Health Concerns Cockroaches Bring To Businesses

Health Concerns Cockroaches Bring To Businesses

When cockroaches show up in a home environment, there are many reasons to be concerned. But, when they show up in a business environment, there are even more reasons to be concerned. Cockroaches not only pose emotional and health threats to humans, they also pose threats to the very survival of a business.

Cockroaches Are Unhealthy For Customers

If cockroaches are present in your business, and you deal with customers, it is important to know that cockroaches can spread many forms of illness and disease. Cockroaches are proven or suspected carriers of the organisms that cause diarrhea, dysentery, salmonella, cholera, leprosy, typhoid fever and viral diseases such as poliomyelitis. They also carry the eggs of parasitic worms which may cause allergic reactions in some people, including dermatitis, itching, swelling of the eyelids and more serious respiratory conditions.

Cockroaches Are Unhealthy For Employees

The illnesses listed above are also a threat for employees. No business needs the added frustration of cockroach-related sickness. It is hard enough battling with colds, flu, and other health conditions that keep employees from coming to work.

Cockroaches Are Unhealthy For Your Reputation

If roaches are present in your business and they are not eliminated quickly, word will get around, especially if your business deals with customers. In this day and age of instant review sites, a few reports of cockroach encounters can have long-lasting and devastating effects on the reputation of your business. The internet never forgets.

Cockroaches Are Unhealthy For Your Bottom Line

If cockroaches are allowed to spread diseases to your employees or customers this can lead to all sorts of issues, including lawsuits. The presence of roaches in your business can also lead to failed inspections. And, failed inspections can lead to the complete closure of your business. Whatever the case, not taking care of cockroaches is almost certain to cost your business more than if you take action and eliminate these unhealthy creatures when they appear and, preferably, before they appear.

If you have questions or wish to schedule service to eliminate (or prevent) cockroaches in your business, reach out to Russell’s Pest Control today. We provide advanced pest control solutions in Knoxville Tennessee and the surrounding area. Give us a call to schedule a free commercial pest evaluation and get your business the protection it needs from cockroaches and other pests.

How Do Cockroaches Get Into Knoxville Homes

How Do Cockroaches Get Into Knoxville Homes

Cockroaches are commonly considered the nastiest insect that can invade your home. Knowing the risks they pose, and their lifestyle, there is nobody on this earth that would ever want a wild cockroach, let alone many of them, scurrying around their kitchen or pantry. The biggest reason for this is how filthy and disease-ridden they are. Roaches will forage for food in garbage cans, feces, and worst of all, the sewer. They pick up bacteria on their bodies, that can contaminate surfaces and food sources that can cause diseases like salmonella that can cause diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. The shed exoskeleton and dried feces can also cause asthma in some people. You’ll want to keep them far away from your home and family at all costs.

These germ riddled insects enter homes across the country through tiny spaces in walls, foundations, pipes, and drains looking for warmth, moisture, and food. Sometimes they get brought in on packages, bags, furniture, or appliances. Regardless of how they got there, you will need to get rid of them right away! You can take some steps to help stop them from coming inside in the first place, but you’re much better off with the help of a professional pest control company.

Cockroach Prevention Tips

  • Keep your kitchen clean

  • Take out trash regularly

  • Keep outside trash stored away from your house and with tight-fitting lids

  • Close off all entry points by sealing cracks and gaps in your home

  • Block off space around utility pipes, cables, and drains

  • Eliminate ventilation and moisture problems

  • Carefully examine packages, boxes, and furniture before bringing them inside

These tips are helpful, but the only sure way to get rid of cockroaches completely once they’ve infested your property is to enlist the services of an experienced pest control company in your area. Those DIY extermination tips that can be found all over the internet seldom work. They are time consuming, messy, and can be dangerous themselves. In Knoxville, Tennessee, you can count on Russell’s Pest Control, your trusted home pest control professionals, for successful cockroach solutions. Our home pest control programs offer relief from cockroaches. We know how important your family is to you, so contact us today for more information on how we can help you protect them from cockroaches in your home. We can tell you about our year-round residential Power programs that cover those unsightly roaches and other pests that plague your Knoxville, TN, home.

Holiday Cooking And Cockroaches

Holiday Cooking And Cockroaches

We realize this is an unsavory topic. The last thing you want to think about while getting ready for some holiday cooking is cockroaches. That is unless you’re already dealing with cockroaches. If you’re already seeing a cockroach here and there, cockroaches may be “all” you’re thinking about right now. Here are a few tips to protect your holiday foods from contamination.

Cockroach Protection

  • If you’ve seen a cockroach running across your kitchen floor or zipping up your wall, there is a good chance there are many more living inside your walls, and crawling around in places you can’t see, like your silverware drawer. The last thing you want to do is use a piece of silverware that has had a cockroach crawling on it. Keep these items safe by putting silverware in plastic containers or hard plastic bags. It may be inconvenient to retrieve these items when you need them, but it could prevent harmful bacteria from getting onto foods.

  • Cockroaches love pantries. It is important to make sure your pantry is protected. If you have cockroaches digging in your trash, nibbling on rotting organic matter under your fridge or on the side of your stove, and crawling on your toilets, they will spread harmful bacteria to your pantry items when they chew through paper or cardboard protected items. Protect these items by storing them in sealed plastic containers.

