Who is responsible?

O

Ozziegal78

Just wanted some feedback.
The hot water system is in a kitchen cupboard which is never opened. The system was leaking without me knowing about, I'm guessing for a week or two. I saw the odd cockroach which I thought was a bit weird but being busy, I didn't think much of it until I came home after being away a few days to a horrid smell. The culprit was found as well as more cockroaches I'd like to mention.
The landlord got the hot water system replaced immediately but I have been struggling for months to get rid of the cockies. The kitchen is sold old that there are cracks and crevices everywhere. The landlord and real estate say this is my problem and I'm responsible for pest control.
Thoughts?
 
Regardless of who is responsible, i am sure you want to be rid of the roaches.

I would suggest you keep all the kitchen cupboards near the HWS open and perhaps even buy a closet camel from the supermarket to dry the area out.

Spray a heap of surface spay around the wet areas as well.

It is not like you are being infested at this point, but you do need to address the problem. A standard pest spray possibly would not fix this without the chipboard drying out anyway.
 
I once had cockroaches invest my kitchen and the pest guy put little blobs of a glue like substance around the house, under bench tops etc. It worked very well and is much safer than spraying.
 
The area is no longer wet, this happened 6 months ago. We are way past infestation stage. I have done as much as I can. And you are probably right, pest control probably won't fix the problem. There are just too many places that eggs can be laid. The kitchen is 40 years old.
I'm just over the problem, a problem that I never caused in the first place.
Just frustrating and getting a 'not my problem' from the landlord back then, and now.

Thanks for the advice.
 
Ozziegal78 said:
The landlord and real estate say this is my problem and I'm responsible for pest control.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I think they are right, and assuming it was pest treated before you went in, you need to keep it pest free.

I'm unsure how having water damage has created a pest problem?
 
wylie said:
I'm unsure how having water damage has created a pest problem?
Click to expand...

I didn't know the hot water system had been leaking. The system is in the cupboard and sits on a concrete floor which is probably 7 cm deeper than the kitchen floor (built for hotwater system to fit I'm guessing).
So i had no indication it was leaking until the smell. Smell + water sitting for period of time = cockroaches.
 
The landlord is responsible to supply the house pest free at the start. If you have been there longer than a year you will probably have to take the responsibility yourself. There is nothing in the world that will prevent cockroaches living around a house. They come inside through open windows, under doors and through any ventilation spaces, even in brand new houses with no cracks. It is hardly the landlords responsibility to prevent this. Dampness attracts termites to timber, that is another consideration.

Maybe ask the landlord if they will go halves with you in the cost of getting a serious treatment done, ie inside the roof cavity and under the floor as well as just inside the house, unless they can prove they have already done this in the past twelve months. Sorry for the predicament, but that is life.

I don't know about NSW. In Qld there is a clause in the lease that states it is the tenant's responsibility to keep the house pest and vermin free.
 
I once rented an old house that was treated but after 6 months they were all back, I bought a few packets of baits and spread them around the worst areas.

If took a few weeks to kill them all and after that I used to buy a pack of baits about every six months and spread them all around.

I found it worked best by blitzing them rather than one bait at a time.
 
I get what is being said. It is neither the landlord or my fault, neither could forsee.
I get pest control is a tenant thing but to me this is a special case.
The leaking hot water system has caused the issue, nothing that I did.
So I think to say the infestation is my problem as a tenant is unfair, that's all I'm saying.
 
Ozziegal78 said:
I get what is being said. It is neither the landlord or my fault, neither could forsee.
I get pest control is a tenant thing but to me this is a special case.
The leaking hot water system has caused the issue, nothing that I did.
So I think to say the infestation is my problem as a tenant is unfair, that's all I'm saying.
Click to expand...
Terry has already mentioned that the thing to use is a gel.

We use this product and you only need to use it once and the cockroach problem is gone for a very long time.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GENUINE-...99?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item3ccd59ba8b

This is the same product that the pest guys use.

Much better than spraying.

Cheers
 
If the cockroaches are big then they have just flown in -- happens in summer which is about the time this happened. If the cockies are really small then they are newly-hatched.

We are careful with food and water, but still every year in summer the big ones scuttle about at night. Maker sure there are no warm, damp places for them to lay eggs.
 
Stop with the victim mentality, follow the advice of others and purchase the gel handyandy mentions above.

If you don't want to, I suggest you end the lease and find a better property.

Time for action!
 
Infestation..

We have / had an infestation due unhygenic tenants...
I paid my guy to fumigate, and 2 weeks later all the eggs hatched. the 'little yuckies' were everywhere again.

This time around the Mortein cockroach bombs have been my friend:rolleyes:

To get rid of them I think you need to know their life cycle....

The eggs are impermeable, when they hatch, thats when you get em!

I hope this helps!
 
I'll second the bombs. It will need 2 - 3 treatments a couple of weeks apart to ensure that not only the roaches are killed in the first treatment, the second gets the eggs & the third the residue.
 
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