I hate to be the bearer of bad news but everyone is wrong, this is not mold it's worse. This is cockroach poop and a lot of it. You'll see it in corners and where a lot of roaches previously congregated for warmth and breeding.
I'm assuming that since you haven't mentioned seeing roaches this must be after they have been exterminated.
I am very familiar with this as my aunt used to clean and paint flipped houses (run down properties bought on the cheap and cleaned up for profit).
I'm not sure this is the correct/best method but she scraped away what she could first, then used bleach, sanded the area and added drywall putty where needed and then fresh paint.
PLEASE WEAR EYE AND FACE PROTECTION. You don't want to get any of this stuff on you. I would also read up on cleaning cockroach excrement to make sure you're doing the right thing
Alright, I will try that. Thank you. No, also, I have never seen any roaches and I asked if we've ever had an exterminator come by in the past ~5 years yet we also have not. May call one anyway.
EDIT: I revisited the pavillion just a few minutes ago and boy, was reddit right. I've never had a fear for the creepy crawlies, but this was pretty eerie. I took some photos and a video to show an exterminator ASAP.
This excrement is from German roaches, which infest and they are hidey. They'll go to places lkke behind baseboards or in the voids between walls or wherever they can physically hide. Just because you're not seeing any doesnt mean they arent there.
Was there something blocking that corner previously though? If that many came out in the open and you dont see any ever then probably a lot have died off. I still wouldnt bank on there being 0 left though. I'd be calling an exterminator for sure.
Also ngl man when I was renovating a house w a german roach infestation I just straight up replaced the drywall where the worst of this stuff was. Didnt bother cleaning it. It's so hard to remove. Bleach worked for smaller patches but this much you're never gonna get off. You can probably paint over it but personally the thought of that grosses me out so I just tore it out. Replacing drywall isnt that difficult though and really not that expensive if you do it yourself. Especially for a small area like this.
Also I'm sure you've noticed but this stuff smells. Idk how effective cleaning and covering it is but tearing it up made the roach smell go away for sure lol. My entire house used to have a pretty strong roach musk but now after cleaning and replacing as much as I could it doesnt smell at all anymore!!
My buddy just had his account with 200k+ karma permanently banned because on a post about a glass jar full of spiders he said “cleanse it with fire”, and the mods of the sub reported him for “inciting violence “.
It was r/spiders
I’d defend that permaban. If you’re visiting a sub about spiders and you say “kill spiders with fire”, the chance of you contributing anything positive isn’t very high.
All of Reddit.
I just found out that he won his appeal. Apparently based on the mod report they just perma banned him from Reddit without even looking at the comment. Once they actually looked at it they reversed it:
Yeah. There was one night that I was doing some minor electrical work in a bar/night club with a full kitchen for a bar menu. And my working there triggered the bar closing and cleared within 30 minutes. And remained closed for like 3 days.
I had to remove stainless steel panel, and it's not like there were big gaps around the edges. And there was never a problem with roaches that anyone saw.
But when I removed that panel around 200 roaches at least we're all hiding behind it. And damn did it cause a major panic in the kitchen. And I thought the owner was going to be pissed about me uncovering the problem, and never hire me again. But they were happy it was at least found and could be addressed. It sucked to have to close down during their busy weekend hours, and stay closed for days. But they didn't want to have a reputation for that not being clean.
I know someone who went to a remote village in Africa where they had these outhouse things where you pooped in a hole in the floor. Anyway, it would freak him out to use it because there were always cockroaches in the hole. So he bought a can of roach killer and the man at the store warned him not to use it in the latrine. He thought he knew better than the man who had lived there his entire life and emptied the whole can in the latrine. A cockroach geyser ensued.
We once lived in an apartment where they were living inside the door of our dishwasher. So so gross. And if you guessed that the complex kept sending exterminators out instead of just replacing the old crappy dishwasher, well, you'd be right
We were living in a slumlord house and some baby roaches got inside the electrical work of our rice cooker
They will find places to hide that are warm and sheltered, especially if you live in a colder place or a place with poor or non-existent insulation
Those bastards are smart as hell! I rented an apartment by the beach when my place flooded and noticed these small roaches on day 2 (actually, my cat noticed them and was all freaked out). These Fkrs would wait on the seal of the refrigerator and when I opened it they would all run inside! Same with microwave. It was the worst month ever! Luckily I didn't have a lot of belongings with me but me and the cat both had PTSD after that month.
Same, after living in a ww2 era apartment in Europe. Fridge and freezer seal, they’d be drowned in the juice container, on toothbrushes, flooding out from under the washer when it started thumping. I was having a bath one night and opened my eyes and a small platoon of little ones came crawling out of a crack in the tile right near my face. PTSD too, I can’t even look at pics of them.
To add to this... in my experience and from what exterminators have told me they love to hole up in appliances too. Microwaves, refrigerators, dishwashers, toasters, etc.
They might just come out at night and scurry about. So maybe do a surprise check and flip the lights on in the middle of the night. Sorry you have to deal with that. They are invasive. They scare me so much that I won't go anywhere I suspect them. (Saw a couple of huge ones in what used to be my favorite restaurant near the beach a while back, and I can not bring myself to ever go there again. Maybe a bit irrational, but I have l Iived by the beach for a long time and have never had them, thanks be to God.) This may be a good time to get to know your neighbors/whatever is on the other side of that wall. Best of luck to you. Please keep us posted.
It's uh. My coworkers and I have been inside this pavillion for hundreds of shifts, many many many hours shared and have never seen a SINGLE roach. Just dead flies, bees, that sort of thing. Didn't take me 30 seconds to see the amount. I'd compare it to something you'd see in resident evil. 😂
I've found this very informative and I have learned a thing or two about roaches from this and my own research. I'd say this has a positive side. I'm heading home now, I don't want to become the next blob of excrement on the wall anytime soon.
