Why German roaches keep coming back

If a kitchen has been sprayed three times and the roaches are still there, the problem is almost never the product. It is that a perimeter spray is the wrong tool for this species.

They live inside, not outside

German roaches are not occasional invaders that wander in from the yard. They live their whole lives in the harborage — the void behind a dishwasher, the motor housing of a cooler, the hollow of a table leg. A band sprayed around the outside of the building never touches them.

What actually works

Baiting in the harborage, monitoring to find where the harborage is, and sanitation to remove the competing food that makes bait unattractive. On a commercial account that means working with the kitchen crew, not around them.

How long it takes

Two to four visits, spaced about two weeks apart, which is roughly the egg cycle. A treatment that promises a single visit is promising something the biology does not allow.