smell your scent on the product. Replace the trap when several days have passed with little activity or if the glue board has entrapped any type of pests.

Step 5: Treat Indoor Areas with D-Fense Dust

Insecticidal dust like D-Fense Dust is an ideal product to use for pests that's crawl through hard to reach areas, cracks and crevices, within walls, under sinks, and behind electrical outlets or appliances.

Once applied, this insecticidal dust will continue to fight against pests such as bed bugs or ants for up to 8 months. However, as a dust formulation product it will need to be applied with a handheld duster.

To apply D-Fense Dust, fill the handheld duster halfway to allow plenty of space for the air to circulate inside. Puff the dust into any voids, cracks, or crevices where insect activity has been happening within your apartment. Within 1 to 2 hours insects that have come into contact with D-Fense Dust will perish.

Key Takeaways

What Kind of Pests Invade Apartments?

• Pests such as house mice, ants, German Cockroaches, fleas, and bed bugs are commonly found within the shared walls of your complex. These pests will often travel through air vents, wall spaces, plumbing, and other voids to enter your home.

How Do I Remove Pests From My Apartment?

• Begin a bait application with Ant Trax Ant Bait and Apex Cockroach Gel Bait for one week or until pest activity has lessened. Once this is accomplished, you can proceed with an insecticide application of Supreme IT which will repel pests away from your home. Treat the inside of your apartment with Novacide Flea and Tick Killer and apply Solutions Pro Glue Boards in hard to reach areas that products cannot reach. As a preventative measure, puff D-Fense Dust into voids, cracks, crevices, under sinks, and behind electrical outlets to continue to fight against the pests in the shared walls of your complex.

Preventing Reinfestation within Your Apartment

• Prevent reinfestation of these pests in the future with preventative treatments of Supreme IT, D-Fense Dust, and Novacide Flea and Tick Killer. Reduce clutter and continually clean your apartment with weekly vacuuming or proper disposal of trash.