Boarding birds? fumigating?

[zebsoc]

Sojourner - what kind of doorsweep do u have? Can u post a picture?

[wildbird]

Zebsoc, how do you survive in an environment like that! It sounds unihabitable to me. Do you have rent control in that county? I know some of California does and the landlords have to provide descent living conditions. I would think air conditioning would be one thing required and another is it cannot be roach infested. At the very least, the landlord would have to fix the windows so they open. Even without rent control, you are entitled to that much.

[zebsoc]

I haven't seen roaches since the 1st yr I moved in and bombed the place twice. But I didn't see most of them until After I bombed and they were fortunately dead.
But they come in under the door for sure.
I've used sticky pads and see plenty of them and bugs of other kinds on the inside sticky pads next to the front door.
But the door opened a few times during the winter storms and so they may have just walked in.
Also I got so tired of sticky pads I chg to ortho and boric acid but not sure since if as effective.
I don't want to see cockroaches, so I don't know if they have to fumigate unless they can be seen, so I was planning to justybomb the place again myself.
It was a struggle just to get them to spray Outside last spring even when they were getting a lot of complaints about cockroaches and even then they made it that I had to ask specifically for around the front of my place. And their 1st exterminators the cockroaches were still increasing. Finally about May last yr they had a companythat sprayed a the ccockroaches stopped. But when I had one on the sticky pad again in the fall I didn't get a response about spraying outside.
I never dealt with cockroaches when I lived north, so it is something I am trying desperately to keep them out of my apartment.

What kind of doorsweep do people have that Effectively blocks Out the cockroaches from being able to come in under the door?
My security screen door is Totally Useless for blocking anything. It has gaps Both Top and Bottom. I had a basic doorsweep rubber kind placed on it but the corners have big gaps.
Because my efforts have been ineffectual regarding the front door to date, I'm concerned about what has gotten in.
There r these black worm like bugs that get caught a lot on the sticky pads too, but those Still come in A lot even with all my efforts.
So if they still end up on the sticky pads along the baseboards esp hallway by front door then how many cockroaches maybe getting through?
As long as they don't get sprayed regular outside they will keep working to come in esp by the front door with its gaps.
Some apartment spray monthly outside. Unfortunately for some reason this one doesn't.

[Sojourner]

zebsoc

Normally an entry door has a threshold - a raised usually metal area along the bottom of the door opening.

Then there is a rubber sweep mounted on the bottom of the door, like a gasket, that seals across the threshold. It also keeps water from blowing in under the door in a storm.

Think about it - if its meant to keep water out it for sure ought to keep out bugs! It sounds like you have a jackass for a landlord.

Did I understand you correctly, did the entry door actually BLOW OPEN during storms this past winter? That seems like a ginormous safety issue as well - if the wind can blow your door open, imagine how easy it would be for an intruder to get in!

Windows that won't open are a safety issue. That seems like a safety issue that a landlord would HAVE to correct. I'm not so sure about providing a properly sealing door. It seems like it would be a health issue at the very least. You might contact a local division of legal aide to find out about your rights as a renter.

Of course we must recognize that this still may not help due to landlord retaliation for being turned in, but I'd still look into it. There may be protections built in to the law to protect you from retaliation, as well.

CA currently has open waiting lists for rent-subsidized apartments, which have to pass specific livability inspections that normally include cooling as well as heating given that temps over 100F are common in the area. Have you checked into something like that? For those of us who are disabled in particular this can be a good solution.

Sweetie, you need some cooling. If you can manage even a cheap window ac unit you would be much safer. 100F plus nearly always means it is even hotter inside, especially if you can't even open windows to try to get a breeze going through.

[zebsoc]

Sojourner - thank you for all the great info.

The front door during February began to pop open.
It did that a couple of times during the summer but I thought it just hadn't been closed well.
But in February I actually had a bit of a battle with it because I would close it and it would just pop open again. So I had to be sure to remember to bolt it too which is good for safety anyway but sometimes with my health I get spacey and forget. Therefore I forgot a couple of times and unfortunately esp during the major storm with high winds we had.
But oddly since the weather warmed it hasn't popped open even when I forget, tho I've been a lot better at remembering quicker to go bolt it.
Since it is sporadic I'm stuck with the problem which is frustrating since I never know when it might pop open.
It really gave me a scare when it opened wide during the storm. The wind was really high and things blew over and I thought someone had just broken into the apartment.