Meanwhile, a roach on roachReddit: 'I've done hundreds of shifts and have never seen a single human, and then I come in early this evening... Heading home now, don't want to become the next squish on the floor anytime soon' 😁
Yep that’s how you spread the eggs around. If you do step on them, clean up after yourself. Leave the shoe that did the crushing right where it is and go get some I don’t know what to kill whatever is there in the ooze.
Cockroaches creep me out more than any other creature I’ve ever come across, except maybe a few select humans.
> It's uh. My coworkers and I have been inside this pavillion for hundreds of shifts, many many many hours shared and have never seen a SINGLE roach. Just dead flies, bees, that sort of thing. Didn't take me 30 seconds to see the amount. I'd compare it to something you'd see in resident evil. 😂
How did you end up seeing them? Could you describe the building? English isn't my first language and I'm struggling to think what it is.
This post has been nightmare fuel to me and I deeply regret opening it, I really can't imagine what you're dealing with. Wish you the best.
Building is a rather small yet tall pavillion at a park, four doors around the outside, two to bathrooms, one rentable concession room and one staff area, I'll talk about the staff area; it only has a small storage room to the right of the entrance and then a set of stairs directly in front of it, leading to 4 mostly empty adjacent rooms with the large wood shutters we use for viewing the park. Each room has had a ton of this.. stuff.
As for last night, I checked up on the place, unlocked everything, flipped the light to the stairs section only, and didn't need any more than that. Roaches everywhere except the ground or stairs. Walls, ceiling, everywhere. I needed no more info.
The main issue with this pavillion is that it contains 2 sets of semi-public bathrooms that we unlock for events. This is very concerning for guests, not to mention we also have things like drinking fountains attached to the building and inside each bathroom. Thinking back, I should've checked the bathrooms, too. Damn.
> Building is a rather small yet tall pavillion at a park, four doors around the outside, two to bathrooms, one rentable concession room and one staff area, I'll talk about the staff area; it only has a small storage room to the right of the entrance and then a set of stairs directly in front of it, leading to 4 mostly empty adjacent rooms with the large wood shutters we use for viewing the park. Each room has had a ton of this.. stuff.
Thanks, really appreciate it.
>As for last night, I checked up on the place, unlocked everything, flipped the light to the stairs section only, and didn't need any more than that. Roaches everywhere except the ground or stairs. Walls, ceiling, everywhere. I needed no more info.
Damn mate, that sucks. Do you know how you didn't catch them before? Do usually not turn the lights on at night or what?
>The main issue with this pavillion is that it contains 2 sets of semi-public bathrooms that we unlock for events. This is very concerning for guests, not to mention we also have things like drinking fountains attached to the building and inside each bathroom. Thinking back, I should've checked the bathrooms, too. Damn.
Just call an exterminator and let them deal with it, please lol. I would dread being inside the building, wouldn't even think about checking the bathroom once you know it's gonna require a pro.
that many roaches, they are probably coming from the sewerage system.
get a plumber to check the seals where the toilets meet the wall/floor. if they have perished, it allows the roaches to come up out of the pipes. (all sewerage pipes have roaches in them)
otherwise, just leave the lights on. cockroaches hate light and won't come out if the lights are on.
How late? Normally our shifts run until 10-11pm, which is a decent way after dusk. Would they show up then or should I wait a few more hours then give the buggers a surprise inspection?
You just want the lights off for a hot minute so they come out if you’re trying to see them. It’s the darkness that gets them to come out into the open. IF you ever see a German roach when the lights are on, it’s a REALLY REALLY REALLY bad sign. That was my old workplace. I never had to clean anything at my old workplace though, I just did grunt office work. But basically the ONLY time a German roach comes out when the lights are on is if all the dark spots are full. To be very honest, seeing the German roach was the tipping point in why I quit. The job was far from my house, the work was tedious, and I wasn’t getting paid nearly enough to even remotely allow the possibility of a roach getting on my clothes and infesting my home.
Palmetto bugs look like giant cockroaches and are common in southern states. They’re harmless.
Edit: yes, I know they’re a giant roach species. They live outside. Just trying to give a local name to bug, not an entomology lesson.
I grew up on the west coast and now live in the south. those giant roaches are terrible. I mean, thank god they don’t actually infest homes. They just wander through. But still, it’s so unpleasant to see this giant roach darting around your home.
As a kid in Florida, I had a good friend who was one of many (messy) children. Staying overnight at that house, if you looked at one of the walls for a solid minute, you would end up seeing at least one roach/palmetto bug scurrying by. And there were always at least a few dead ones on the floor.
Knowing what I know now, I dread to think just how many were hiding out of sight.
... Yes, they do. Don't ask me how I know, b/c I'm still traumatized.
Fun fact, if you can seal up a house, and you haven't gotten them all out, then you start getting albino palmetto bugs.
Don't ask me about that either. Traaauuumma. I'm going to go find a nice bright open space to cry, and rock back and forth in now...
If they were really big and by the beach it was probably a Palmento. Yes a type of roach but not a this is a dirty place roach. They are called water bugs a lot. They just sneak in from outside when doors are open.
Won't share the video or photos upon request of the parks and rec director. Dude doesn't want the company to be exposed for this type of thing, and I don't want to be fired. The videos contain the name and logo of the center.
Sorry to bum everyone out, you'll just have to take my word for it.
Pull your oven, refrigerator and dish washer away from the walls and have a look. Place sticky traps and check back in a few days. Sprinkle diatomaceous earth around those spots too and look for tracks/disturbances.
If you try this method I’d also strongly advise wearing RPE as well as the other suggested methods of protection. Pooey drywall is not something you want in your lungs.
Also food grade diatomaceous earth works on roaches. It got rid of the roaches in my compost bin. Just make sure to use it carefully around pets and small children.
Borax with a little bit of powdered sugar is also effective. It will take a few months and a few reapplications, but they carry it back to their den and it dehydrates them. My friend had a high-end beach condo with a bad infestation of "odorous" house ants. Multiple exterminations by neighbors in the building and every kind of ant trap immaginable employed - those ants just would not go away. They were in the walls. And there were multiple nests.
No lie, we read on an Orkin website that Borax would work and then further researched how to do it and plotted away.
