If you've seen cockroaches, weevils, mice or an ant trail in your Gezina kitchen, the fix starts with finding where they're living, not with a spray can. Kitchens in older houses have more hiding places than you'd think: behind old units, under the sink, inside the stove and fridge, and in the gap where the cupboard meets the wall. We treat those places directly and help you make the kitchen a poor place for pests to settle.
Gezina homes and why kitchens matter
Gezina is one of the older Moot suburbs with established houses and big trees. Many kitchens have been updated over the years, but the drains, walls and floors behind them are often original. Old plumbing runs, gaps behind built-in cupboards and the warmth from appliances make the kitchen the most popular room in the house for pests.
The usual suspects
German cockroaches
Small, light brown, with two dark stripes behind the head. They live in warm, tight spaces near food and water: fridge motors, stove backs, cupboard hinges, the kettle base. They breed fast, and a few soon becomes many. We use gel baits placed exactly where they shelter. The cockroaches eat the bait, go back to their hiding place and pass it on to others. Our cockroach treatments across Pretoria explain the method in more detail.
American cockroaches
Big, reddish brown, and usually coming up from the drains rather than living in the cupboards. Keep water in the drain traps, keep the grids on, and we treat the drains and entry points.
Weevils and pantry moths
Tiny beetles in the flour, rice, mealie meal or pasta, or small moths flying out of the grocery cupboard. These are stored-product pests, and they usually arrive in a packet from the shop. The answer is mostly clearing out and storing properly, with a targeted treatment of the shelves where needed. See our stored-product pest control for the full approach.
Mice
Small droppings in drawers and on counters, chewed packets, and a musty smell in the back of a cupboard. Mice come in through gaps around pipes and under doors, especially in winter. For the mouse side of things in the north, see mouse control in Montana and surrounds.
Ants
A trail to the sugar bowl or the pet food, usually through a window frame, along a pipe or up from a crack in the floor. Ant bait the workers carry back finishes the nest.
How we clear a kitchen
- Inspection. We pull out what can be moved, look into the hinges and the gaps behind units, check appliances and drains, and open the grocery cupboard.
- Identification. German or American cockroach, mice or rats, weevils or pantry moths.
- Targeted treatment. Gel baits for cockroaches, bait stations and traps for rodents, ant baits, and an odourless, non-staining residual spray only where it's useful.
- A follow-up where cockroach activity was heavy, because eggs hatch after the first round.
You don't need to move out or empty the house. Keep children and pets off sprayed surfaces until they're dry.
The mistake that makes cockroaches worse
Spraying the cupboards with a household insecticide just before the gel bait goes down, or straight after. The spray makes the bait unattractive and scatters the cockroaches deeper into the walls. If we've put down gel, leave it, and resist the urge to spray. Wiping the bait away with the counters is the other common one.
A tip for Gezina kitchens
When you buy flour, rice or mealie meal, freeze it for a few days before it goes into the cupboard, then store it in a sealed tub rather than the paper bag. It kills any weevil eggs that came home with it and stops one infested packet spreading to the rest.
What does it cost?
A kitchen-only cockroach treatment is one of the smaller jobs we do. The price goes up if the whole house is involved, if cockroaches are coming from the drains, if mice are in the roof as well, or if a follow-up visit is needed. For a single weevil-infested packet, throwing it out and cleaning the shelf is usually all it takes, and we'll tell you so.
Gezina is in our northern area, so everything we do nearby is on the Montana pest control page. Neighbours in Villieria deal with the same older-house kitchens. We're SAPCA registered, we've been doing this for 25 years, and if the pest comes back within three months of treatment, we do too. Call 012 012 5526, or WhatsApp us a photo of what you found in the cupboard.
Questions we get asked
Is gel bait safe in a kitchen?
Yes. It's placed in tiny amounts in cracks, hinges and behind appliances where cockroaches hide, not on food-preparation surfaces, and out of reach of children and pets.
Where do weevils in my flour come from?
They usually come in with the food itself, already in the packet from the shop or mill. Freezing new packets and storing them in sealed containers stops them spreading.
How long until the cockroaches are gone?
You'll usually see fewer within days of a gel bait treatment, but eggs keep hatching for a while. A follow-up visit catches the next generation.
Can mice get in through the drains?
Mice more often come in through gaps around pipes, under doors and through the roof. Rats are the ones more likely to use broken drains.
Should I throw out food after a treatment?
Not if it was sealed and stored away. Throw out anything that had insects in it or that mice got into.