There are many types of roaches that commonly infest home such as the American roach, German roaches, oriental roaches, and brown banded roaches.

The American roach lives mainly outdoors in vegetation, under rocks, in mulch and trees. This roach is also referred to as the wood roach. The American roach is the larger of the common house infesting roaches. It grows up to 1 ½ inches long and is oval shaped. These roaches can be controlled with an inside treatment consisting of treating all base boards, under sinks, attic and basement or crawlspace. In addition, an exterior treatment should be done treating area where the house touches the ground, all openings, windows and doorways.  In Birmingham, Alabama we do very well with a quarterly treatment. However, the more often a house is treated, the more effective the treatment will be.

The German roach, although small, is probably the worst roach to possibly infest your home. These roaches are thin and about half an inch long as adults with a light brown body and dark brown vertical markings that are easy to see. These roaches can come in on paper grocery bags, in refrigerators, microwaves, cable boxes, TVs, coffee pots, blenders, stoves, clocks and any other electronic you could imagine. These roaches are harder to get rid of than any other house infesting roach, because they have a larger number of eggs in each egg sac than any other species of roach that will invade your home. Also, German roaches sexually mature much faster than any other roach. There are many different treatments to control these roaches, but the most effective we have seen for 14 years in Birmingham, Alabama, is using specialized bait. There are also many different types of baits that can be used, but Dave’s Pest Control uses the most effective modern bait possible. Many pest control companies use inferior, cheaper and older baits in which German roaches have long since become immune to, so be very careful whom you choose as your pest control professional. 

The oriental roach is another common outside roach that occasionally comes inside your home. The oriental roach has an oval shaped body, no wings, a distinct reddish color, and can reach up to 1 ¼ inches long. These roaches can be controlled with an inside treatment consisting of treating all base boards, under sinks, attic and basement or crawlspace. In addition an exterior treatment should be done treating area where the house touches the ground, all openings, windows and doorways In Birmingham Alabama we do very well with a quarterly treatment. However, the more often a house is treated, the more effective the treatment is.

The brown banded roach is another common outside roach but is much more likely to be seen inside a bathroom, in the kitchen near the sink, or baseboards.  These roaches get up to ½ inch long.  Brown banded roaches are commonly mistaken for German roaches, because they too have light and dark brown markings. However, they are much easier to get rid of than German roaches. Brown banded roaches can be medium brown, but will have 2 light horizontal stripes, where as the German roach stripes are vertical. These roaches can be controlled with an inside treatment consisting of treating all base boards, under sinks, attic and basement or crawlspace. in addition an exterior treatment should be done treating area where the house touches the ground, all openings, windows and doorways In Birmingham Alabama we do very well with a quarterly treatment. However the more often a house is treated, the more effective the treatment is.