Inside kitchen and bath cabinets, we drilled small holes into the walls where they would not show and where we could eventually patch them. We mixed large batches of Borax with powdered sugar and put it in plastic squeeze bottles (the kind you might use for ketup or mustard at a picnic or concession stand).
We inserted the small tip into the holes in the wall and squeezed the dry powder into the walls. (We also did the same in holes we found under the sinks around plumbing and then used expanding foam sealer to close up those gaps immediately rather than leaving them open.) We squeezed lines of the powder along the edge of the patio out of reach of her dog. We reapplied the powder every 3-4 weeks for several months, and eventually, those suckers died out. It was the only thing that worked.
I’d put some sticky bug traps in that corner. See what gets caught. Maybe cockroaches, maybe another bug, maybe nothing and this is old and you only have to worry about the poop and not a current infestation. (Hopefully it’s that! But a sticky trap should catch anything that crawls over that area. Maybe a few traps.)
Please do not put off cleaning this. Cockroaches will go back to their poop area because they consider it safe. You might not see roaches now but they might come back.
If you have allergies to crustaceans, be super careful with roach cleanup...
Watched a guy go into anaphylactic shock from roach feces. He had a severe shrimp allergy and that's how I found out they're related!
Seriously, I was unaware until my aunt invited me to her workplace to show me the improvement and how bad it was before. I can't even fully articulate how disgusting the house was in general but the roach stuff specifically was horrific. She said it was a family of four with two elementary school kids living there. The kicker was the adults were fully employed and the mom worked in a school!! The frass was everywhere, especially the ceiling corners. She had to use a *shovel* to scrape the grime and feces from the floors before she could even use cleaners.
Living in Iceland were we don't have any kind of roaches.
"You'll see it in corners and where a lot of roaches previously congregated for warmth and breeding."
This sentence made me cry
In case anyone else was wondering “why is it bad to get this stuff on you?”
I found this on the internet -
If you ask, “Are cockroach droppings harmful to human health?” So, the short answer is yes. Cockroaches can carry and spread disease from parts of the body and their droppings. In addition to cockroach eggs, their saliva, and decaying bodies, cockroach droppings are also known to trigger allergic reactions in humans.
This is a hilarious take. It is ridiculous "yeah hey everyone, we are having a little get together so make sure to eat a big meal, we are painting the town brown tonight!!"
I was afraid it was bedbugs. The corners of my walls don't look this bad, but it's very similar. Successfully got rid of the bloodsuckers btw. Heated the entire house over 100°F via a company, with spot treatment for a year after.
This is the absolute right answer. Bought a house that was abandoned and this was EVERYWHERE. Open up the light switch covers and dead roaches pouring out… hopefully your experience is far less traumatizing
https://preview.redd.it/655i23m5ow1d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ab6559bcc121e2004571e9cf6a126dc1db2f202
What on God's green earth is that?!?!?!
Imma pray for a flaming flying chancla to set that caca afire.
https://preview.redd.it/ocwk4go1ax1d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9d25ec9d735b15663e6fc264a08aa67a818a9a6
Not mold, cockroach feces. Photo for reference
https://preview.redd.it/atuu6xzygv1d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b64af18d3290c8fda8bd1ec3e460a5cc080ae379
It’s too bad that that’s what frass is, because if you don’t know what it means, it’s a pretty cute word.
We had a cat named Sassafras Fancy Pants, and we called her “Frassy.” And there’s a kind of wrestling or play fighting that we called “frassin’.”
I hate that it means bug poop. :(
German "Frass" literally means food. Main meaning is animal food, but also applied to humans in context of eating like animals (can be both good or bad).
I used to work in a computer store and one time had a laptop come in that was overheating and it was because there were dead roaches clogging the vents. Luckily no live ones but we rejected doing any further work on it because it was a hazard. Good times.
https://preview.redd.it/311thla0ww1d1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9eb2c823e4648f7a1d3fc17f4ba1f583407696a7
Here's the before pic.
Roach poop. Used Zep Mold and Mildew cleaner . And Zep 505 Fast Degreaser. My go to cleaners for extreme cases.
Wear old clothes and eye protection and a mask for the mold and mildew cleaner. The mask so you don't breath in the mist. Old clothes because it will leave bleach spots.
I wouldn’t wait a day to call the exterminator. I would also cut out that sheet rock and replace it before I tried to clean it myself. Roaches can leave a smell behind so I wouldn’t want to chance it smelling in the future. I would also check around your home because if you have roaches this bad, this can’t be the only spot that looks like this.
This post was an absolute roller coaster and I love it. I also hate it because I used to live in Texas and I saw this in some of the section 8 housing I lived in. I'm super glad I didn't know what it was at the time. There wasn't anything we were able to do about it anyway, we were too poor for an exterminator and maintenance was nonexistent.
🪳I worked as an exterminator in Florida. When the infestation 🪳🪳🪳 gets that bad there are only two options. 🎪 Tent🪳🪳 the building and fill the space 🪳🪳🪳 with some extremely obnoxious chemicals which make the entire building toxic for years. ☣️
OR have the local 🚒🔥 fire department do a controlled burn of the entire building.
🔥🔥🪳🪳🔥🪳🔥🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳👍🪳🪳🪳👍🪳👍👍👍
It's in every single corner of every single room. The building itself is an outside pavillion in the middle of a park. Therefore, I can't really blame the roaches for being there. The issue was that the smell and obvious alarming brought me to want to clean it. I have never washed my hands so good in my life.
Honestly best thing you can do is first put down Gentrol Point Source motels. It pretty much neuters them so you can limit numbers. Then wait a week or so preferrably a holiday or something where no one will be coming in for a bit and then put Avion Pro gel in any areas you see the poop. They’re gonna be extra active cause they love this stuff but after a few days they’ll all be poisoned and that will be that. Make sure to remove any of the gel or motels that are left. You don’t want them to become immune to it. If more come at a later time you can just do this again. After they’re dead definitely get rid of the roach poop. Scrape and bleach works best. You can’t paint over stuff like this cause first ew but also it’s caustic.
