Roach Prep List

Tick these off as you go. Do the prep only in the rooms where you have seen German roaches. Leave the other rooms alone. Prep is the difference between one visit and four.

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Before we arrive

• Only in the rooms where you have seen German roaches: empty the cabinets and drawers. Put everything on the table or the bed.
• Empty under the sink in those rooms too, kitchen or bathroom.
• Clear the counters in those rooms. Move the toaster, the coffee maker, the dish rack.
• If the roaches are in the kitchen, pull the fridge and the stove out from the wall if you can do it safely. If not, leave them and we will work around them.
• Bag anything we should not treat. Toasters, clocks, books, papers. Seal the bag.
• Clean the food prep areas in those rooms. Wipe up crumbs and grease, wipe the counters and the stove top, and take the trash out. Roaches need food and water, and a clean kitchen makes our bait the best meal in the house.
• Put pet food away and pick up pet bowls.
• Do not spray or bomb anything yourself first. Store sprays and bug bombs can push roaches into new hiding spots and spoil the bait we put down, so the job takes longer.
• Plan to be out of the home for at least 4 hours from when we finish, or longer if your technician tells you. Take pets with you.
• Tell us where you have been seeing them. That narrows it down faster than a flashlight does.

After we treat

• Stay out for at least 4 hours, or longer if your technician tells you. Open a few windows when you get back if you like.
• Leave the cabinets open in those rooms until we say otherwise.
• You may still see roaches after we treat. That can happen. We judge progress by whether you see fewer and fewer over the follow-up visits.
• Keep the food prep areas clean. Crumbs and grease compete with our bait and slow the whole thing down.
• Do not spray anything over what we put down. It can spoil the bait and set the job back.
• Keep wiping counters and tables like normal. Just do not wash or mop the cracks, corners and baseboards we treated, or the spots where we put bait.
• Tell us where you see them. A sighting tells us more than a flashlight does.

If you cannot do part of this, tell us before we come. We would rather plan around it than find out at the door.

Staying safe after we treat

• Keep people and pets off treated surfaces until they are dry.
• Stay out of the home for at least 4 hours from when we finish. If anything we used needs longer, your technician will tell you.
• Keep children and pets away from any bait or dust we placed. Tell us if you find some and we will move it.
• Wash your hands if you touch a treated area.
• Do not wash or mop the cracks, baseboards and spots we treated. You would be washing off the treatment. Keep cleaning counters and tables like normal.
• Air the rooms out when you get back if you want to.

If someone is exposed or feels unwell

• For a medical emergency call 911.
• California Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222. Free, 24 hours.
• Then call us: (661) 751-5542.
• If within 24 hours following application you experience symptoms similar to common seasonal illness comparable to the flu, contact your physician or California Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) and Bart's Bugs Be Gone ((661) 751-5542) immediately.

Questions about what we used

• Your service record lists every product, its active ingredient, its EPA registration number, how much was used and where it went.
• A Safety Data Sheet for anything we used is available on request. Just ask and we will send it.
• Health questions: Kern County Public Health, (661) 321-3000.
• Application questions: Kern County Agricultural Commissioner, (661) 868-6300.
• Regulatory questions: Structural Pest Control Board, (916) 561-8700.

This is not your pesticide notice. California requires a separate written notice before we treat, naming the target pest and the products proposed. You should already have it. If you do not, tell us before we come and we will get you one.