Posted by
visitors
15 yrs ago
Just want to give you some background info. I hired this helper 3 months ago and we pay her $4,100 a month plus food and transportation allowance. She starts working at around 11am and finishes around 8:30. As for Fridays, she only works from 11 to 4 as we usually eat out and my husband and I like to spend some alone time as a family. However, Saturday is her cleaning day so she works from 9 to 9. working her too hard???
Anyway, I hate insects and especially cockroaches. Before I resigned to become a stay at home mom a year ago, I had two helpers and we didn't have this problem. Long story short, I saw a couple of cockroaches at night in the kitchen and I am really upset because I take care of the girls all by myself and my helper cooks one meal a day and basically works as a cleaning lady. She said that, "it's normal because she knows some of our neighbors in the same building also found cockroaches."
I was very upset when she said that but I kept myself together and I didn't blow up. (well, I never do!)
I would like to sit her down again (this will be the 3rd discussion) and tell her my expectations soon but if I threaten to ask her to work longer hour in order to keep the place clean, I bet she won't be happy about it. I care about her feeling and also I don't want to ruin our relationship. However, I want to make things clear. How should I go about this? I don't find it helper to discuss it the same way like the last two discussions.
Is it normal to have cockroaches at home in HK?
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Cockroaches are the norm in all HK apartments. It's definitely not your helper's fault. There is not much you can do about it. Obviously, keep food in the fridge but that won't stop them getting in the house. Don't forget this is the tropics. You can contact pest disposal if you wish but they will come round and spray the place and set up a couple of traps and charge you cash. This is a waste of money unless your house is infested. You can also buy a can of spray which works very well on any cockroach. However, they seem to die in agony and I feel a bit guilty about using it - inspite of them being roaches. I tend to batter them with a broom - which is either a) worse than useless or b) very messy. You will see a lot more of them in the coming months - particularly around typhoon season. My HK Chinese wife was brought up in the New Territories says that you can tell if a typhoon is coming if a cockroach appears in the bath-tub (ie it has come in through the window) - she bases this on what farmers used to say in her village. I think they can detect magnetic fields or something and they tend to panic. Japan is one of the cleanest countries in the world and they have loads of cockroaches.
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788
15 yrs ago
Not sure what kind of a building type you live in. But if it an apartment building- there may be a chance that someone has had a pest control done around you and some of these insects show up at your place. That is what happened to us- we never saw cockroaches and then suddenly they showed up. They are so icky- that we called pest control guys too and also closed some of the drains, we don't use anyway in the bathroom so that they don't have a chance to run away. We used BioCycle people as they use "greener" technology and is safer with babies and animals around.
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It's Spring time, soon it will be very wet too and that means more and more insects. In my house I don't have cockroaches per se but I do get ants, lots and lots of them! In fact this week the ants have returned like soldiers marching in a line to invade my kitchen. I think the best way to handle it is to get pest control in. One company that comes to mind is Rent-to-kill (maybe b/c of the name) however, the stuff they use kills all the pests together including spiders for about six- eight months. In my mind it is money well spent.... I hate spiders
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As others have mentioned, roaches are normal. You can buy the little poison traps (Combat brand for example) at the supermarket. That will at least diminish the problem.
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The helper was right as all the answers above have confirmed. Cockroaches in a sub tropical climate are normal and have nothing to do with hygiene. They will get in anywhere including high rises. It's just something you have to put up with out here!
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no need to repeat what has been said already, so get off your helper.
however you could engage her in a proper roach termination strategy: food sealed away, closed cabinets, no drinks standing around, close off entry points (sinks, open pipes, drains, kitchen fans, etc). set up some traps at notorious places, etc.
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oh boy...Am I ever glad postingg this thread before making a big deal out of it. Thanks everyone.
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By the way, there is a company called 'Christian Pest Control'. I have never used them but have always been intrigued by the name.