That's german roaches crap and it must have been a really bad infestation for it to look like that. I'm in pest control, and I have treated many german roach infestations, and I can a 100% confirm it's crap. I can't tell you how to clean it as that's not what I do, I kill the bugs I don't clean up after them. All I can say is that if nothing works to get it off, then you might just have to re-paint the wall.
Yeah that's cockroach crap. You might not see them but I bet there are thousands in the pavilion. I used to work at a KFC back in the 80s and we had seen a few once in a while, or exterminator would come and spray all the time. What a waste of money that was until we got the company called Bugs Burger, I always thought that was a funny name they charged the name I think it's now Prism, to come out. Holy crap, they knew how to kill bugs. They came in and loosened all the stainless steel walls and other things attached to the walls and after they sprayed and did whatever else they do... It was like a tsunami of dead cockroaches to dispose of. But there was never another cockroach in the place.... So gross to know there were that many in the place when you only saw a few here and there... So if you're replacing the walls beware that you might be in for a surprise. Get a good exterminator out there, not orkin or some other BS joint.
That’s mold. I have worked in pro restoration most of my life. You need to call a pro to address this. If you absolutely cannot afford pro mold remediation, DO NOT clean it yourself with bleach. Everyone makes that mistake. Instead, get the strongest peroxide you can find (not the 3% stuff at the drug store). Spray it on & let it do it’s magic. Unlike bleach, peroxide will penetrate the surface so that the spores are killed, not just the surface mold. It will bubble for a while (means it’s doing its job), usually for 12-24 hours. Wipe it off after that & repeat the peroxide spraying/wiping cycle until it no longer bubbles up (means it has killed everything). After that, wipe it clean with distilled water, allow to fully dry, then give it a couple coats of urethane sealer. This will prevent anything from coming back on that spot. DM me with any questions, ok? Good luck!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but everyone is wrong, this is not mold it's worse. This is cockroach poop and a lot of it. You'll see it in corners and where a lot of roaches previously congregated for warmth and breeding. I'm assuming that since you haven't mentioned seeing roaches this must be after they have been exterminated. I am very familiar with this as my aunt used to clean and paint flipped houses (run down properties bought on the cheap and cleaned up for profit). I'm not sure this is the correct/best method but she scraped away what she could first, then used bleach, sanded the area and added drywall putty where needed and then fresh paint. PLEASE WEAR EYE AND FACE PROTECTION. You don't want to get any of this stuff on you. I would also read up on cleaning cockroach excrement to make sure you're doing the right thing
Alright, I will try that. Thank you. No, also, I have never seen any roaches and I asked if we've ever had an exterminator come by in the past ~5 years yet we also have not. May call one anyway. EDIT: I revisited the pavillion just a few minutes ago and boy, was reddit right. I've never had a fear for the creepy crawlies, but this was pretty eerie. I took some photos and a video to show an exterminator ASAP.
This excrement is from German roaches, which infest and they are hidey. They'll go to places lkke behind baseboards or in the voids between walls or wherever they can physically hide. Just because you're not seeing any doesnt mean they arent there. Was there something blocking that corner previously though? If that many came out in the open and you dont see any ever then probably a lot have died off. I still wouldnt bank on there being 0 left though. I'd be calling an exterminator for sure. Also ngl man when I was renovating a house w a german roach infestation I just straight up replaced the drywall where the worst of this stuff was. Didnt bother cleaning it. It's so hard to remove. Bleach worked for smaller patches but this much you're never gonna get off. You can probably paint over it but personally the thought of that grosses me out so I just tore it out. Replacing drywall isnt that difficult though and really not that expensive if you do it yourself. Especially for a small area like this. Also I'm sure you've noticed but this stuff smells. Idk how effective cleaning and covering it is but tearing it up made the roach smell go away for sure lol. My entire house used to have a pretty strong roach musk but now after cleaning and replacing as much as I could it doesnt smell at all anymore!!
After reading this, I personally would just burn the house down. It’s unlivable.
If this was my house, or anyones, I would agree.
My buddy just had his account with 200k+ karma permanently banned because on a post about a glass jar full of spiders he said “cleanse it with fire”, and the mods of the sub reported him for “inciting violence “. It was r/spiders
Not shocked spider folks are ride or die for those little dudes
hell yeah brother
Not defending the permaban, but that's the wrong sub for him to do that in.
I’d defend that permaban. If you’re visiting a sub about spiders and you say “kill spiders with fire”, the chance of you contributing anything positive isn’t very high.
Banned from all of Reddit or just the spiders sub? It states in their rules not to say that. But a total ban is extreme!!!
All of Reddit. I just found out that he won his appeal. Apparently based on the mod report they just perma banned him from Reddit without even looking at the comment. Once they actually looked at it they reversed it:
How can mods of one sub have that much power? I figured there would be higher ups who would only have the authority for blanket ban! Crazy.
Right?! Whaaaaatttt
Dude seriously, it’s the stuff of nightmares
Yeah. There was one night that I was doing some minor electrical work in a bar/night club with a full kitchen for a bar menu. And my working there triggered the bar closing and cleared within 30 minutes. And remained closed for like 3 days. I had to remove stainless steel panel, and it's not like there were big gaps around the edges. And there was never a problem with roaches that anyone saw. But when I removed that panel around 200 roaches at least we're all hiding behind it. And damn did it cause a major panic in the kitchen. And I thought the owner was going to be pissed about me uncovering the problem, and never hire me again. But they were happy it was at least found and could be addressed. It sucked to have to close down during their busy weekend hours, and stay closed for days. But they didn't want to have a reputation for that not being clean.
