A city of single-family homes from the 1950s
Census estimates put Pico Rivera's housing at about 17,350 units, and roughly 13,170 of them, or 76%, are detached houses. Only about 2,400 homes are in buildings of five or more units, and another 440 or so are mobile homes. Seven in ten households own their home, and the median year built is 1957, so half of the city's homes were built that year or earlier.
In a house that has stood for close to 70 years, the openings cockroaches use are usually ones that time created: gaps around the gas and water lines where they come through the slab or wall, a garage door that no longer seals against the floor, weep screeds and vents with missing screen, and old cast-iron drain lines. Because most Pico Rivera roach jobs involve a single house, we can follow those openings from the outside in and close the ones that matter.
Sources: [1]
The large roaches that come from sewers and meter boxes
UC's Pest Notes describe the American cockroach as common in sewers, storm drains and water meter boxes, and note that it forages into the ground floor of buildings when pipes are damaged, screens are missing or drain traps are faulty. The same publication lists water meter boxes, garages and drains among oriental cockroach harborage, especially at single-family homes surrounded by ground cover or woodpiles, and reports that the Turkestan cockroach has been displacing the oriental cockroach in southern California.
Pico Rivera's public sewer lines are maintained by LA County Public Works through its Consolidated Sewer Maintenance District, which asks residents to report sewer spills right away. Drain lines on the private side of the property are generally the owner's to maintain, so when large roaches keep turning up in a bathroom or laundry room, we check the floor drains, cleanouts and traps that connect the house to the sewer before treating anything indoors.
Sources: [2][3]
Garages, water heater closets and back-house add-ons
In houses of this age the water heater often sits in the garage or in a small closet off the laundry area, and UC lists the space around water heaters among the places cockroaches hide during the day. Warm, dark and close to plumbing, those closets are a likely first stop for roaches coming in from the yard. Garage storage, stacked boxes and pet food bins add more cover close to the house.
Our Pico Rivera inspections therefore cover the garage, the water heater closet, the yard meter box and any converted rooms or add-ons, along with the kitchen and bathrooms. Outdoor species get bait placed in meter boxes, along the foundation and around planters, while German cockroaches in the kitchen get gel bait and a growth regulator in cabinets and appliance voids.
Sources: [2]
Who handles complaints in Pico Rivera
Pico Rivera relies on the LA County Department of Public Health for health code enforcement, because only Long Beach, Pasadena and Vernon have their own health departments. The county's District Inspection Branch carries out routine inspections of apartment buildings with five or more units, responds to complaints about houses and buildings of four units or fewer, and names cockroaches among the vermin its inspectors look for. Tenants with an unresolved problem can call Environmental Health at (888) 700-9995.
About 62% of Pico Rivera residents speak Spanish at home, and our technicians can handle the whole visit in Spanish, from the first call to the written quote and the prep instructions.
Sources: [4][5][1]