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cd
15 yrs ago
We always find they come up through the drains and sinks in the bathrooms. The problem has definitely been less since we started using those cockroach traps, from Wellcome..don't mind the roaches as generally its just one or 2, its the ants that are a pain, the big ones...and for about 2 weeks of the year those flying termite things that drop their wings everywhere.
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Lloyd, I read an interview with the owner of Christian Pest Control a few years ago. He explained that the name reflects his own religious beliefs, not the methods he uses for killing critters.
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Nuri
15 yrs ago
I hate roaches. They used to be AVERYWHERE in my apartment until I hired Rentokil:
http://www.rentokil.com.hk/index.aspx
This is total miracle: no roaches for 6 months! Not even one!
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I have heard that sprinkling powdered borax (available in Gateway) keeps them away.
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I don't know about the rest of you but I absolutely HATE cockroaches and would probably die if I had to "live" with them. Definitely contact Christian Pest Control. I've used them for several years now and NO roaches. This last year I moved into a new flat that was "somewhat" infested in the kitchen. They came, did their spraying 4 times, have not seen anymore. Cost depends on size of flat but fully worth every cent if you were like me. Not even expensive really!
But on the flip side, we live in a fairly new complex that is well maintained (10yrs). Older places may have cockroach dens that never get eradicated so that could be a factor. However, I do believe that a "clean" kitchen will also deter roaches from coming back after pest control spraying. Our helper is instructed to not have any open food left out. Garbage taken out nightly.
Don't believe anyone should live with roaches! Definitely get your helper to maintain a clean environment.
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Quite. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they aren't there.
I don't like roaches either, and it isn't like we simply accept them. We do our best to combat their presence in the house. However one has to face reality and accept that in this climate there's only so much one can do.
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ferd
15 yrs ago
Cockroaches live in a place with food and water. You don't see any cockroaches in an empty house. There's no cockroaches in my home too. As I always keep my place clean. Rubbish bags replaced every day.
It's not really a must for every family in Hong Kong to live with cockroaches. Cheers.
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Agreed with cara (as ever). ferd, our house is clean and the rubbish goes out every day. Cockroaches are tenacious and the occasional one will get in whatever you do.
It never feels like we live WITH cockroaches though.
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"Cockroaches live in a place with food and water. You don't see any cockroaches in an empty house."
I beg to differ. We went to view some houses recently ... brand new ones, never been lived in, no food or rubbish, completely empty ... Yet the places were over run with cockroaches.
They get wherever they want to get, whether you have a clean house or not. I consider mine to be clean and we maybe see a cockroach once or twice a year, usually in the bathroom. Strangely enough, we have never see them our teenagers bedroom who has the annoying habit of taking food in there and leaving it lying around!!
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Just went to Disneyland and stayed at the hotel for a couple of days and came home...and here we go...again we found two cockroaches. I will call the past control for sure. I've put about 20 roach traps and sprayed the place two times after I first posted this thread.
My husband and I were wondering why we didn't have this problem before we have kids. We lived in a much older building back then and we had a cleaning lady come in only 3 times a week. We stayed up at night watching movies in the dark all the time and for 2 years, we never saw cockroaches.
This is rather frustrating.
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Kids leave crumbs, drool, wipe themselves on their clothes and other surfaces, blow out snot. In general much better at attracting critters than adults.
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We live on the 52nd floor in our six-year-old building. I have never seen a cockroach - but then I also have two cats (one of whom I know likes to eat bugs).
Do you think cockroaches won't climb up so high?
Also, there's no mosquitoes! There is on the lower floors but not at our level and in fact, someone told me that the mosquitoes won't fly that high!!
Of the 5 places I've lived in HK, 3 had cockroaches - and they were all the old buildings. I believe it's "building related" so if the problem really bothers you, you could consider moving? Maybe choose a newer building, high floor, less dense neighbourhood? Or you could get some cats? :-)
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make sure the bins are emptied on a daily basis to avoid cockroaches, they are attracted to bad smells. Pour water down the drains regularly. Mop the kitchen floor.
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