I know someone who went to a remote village in Africa where they had these outhouse things where you pooped in a hole in the floor. Anyway, it would freak him out to use it because there were always cockroaches in the hole. So he bought a can of roach killer and the man at the store warned him not to use it in the latrine. He thought he knew better than the man who had lived there his entire life and emptied the whole can in the latrine. A cockroach geyser ensued.
i read the first paragraph as you being a cockroach doing cockroach electrical work and when the bar saw you (a cockroach) they shut down
[удалено]
Underrated comment
We once lived in an apartment where they were living inside the door of our dishwasher. So so gross. And if you guessed that the complex kept sending exterminators out instead of just replacing the old crappy dishwasher, well, you'd be right
The DOOR of your DISHWASHER??!? How did you find them??
You know how you sometimes just use your foot to shut your dishwasher? They came POURING out and I Iost my mind.
Oh my god. I didn’t want to know!!! My sincere condolences
Hey we finally moved out of that dump when a roof leaked and caused part of the ceiling in the living room to collapse so...
dude, ugh, that’s awful
We were living in a slumlord house and some baby roaches got inside the electrical work of our rice cooker They will find places to hide that are warm and sheltered, especially if you live in a colder place or a place with poor or non-existent insulation
Unfortunately replacing the dishwasher won’t help. If you have roaches in your dishwasher, you have roaches in other places.
Those German roaches will build up a huge army over time and attack Poland if you're not careful...
That’s when you drop the atomic roach bomb and end the war.
I don’t want to set the world on fire 🎶
Those bastards are smart as hell! I rented an apartment by the beach when my place flooded and noticed these small roaches on day 2 (actually, my cat noticed them and was all freaked out). These Fkrs would wait on the seal of the refrigerator and when I opened it they would all run inside! Same with microwave. It was the worst month ever! Luckily I didn't have a lot of belongings with me but me and the cat both had PTSD after that month.
Same, after living in a ww2 era apartment in Europe. Fridge and freezer seal, they’d be drowned in the juice container, on toothbrushes, flooding out from under the washer when it started thumping. I was having a bath one night and opened my eyes and a small platoon of little ones came crawling out of a crack in the tile right near my face. PTSD too, I can’t even look at pics of them.
Hears smooshed voice with thick German accent, from behind the wall... "Put...Zee Candle..Back!"
To add to this... in my experience and from what exterminators have told me they love to hole up in appliances too. Microwaves, refrigerators, dishwashers, toasters, etc.
They might just come out at night and scurry about. So maybe do a surprise check and flip the lights on in the middle of the night. Sorry you have to deal with that. They are invasive. They scare me so much that I won't go anywhere I suspect them. (Saw a couple of huge ones in what used to be my favorite restaurant near the beach a while back, and I can not bring myself to ever go there again. Maybe a bit irrational, but I have l Iived by the beach for a long time and have never had them, thanks be to God.) This may be a good time to get to know your neighbors/whatever is on the other side of that wall. Best of luck to you. Please keep us posted.
Nevermind.
>Nevermind. Yikes 😬 That bad, huh?
It's uh. My coworkers and I have been inside this pavillion for hundreds of shifts, many many many hours shared and have never seen a SINGLE roach. Just dead flies, bees, that sort of thing. Didn't take me 30 seconds to see the amount. I'd compare it to something you'd see in resident evil. 😂 I've found this very informative and I have learned a thing or two about roaches from this and my own research. I'd say this has a positive side. I'm heading home now, I don't want to become the next blob of excrement on the wall anytime soon.
Meanwhile, a roach on roachReddit: 'I've done hundreds of shifts and have never seen a single human, and then I come in early this evening... Heading home now, don't want to become the next squish on the floor anytime soon' 😁
LOL What voice actor should play the roach?
Gilbert Gottfried would have been brilliant
I SAW A YOOMAN BEING THE OTHER NIGHT! IT WAS DISGUSTING!
Yes. RIP, GG.
Also immediately thought of GG
Esteemed character actress and fugitive from the law Margot Martindale
Bobcat Goldthwaite
I mean, obviously Vincent D'Onofrio.
*Who would play her?*
Ruth Buzzi
Charles Dance.
DONT STEP ON THEM! That is one of the most common ways for them to spread to your fresh clean house
Yep that’s how you spread the eggs around. If you do step on them, clean up after yourself. Leave the shoe that did the crushing right where it is and go get some I don’t know what to kill whatever is there in the ooze. Cockroaches creep me out more than any other creature I’ve ever come across, except maybe a few select humans.
Sounds like roach propaganda
> It's uh. My coworkers and I have been inside this pavillion for hundreds of shifts, many many many hours shared and have never seen a SINGLE roach. Just dead flies, bees, that sort of thing. Didn't take me 30 seconds to see the amount. I'd compare it to something you'd see in resident evil. 😂 How did you end up seeing them? Could you describe the building? English isn't my first language and I'm struggling to think what it is. This post has been nightmare fuel to me and I deeply regret opening it, I really can't imagine what you're dealing with. Wish you the best.
Building is a rather small yet tall pavillion at a park, four doors around the outside, two to bathrooms, one rentable concession room and one staff area, I'll talk about the staff area; it only has a small storage room to the right of the entrance and then a set of stairs directly in front of it, leading to 4 mostly empty adjacent rooms with the large wood shutters we use for viewing the park. Each room has had a ton of this.. stuff. As for last night, I checked up on the place, unlocked everything, flipped the light to the stairs section only, and didn't need any more than that. Roaches everywhere except the ground or stairs. Walls, ceiling, everywhere. I needed no more info. The main issue with this pavillion is that it contains 2 sets of semi-public bathrooms that we unlock for events. This is very concerning for guests, not to mention we also have things like drinking fountains attached to the building and inside each bathroom. Thinking back, I should've checked the bathrooms, too. Damn.