  • Since cockroaches love trash, and your trash can is one of the places they will pick up bacteria, it is a good idea to buy a trash can with a lid that seals. This will keep those cockroaches from coming and going as they please.

  • When you’re sleeping, cockroaches will be walking around on everything. Be sure to clean all food prep surfaces before you start your holiday cooking. Make sure to also clean cutting boards and dishes that will be used in the preparation of foods.

These tips can help to protect your family from the diseases and harmful bacteria that can be spread by cockroaches, but it is much better to live without cockroaches. If you live in our Tennessee service area, and you would like to get those roaches out of your home before you start your holiday cooking, we’d be happy to assist you. You can probably live with cockroaches, but you and your family will be a whole lot healthier if you don’t. Reach out to Russell’s Pest Control for complete cockroach exclusion. Our team of educated pest specialists know what is necessary to exterminate these dirty bugs and seal them out of your home.

It’s Just A Little Cockroach

It's Just A Little Cockroach

There are some pests that will invade your home that may cause a bit of a stir, but it would by no means be an emergency. Ants, for example, may infest your home; and while you would want to have them dealt with as soon as possible, a few days probably aren’t going to matter much. You may see carpet beetles just before leaving on vacation, but you won’t have to wonder if it’s ok to wait a week before having them removed because you already know that they won’t do much in a week. Yes, there are some pests that you will want to take care of, but they really don’t pose a risk to you or your family or your home. Cockroaches are not that type of pest.

Cockroaches are simply filthy. They love to inhabit nasty places that are full of bacteria and other pathogens like sewers, trash receptacles and drain pipes. They wallow around these disgusting places picking up whatever germs just happen to rub against them and carry those germs wherever they roam. So when cockroaches come crawling across your kitchen floor, up your counters, through your silverware drawer, and into your food storage areas, they are not just picking up a snack for themselves and harmlessly moving on. No! They are leaving pathogens wherever they travel. These germs are quite capable of making you and your family sick. Very sick!

Have you ever heard of salmonella, or staphylococcus, or how about streptococcus or even polio? I’m sure you have, but what you may not know is that cockroaches are capable of carrying and spreading these illnesses. So that bout of strep that was passing through your son’s school just may have started with a cockroach. And that staph infection that Aunt Mable picked up after her surgery at the local hospital just may have been spread by a cockroach. Not a very pleasant thought is it?

Cockroaches are defiantly a pest that poses a risk to you and your loved ones, and it is one of those pests that require immediate attention. There is no waiting when these bad boys come calling. Fortunately, for those of us here in Tennessee, the pest control specialists here at Russell’s Pest Control have the training, experience, and products to safely and effectively eliminate cockroaches from any home or business. For over 40 years, home and business owners here in Tennessee have trusted Russell’s to protect them from these and other harmful invasive pests, and you can too. We can come eliminate a one-time problem, or set you up with one of our pest control plans for year-round protection for peace of mind, knowing that your friends and family are protected.

Don’t let cockroaches bring illness to your home or business when the specialists here at Russell’s Pest Control are just a call or a click away.

Nobody Wants Cockroaches Sharing Their Home

Nobody Wants Cockroaches Sharing Their Home

Have you ever heard about what happened in the early 2000s? As people watched a television commercial play out, suddenly a cockroach began crawling around on their television screen. One man threw his shoe at his TV and broke it. Another person threw a helmet. But the cockroach wasn’t even real. It was just part of the television commercial! It got taken off the air fairly quickly. Wouldn’t it be nice if getting rid of cockroaches was really that easy? Well, actually, it can be, with a little help.

Before we tell you how you can get rid of cockroaches easily, let’s review some things you can do to keep cockroaches out in the first place. Here are some simple steps you can follow:

  • Dry up any moist/humid areas in your home with fans or dehumidifiers. Don’t leave standing water around sinks, tubs or toilets.

  • Carefully clean your home, paying close attention to areas where food is present.

  • Place dirty dishes in a sink full of soapy water instead of in a stack on the counter.

  • Store all food in the refrigerator or in tightly sealed containers.

  • Only put pet food down at mealtimes.

  • Carefully inspect the outside of your home and seal up any gaps or cracks.

  • Make sure all of your screens and door sweeps are in good working order.

  • Trim back bushes and trees from your home.

  • Keep a dry area around your home by creating a barrier of crushed rocks.

  • Do not leave pet food, or any other food outside.

  • Make sure all garbage cans are properly sealed and stored away from your house.

Get cockroaches out and keep them out!

If you have discovered that cockroaches have already invaded your home, Russell’s Pest Control can help. Having been in business since 1971, we’ve learned a few things about cockroaches. We’ve learned that, if left unchecked, cockroaches can multiply quickly. And we’ve learned that they spread diseases and illnesses such as salmonella, staphylococcus, polio, and many more, which is why we have developed year-round pest control plans, like our Power Package. This powerful plan is specifically designed to wipe out more than 30 harmful household pests, including the difficult-to-eradicate cockroach. At a low monthly rate, the Power Package offers quarterly pest service, year-round protection, and Russell’s Pest-Free Guarantee. This means that if we service your home, and pests return in between visits, we will gladly return and take care of the problem at no extra cost to you.

Get help today by calling the experts at Russell’s Pest Control and the only cockroaches you’ll see in your home are the ones crawling around in television commercials. A pest-free* home is a happy home.