Korean Job Discussion Forums

HamuHamu · Joined: 01 May 2003 Location: Seoul

I'm at the breaking point...I am going to lose my mind!!!!

The ants and roaches in my apartment are driving me crazy!!!!

When I first moved in, I see a few roach traps lying around. I think "hey no problem, there's obviusly no roaches in here...they're all dead!" Haha. Right.

At first it was only a few. I killed them. Then there were more. And more and more. I cleaned the place THOROUGHLY again and again. I got more roach traps.

I noticed a severe decline in the roaches, but the biggest problem is that the roach traps seemed to bring ANTS.

I never had ants before I got the roach traps. I have put in new roach/ant traps but they aren't doing the job.

There are only occasionally roaches around now (somtimes you open the drawer to get a fork and one crawls out.....), but the ants are driving me MAD. Everytime I get a tickle on my arm, or the fan blows a hair across me somewhere, I jump and freak out thinking there is an ant on me. Usually it is..

They aren't just in the kitchen anymore, they are in my bedroom/living room/dining room (I live in a teeny-tiny "studio" apartment) and NOTHING will make them go away.

ALL of my food is kept in the fridge - EVERYTHING, including salt and pepper, olive oil, sugar, even sealed coffee mix packages....I don't leave ANYTHING out at all. I scrub my kitchen counters after EVERYTHING I cook with a bottle of spray kitchen cleaner (I'm now going through a bottle every couple of days, which is getting expensive...); I sweep my room floors in the morning before school for fear there are crumbs, and again at night, I take my garbage out EVERY night before bed (again, garbage bags are getting expensive!) and I take out anything that has to be recyled as soon as I am finished with the packaging.

NOTHING IS GETTING RID OF THEM. As I sit and type there are 4 little *beeps* crawling on my keyboard!

About a week ago I got everything out of the way and sprayed with Raid Anti Killer and they were back in a few HOURS.

It doesn't help that the neighbours seem to eat take-out for every meal, meaning I come home to piles upon piles of dirty dishes and half eaten food in the hallway, and my landlord has the hallawys LINED with piles of garlic, chillies and who knows what else drying out for kimchee preparations this fall.

Short of moving out (not reasonable, hagwon won't get me a new apartment), what on earth can I do?????

Anyone out there successfully gotten rid of houseold pests???

gi66y · Joined: 15 Aug 2003

You can get the spray, but if you're living in an apartment and guy next door to you isn't doing anything about them, they'll just keep coming in. Get the school to call and complain to the owner/security office and see if they can get the whole building sprayed.

They used to do that at my old building, but there were a number of foreigners from different schools in the building. So they couldn't understand or didn't care about the notices in the elevators. so the problem never did go away fully, but as long as I kept my apartment clean they didn't bother me much. The biggest problem I found was dirty dishes in the sink.

The other thing to notice is that the traps, although they look similar, are generally for different sized pests. So make sure that you've got the right sized ones for your pests.

If you find you can't sleep thinking about it, you could get a mosquito net for while you're sleeping if for no other reason than peace of mind.

Gollum · Joined: 04 Sep 2003 Location: Japan

Do you live in Haebangchong?

The worst infestation I ever saw was there... shocked me to see it.

dulouz · Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Location: Uranus

There are some electrical devices available that I would like to get a review on. One emits waves through the air and another sends waves through the wires intending to get the critters in the hidey holes.

I don't use traps, just bombs and sprays. When it get real bad, move out.

teachingld2004 · Joined: 29 Mar 2004

Tell the director of your school that he/she has to get you a new apartment. I know it may be tough getting them to do that, but just say you are leaving. There are a zillion jobs here in korea. Go to the dr for 3,000 won and say your nerves are shot to hell. Tell the dr your problem, you will get something. Tell the director you are on tranqs, and if u are falling to sleep in class its because there are bugs in your place and you have to get out.

Pyongshin Sangja · Joined: 20 Apr 2003 Location: I love baby!

Take a "functional structuralist" approach. You live in a structure which is failing to fulfill its function. Exactly how are they getting in? Find the cracks in the flooring, in the wainscotting if you have it, cracked tiles in the bathroom. These can be filled with caulking or steel wool or even concrete mix if you can make it. Cucarachas lay eggs in the space between the plastic sheeting on your floor and the wall. Lift up the sheeting and bleach these areas. Find cracks and fill them. True, cucarachas will eat caulking but it might be a good deterrent. Cucarachas also fly. Get screens for the windows if you don't have them. I had an apartment that had cucarachas, but my landlords laid down new hard-wood flooring and re-did the wainscotting. I have only had them come through broken tiles in the bathroom since then.

Or move. It really ain't worth your while, and your director "should" care enough about you to help you out. Good luck. You might have more luck with the roaches than with your boss. Ants are small fry. Squish em.

Us in DC · Joined: 22 Jul 2004

I wish I had better news for you but from what you say about the condition of the building there is little you can do. I once lived next door to a hoarder (she kept bags of garbage in her apartment) and your story sounds exactly like mine.

I would seriously consider just moving out asap. You don't need the added stress of dealing with that kind of shit.

Falstaff · Joined: 14 Jan 2004 Location: Ansan

One thing that will help is if you buy some caulk and some powdered boric acid. Sprinkle the boric acid in the crack and then caulk it over. Boric acid is not very dangerous to humans (unless you put it in a glass of milk and down it) but it gets on the antennae of insects, they ingest it, and then they die. Very effective.

But then again, I don't know where you'd buy boric acid. Nor should you be expected to do home repair on your apartment. So yeah, tell your boss to find you a new apartment.

wr · Joined: 21 Sep 2004

Did you solve your problem? Have you tried the roach bombs that they sell here? Raid makes them and you can buy them just about anywhere. Boric acid is good and you can get that too. IF all else fails, let me know. I had a similar problem. I went to the U.S. and came back with some powerfull stuff that killed all of them and I had them in the walls. I would be willing to give you some if you want. Let me know.