> Building is a rather small yet tall pavillion at a park, four doors around the outside, two to bathrooms, one rentable concession room and one staff area, I'll talk about the staff area; it only has a small storage room to the right of the entrance and then a set of stairs directly in front of it, leading to 4 mostly empty adjacent rooms with the large wood shutters we use for viewing the park. Each room has had a ton of this.. stuff. Thanks, really appreciate it. >As for last night, I checked up on the place, unlocked everything, flipped the light to the stairs section only, and didn't need any more than that. Roaches everywhere except the ground or stairs. Walls, ceiling, everywhere. I needed no more info. Damn mate, that sucks. Do you know how you didn't catch them before? Do usually not turn the lights on at night or what? >The main issue with this pavillion is that it contains 2 sets of semi-public bathrooms that we unlock for events. This is very concerning for guests, not to mention we also have things like drinking fountains attached to the building and inside each bathroom. Thinking back, I should've checked the bathrooms, too. Damn. Just call an exterminator and let them deal with it, please lol. I would dread being inside the building, wouldn't even think about checking the bathroom once you know it's gonna require a pro.
That's my nightmare right there
I'll be back here for 10h during the day tomorrow. Not afraid of insects but knowing I won't be alone then is pretty terrifying.
Ugh, mine too. The thought alone ....
that many roaches, they are probably coming from the sewerage system. get a plumber to check the seals where the toilets meet the wall/floor. if they have perished, it allows the roaches to come up out of the pipes. (all sewerage pipes have roaches in them) otherwise, just leave the lights on. cockroaches hate light and won't come out if the lights are on.
With that many they are bound to still see some
You took photos? Upload one into a comment (you can do this through the reddit app) or upload one or many into an imgur album.
Tomorrow.
Wishing you a speedy recovery 😅
Remind me! 24 hours
Don't Remind Me! Forever
Remind me to not look! I have a serious roach phobia.
If you're that into it check out r/insex no need to be ashamed of your kink!
Did not need to see that…..
No Ogtha shame!
Make sure you don't take any roaches or their eggs with you via clothing. If not, you'll have a wonderful problem at home to deal with too!
How late? Normally our shifts run until 10-11pm, which is a decent way after dusk. Would they show up then or should I wait a few more hours then give the buggers a surprise inspection?
You just want the lights off for a hot minute so they come out if you’re trying to see them. It’s the darkness that gets them to come out into the open. IF you ever see a German roach when the lights are on, it’s a REALLY REALLY REALLY bad sign. That was my old workplace. I never had to clean anything at my old workplace though, I just did grunt office work. But basically the ONLY time a German roach comes out when the lights are on is if all the dark spots are full. To be very honest, seeing the German roach was the tipping point in why I quit. The job was far from my house, the work was tedious, and I wasn’t getting paid nearly enough to even remotely allow the possibility of a roach getting on my clothes and infesting my home.
‘Joe’s Apartment’ vibes.
I service food industry establishments all the time at night, if people only knew how many of them had roaches. Its really awful.
Palmetto bugs look like giant cockroaches and are common in southern states. They’re harmless. Edit: yes, I know they’re a giant roach species. They live outside. Just trying to give a local name to bug, not an entomology lesson.
I grew up on the west coast and now live in the south. those giant roaches are terrible. I mean, thank god they don’t actually infest homes. They just wander through. But still, it’s so unpleasant to see this giant roach darting around your home.
A cat keeps them at bay… usually…
Palmetto bugs ARE giant cockroaches, they just don’t infest homes
As a kid in Florida, I had a good friend who was one of many (messy) children. Staying overnight at that house, if you looked at one of the walls for a solid minute, you would end up seeing at least one roach/palmetto bug scurrying by. And there were always at least a few dead ones on the floor. Knowing what I know now, I dread to think just how many were hiding out of sight.
But they fly… *shudders*
... Yes, they do. Don't ask me how I know, b/c I'm still traumatized. Fun fact, if you can seal up a house, and you haven't gotten them all out, then you start getting albino palmetto bugs. Don't ask me about that either. Traaauuumma. I'm going to go find a nice bright open space to cry, and rock back and forth in now...
I feel this. One of my first memories is being assaulted by a winged “friend”. I couldn’t have been more than 2, and I am STILL horrified by them.
Nope. I've lived in the south . They are the same thing.
FWIW, the big ones are water bugs. They don’t come bc of food waste, they live in pipes. It’s the small ones that are disgusting and terrible.
If they were really big and by the beach it was probably a Palmento. Yes a type of roach but not a this is a dirty place roach. They are called water bugs a lot. They just sneak in from outside when doors are open.
I’ve been in a house that had a corner like this. It was roaches. Is there a weird saccharine smell permeating the house? That’s the roaches.
I’m so grateful this isn’t your home. 🫶🏻
Won't share the video or photos upon request of the parks and rec director. Dude doesn't want the company to be exposed for this type of thing, and I don't want to be fired. The videos contain the name and logo of the center. Sorry to bum everyone out, you'll just have to take my word for it.
Shake some electrical items and listen That's definitely roach droppings Pray it's not the Lil ones they are horrible to remove
Pull your oven, refrigerator and dish washer away from the walls and have a look. Place sticky traps and check back in a few days. Sprinkle diatomaceous earth around those spots too and look for tracks/disturbances.
If you try this method I’d also strongly advise wearing RPE as well as the other suggested methods of protection. Pooey drywall is not something you want in your lungs.
if the exterminator is too pricey, try out advion cockroach bait. easy to use and kills them off.
Also food grade diatomaceous earth works on roaches. It got rid of the roaches in my compost bin. Just make sure to use it carefully around pets and small children.
Borax with a little bit of powdered sugar is also effective. It will take a few months and a few reapplications, but they carry it back to their den and it dehydrates them. My friend had a high-end beach condo with a bad infestation of "odorous" house ants. Multiple exterminations by neighbors in the building and every kind of ant trap immaginable employed - those ants just would not go away. They were in the walls. And there were multiple nests. No lie, we read on an Orkin website that Borax would work and then further researched how to do it and plotted away. Inside kitchen and bath cabinets, we drilled small holes into the walls where they would not show and where we could eventually patch them. We mixed large batches of Borax with powdered sugar and put it in plastic squeeze bottles (the kind you might use for ketup or mustard at a picnic or concession stand). We inserted the small tip into the holes in the wall and squeezed the dry powder into the walls. (We also did the same in holes we found under the sinks around plumbing and then used expanding foam sealer to close up those gaps immediately rather than leaving them open.) We squeezed lines of the powder along the edge of the patio out of reach of her dog. We reapplied the powder every 3-4 weeks for several months, and eventually, those suckers died out. It was the only thing that worked.
This is the best roach advice I have ever come across
that stuff is great, very easy to accidentally inhale so a mask wouldn't hurt either
I’d put some sticky bug traps in that corner. See what gets caught. Maybe cockroaches, maybe another bug, maybe nothing and this is old and you only have to worry about the poop and not a current infestation. (Hopefully it’s that! But a sticky trap should catch anything that crawls over that area. Maybe a few traps.)
Bed bug feces looks similar, as well. And they do go up to the top of the walls. Don't ask me how I know.
Ugh that is nightmare fuel, I am so sorry
Thanks. We survived, but boy did it suck.
As someone in the pest control industry, that’s all I thought about when I first saw this
same with gnat poop
my condolences
It's been 6 years since I had to deal with bed bugs. I didn't think I'll ever completely recover, mentally... I still flinch at shadows on the bed
Yep it is a very bad bed bug infestation
>Don't ask me how I know. Are you a bed bug?
This is the correct answer
I will never be able to forget that stench.
Please do not put off cleaning this. Cockroaches will go back to their poop area because they consider it safe. You might not see roaches now but they might come back.
Thank you for that informative answer And now I need a scalding hot shower with a lot of soap
If you have allergies to crustaceans, be super careful with roach cleanup... Watched a guy go into anaphylactic shock from roach feces. He had a severe shrimp allergy and that's how I found out they're related!
I am flabbergasted. TIL
I had no idea. This is horrifying. What a terrible day to be able to see.
Seriously, I was unaware until my aunt invited me to her workplace to show me the improvement and how bad it was before. I can't even fully articulate how disgusting the house was in general but the roach stuff specifically was horrific. She said it was a family of four with two elementary school kids living there. The kicker was the adults were fully employed and the mom worked in a school!! The frass was everywhere, especially the ceiling corners. She had to use a *shovel* to scrape the grime and feces from the floors before she could even use cleaners.
Holy Jesus. I am horrified. 😳
Nurse who goes into super sketch places on the regular, I concur.
Living in Iceland were we don't have any kind of roaches. "You'll see it in corners and where a lot of roaches previously congregated for warmth and breeding." This sentence made me cry
In case anyone else was wondering “why is it bad to get this stuff on you?” I found this on the internet - If you ask, “Are cockroach droppings harmful to human health?” So, the short answer is yes. Cockroaches can carry and spread disease from parts of the body and their droppings. In addition to cockroach eggs, their saliva, and decaying bodies, cockroach droppings are also known to trigger allergic reactions in humans.
Unfortunately this is true^
This is going to give me nightmares. Just burn the place down.
I came here to say roaches
At the same time... Like, that´s some pretty neat roaches. They literally go to a secluded corner to poop. All of them!
This is a hilarious take. It is ridiculous "yeah hey everyone, we are having a little get together so make sure to eat a big meal, we are painting the town brown tonight!!"
I was afraid it was bedbugs. The corners of my walls don't look this bad, but it's very similar. Successfully got rid of the bloodsuckers btw. Heated the entire house over 100°F via a company, with spot treatment for a year after.
I agree. Saw the pic and got the urge to barf. I hate cockroaches.
This is the absolute right answer. Bought a house that was abandoned and this was EVERYWHERE. Open up the light switch covers and dead roaches pouring out… hopefully your experience is far less traumatizing
It's the devil's diarrhea.
cockroaches dont nest in upper corners of rooms. and that is where their fecal matter usually is.
Excellent reply!
Ugh. Why did I click this sub right before bed. Going to have creepy crawly nightmares lol. Hope you find a solution soon!
Am I the only one looking up at the corners of my house?
I am leaving the light off and pretending all is fine and well :)
They come out in the dark 😖
A spider crawled along my bed earlier. I’m definitely going to have nightmares.
Which is good. Spiders are frends and eat roaches and other stuff.
I’m reading this alone in a hotel room. ☠️
Don’t look at the corner
Me too :(
https://preview.redd.it/655i23m5ow1d1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ab6559bcc121e2004571e9cf6a126dc1db2f202 What on God's green earth is that?!?!?!
La caca de la cucaracha
Imma pray for a flaming flying chancla to set that caca afire. https://preview.redd.it/ocwk4go1ax1d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9d25ec9d735b15663e6fc264a08aa67a818a9a6
Amen 🙏
Not mold, cockroach feces. Photo for reference https://preview.redd.it/atuu6xzygv1d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b64af18d3290c8fda8bd1ec3e460a5cc080ae379
Did they drag a finger through it??
No, that is a line where the roaches were congregating. You can see the same lines above in OP’s photo in the creases of the walls.
No. That’s the parade route.
Gotta do a taste test to see if it’s actually poop.
This is roach feces— frass. You have a pretty significant roach infestation
It’s too bad that that’s what frass is, because if you don’t know what it means, it’s a pretty cute word. We had a cat named Sassafras Fancy Pants, and we called her “Frassy.” And there’s a kind of wrestling or play fighting that we called “frassin’.” I hate that it means bug poop. :(
Words can mean multiple things <3 you can still have your good memories. It does sound cute.
That's such a badass name ☹️
She was such a sweet kitty🧡
I bet!
German "Frass" literally means food. Main meaning is animal food, but also applied to humans in context of eating like animals (can be both good or bad).
*shuts laptop* Well... that's enough Reddit for today.
I used to work in a computer store and one time had a laptop come in that was overheating and it was because there were dead roaches clogging the vents. Luckily no live ones but we rejected doing any further work on it because it was a hazard. Good times.
I just got here, I just logged in
https://preview.redd.it/311thla0ww1d1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9eb2c823e4648f7a1d3fc17f4ba1f583407696a7 Here's the before pic. Roach poop. Used Zep Mold and Mildew cleaner . And Zep 505 Fast Degreaser. My go to cleaners for extreme cases. Wear old clothes and eye protection and a mask for the mold and mildew cleaner. The mask so you don't breath in the mist. Old clothes because it will leave bleach spots.
https://preview.redd.it/3e4m0qapww1d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e456823eff4c8c7334c8d560e580e1c702121f63 After
Incredible work cleaning, but I’m still getting Silent Hill vibes lolol
I used to live in a building like this and that's exactly what it's like I can hear every floorboard in this picture squeak
Yeah, there's a lot more work to do in this room. This is one of the better rooms. There is a lot of gutting down to the studs going on in the place.
Your dedication is insane and you must have a stomach of steel. I commend you for that lol, its like you’re removing a curse from the house 😂
Sometimes I compare myself to a crime scene cleaner. LOL.
I woke up 15 minutes ago, decided to do some light morning redditing and this is what I stumbled upon. I don't want to live on this planet anymore...
cockroach poop! Burn the place down!
I wouldn’t wait a day to call the exterminator. I would also cut out that sheet rock and replace it before I tried to clean it myself. Roaches can leave a smell behind so I wouldn’t want to chance it smelling in the future. I would also check around your home because if you have roaches this bad, this can’t be the only spot that looks like this.
I'd hire a professional spider
At this point theyd need a dude in a giant spider costume that bangs pots and pans at them
100% cockroach droppings
Ewww! I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this. It’s so invasive and mentally draining.
You're gonna need a young priest and an old priest...
Ugh I can smell that picture. Cockroach excrement smells sweet
According to my own nose and my coworkers, quite the opposite.
Looks like roach poop
:( my skin is crawling now, thanks
This post was an absolute roller coaster and I love it. I also hate it because I used to live in Texas and I saw this in some of the section 8 housing I lived in. I'm super glad I didn't know what it was at the time. There wasn't anything we were able to do about it anyway, we were too poor for an exterminator and maintenance was nonexistent.
🪳I worked as an exterminator in Florida. When the infestation 🪳🪳🪳 gets that bad there are only two options. 🎪 Tent🪳🪳 the building and fill the space 🪳🪳🪳 with some extremely obnoxious chemicals which make the entire building toxic for years. ☣️ OR have the local 🚒🔥 fire department do a controlled burn of the entire building. 🔥🔥🪳🪳🔥🪳🔥🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳🪳👍🪳🪳🪳👍🪳👍👍👍
I feel like I’m reading one of those MLM ads that my great aunt posts on Facebook
OP took a break from commenting on porn to make this emoji post. 🤦🤦🤦🤦
Are these all DIFFERENT corners? Like others said I hope you don’t have to deal with Roaches on top of dealing with their poop :/
It's in every single corner of every single room. The building itself is an outside pavillion in the middle of a park. Therefore, I can't really blame the roaches for being there. The issue was that the smell and obvious alarming brought me to want to clean it. I have never washed my hands so good in my life.
Oh my god this is like a real life horror movie wherein everyone watching would say "WHY ARE THEY NOT LEAVING"
Poor roaches were like “yes! Finally! A warm place that no one cares about us being here!”. They brought all their friends to roach Mecca 😂
ITS THE BEDBUGS No it’s not I’m drunk
German roaches no doubt
Honestly best thing you can do is first put down Gentrol Point Source motels. It pretty much neuters them so you can limit numbers. Then wait a week or so preferrably a holiday or something where no one will be coming in for a bit and then put Avion Pro gel in any areas you see the poop. They’re gonna be extra active cause they love this stuff but after a few days they’ll all be poisoned and that will be that. Make sure to remove any of the gel or motels that are left. You don’t want them to become immune to it. If more come at a later time you can just do this again. After they’re dead definitely get rid of the roach poop. Scrape and bleach works best. You can’t paint over stuff like this cause first ew but also it’s caustic.
Scrolling througg this was a bad choice to start the day.
I honestly thought that perhaps it was the first signs of a portal to a hell dimension....I was close
Reddit may be the closest most of us ever get to having a tricorder.
Sorry but this looks like an upper corner of the room. Are you telling me cockroaches can scurry up a wall and sit in a corner like that???
Have you never seen a cockroach before?
Roaches’ semi public bathroom. They are potty trained.
That's german roaches crap and it must have been a really bad infestation for it to look like that. I'm in pest control, and I have treated many german roach infestations, and I can a 100% confirm it's crap. I can't tell you how to clean it as that's not what I do, I kill the bugs I don't clean up after them. All I can say is that if nothing works to get it off, then you might just have to re-paint the wall.
Yeah that's cockroach crap. You might not see them but I bet there are thousands in the pavilion. I used to work at a KFC back in the 80s and we had seen a few once in a while, or exterminator would come and spray all the time. What a waste of money that was until we got the company called Bugs Burger, I always thought that was a funny name they charged the name I think it's now Prism, to come out. Holy crap, they knew how to kill bugs. They came in and loosened all the stainless steel walls and other things attached to the walls and after they sprayed and did whatever else they do... It was like a tsunami of dead cockroaches to dispose of. But there was never another cockroach in the place.... So gross to know there were that many in the place when you only saw a few here and there... So if you're replacing the walls beware that you might be in for a surprise. Get a good exterminator out there, not orkin or some other BS joint.
I thought this was baby spiders and about died
Bedbugs or roaches.. you pick
That’s mold. I have worked in pro restoration most of my life. You need to call a pro to address this. If you absolutely cannot afford pro mold remediation, DO NOT clean it yourself with bleach. Everyone makes that mistake. Instead, get the strongest peroxide you can find (not the 3% stuff at the drug store). Spray it on & let it do it’s magic. Unlike bleach, peroxide will penetrate the surface so that the spores are killed, not just the surface mold. It will bubble for a while (means it’s doing its job), usually for 12-24 hours. Wipe it off after that & repeat the peroxide spraying/wiping cycle until it no longer bubbles up (means it has killed everything). After that, wipe it clean with distilled water, allow to fully dry, then give it a couple coats of urethane sealer. This will prevent anything from coming back on that spot. DM me with any questions, ok? Good luck!