How to Get Rid of Roaches in an Apartment That Shares Walls

November 6, 2026 · 9 min read

By the PestCodex Editorial Team · Checked against 8 research sources

To get rid of roaches in an apartment, you need two things at once: bait and cleanup inside your own unit, and a building-wide treatment that also covers the units around you. Treat only your apartment and the roaches living in shared walls and plumbing will simply walk back in.

How to get rid of roaches in an apartment: what to do this week

Roaches in apartments are almost always German cockroaches, the small tan species with two dark stripes behind the head. If you are not sure, compare yours with our German cockroach identification and baiting guide.

Start with these steps in order.

1. Report it in writing today. Email or use the building's maintenance portal, describe where you saw roaches and how many, and keep a copy. The StopPests in Housing program, which works with HUD-assisted housing, tells property managers that residents should never be punished for reporting pests and that prompt reporting is critical.
2. Put out sticky traps. Purdue Extension suggests at least six traps per home: in cabinets above and under the sink, beside the stove and refrigerator, and along bathroom walls. Date them. They show where roaches are coming from.

   

3. Use bait, not spray. Containerized bait stations are the product the StopPests guide recommends residents buy themselves. Place them where traps catch roaches, out of reach of kids and pets. Follow the label, because the label is the law.

   

4. Cut off food and water at night. Wipe up spills daily, don't leave dishes or pet food out overnight, and bag kitchen trash and take it out daily.
5. Remove hiding spots. Unpack and recycle cardboard. Clear clutter under the sink and on top of the refrigerator.
6. Ask who else is affected. Ask management to inspect the apartments that share a wall, floor, or ceiling with yours.

Why roaches in apartments come back: shared pipes and walls

Apartments share more than walls. Kitchen and bathroom plumbing often runs straight up through every floor, and the gaps around those pipes connect your cabinets to your neighbors’.

Researchers at Rutgers mapped German cockroaches in a 188-unit high-rise during a building-wide program. At the start, 49% of apartments were infested. Infested units clustered next to each other across hallways, shared walls, and shared floors and ceilings, and the link was strongest vertically, along the plumbing stacks. Units that shared a wall often shared plumbing too.

That is why a perfectly clean tenant can still have roaches. The StopPests guide states it plainly: poor sanitation does not cause infestations, though it makes ongoing ones harder to control. Roaches arrive in grocery bags, cardboard boxes, furniture, and other belongings, then spread from unit to unit.

It also explains “reservoir units.” When one apartment in a stack refuses access or never gets treated, the units around it keep getting reinfested.

Where roaches hide in an apartment: kitchen first, then bathroom

In the same high-rise study, sticky traps by the stove and refrigerator caught the most roaches, about 35% and 36% of the total. Traps under the sink caught 17%, and bathroom traps 12%.

Source: Zha et al. 2019, Journal of Economic Entomology; Purdue Extension E-241-W.

The UF/IFAS Extension recommends not keeping cardboard boxes longer than 3 to 6 months. In an apartment with a roach problem, get them out sooner.

What tenants can do themselves (and what to leave to the building)

Purdue Extension splits the job three ways. Good control, it says, cannot be achieved without cooperation among residents, management staff, and the pest control company.

Source: Purdue Extension E-241-W, Bennett and Wang.

Things you can usually do without asking anyone:

• Place sticky traps and store-bought bait stations.
• Store cereal, crackers, sugar, bread, and other dry food in sealed containers or the refrigerator.
• Run the dishwasher or wash dishes before bed.
• Put pet food away overnight.
• Take kitchen trash to the building’s chute or dumpster every day.

Things to report rather than fix yourself:

• Gaps around pipes and electrical lines, especially under sinks.
• Leaky faucets and pipes.
• Holes in walls or loose cabinet backs.

Sealing pipe gaps with caulk or foam may seem simple, but in a rental it is usually a maintenance job. Report it so the same fix gets done in the units around you.

For the baiting details (how much gel, where to place it, and why you rotate active ingredients), see the German cockroach treatment guide.

Working with your landlord: building-wide IPM that works

Integrated pest management (IPM) means inspecting, monitoring with traps, fixing the conditions roaches need, and using targeted bait instead of routine spraying. It is the approach HUD’s StopPests program trains property managers to use.

Here is what a good building program looks like, based on the StopPests property manager guide:

• Every unit gets inspected, not just the ones that complain. Many residents never report pests.
• Sticky traps in every unit, typically two in the kitchen and one under the bathroom sink or toilet.
• Infested units get follow-up visits every one to two weeks until traps catch zero roaches.
• Bait is the main tool. The guide calls baiting by far the most effective method and asks pest companies to rotate active ingredients at least every three months.
• Calendar sprays are dropped. Spraying on a schedule does not prevent or eliminate German cockroaches.

The results can be large. In a 258-unit New Jersey complex, a community-wide IPM program eliminated 85% of the original cockroach infestations within 7 months. In the 188-unit high-rise, infestation fell from 49% of apartments to 24% at 6 months and 12% at 12 months.

If your building’s service is “spray the baseboards once a month,” it is fair to ask management whether they use an IPM approach and whether units next to yours are being inspected.

Tenant rights around pests differ by state, city, and lease. In general, landlords are expected to keep rentals fit to live in, and written records help if a problem drags on. If nothing happens after reasonable follow-up, your local housing or health department can tell you what applies where you live.

What doesn’t work (and why)

Sources: NC State Extension (2019); StopPests in Housing, IPM for German Cockroaches.

Sprays also tend to fail because German cockroach populations build resistance quickly, as UF/IFAS Extension points out. Bait gets eaten and carried back to the hiding spots, which is why it works where sprays don’t.

When to call a professional (and who arranges it)

In an apartment, the professional is usually already arranged: management contracts a pest company. Push for a visit when:

• You see roaches out in the open on a regular basis.
• Traps fill up within a few days.
• You have used bait for two to three weeks with no drop in trap counts.
• Neighbors report roaches too.
• Someone in your household has asthma.

Ask the company to inspect the units next to, above, and below yours. A one-off treatment of a single unit in an infested stack is likely to fail.

If you own your condo or rent a single-family home, the same logic applies to your HOA or landlord for shared walls and common areas. Rodents spread through shared walls in a similar way; our guide to getting mice out of walls covers that side.

Roach allergens and asthma

The EPA notes that indoor pests such as cockroaches can trigger asthma and allergy symptoms. The StopPests guide adds that German cockroaches can carry bacteria that cause food poisoning.

Roach droppings and body parts can trigger asthma, according to the EPA, so removing dead roaches and droppings helps lower allergen levels. A vacuum with a HEPA filter is the tool professionals use for this. If someone in your home has asthma, tell management, and keep that person out of the room while you clean.

Apartment roach checklist

• Reported in writing, with dates and rooms
• At least six sticky traps placed and dated
• Bait stations in kitchen and bathroom, away from kids and pets
• No sprays or foggers while bait is out
• Dishes, pet food, and trash cleared every night
• Cardboard and clutter removed
• Pipe gaps and leaks reported to maintenance
• Adjacent units inspected
• Follow-up every one to two weeks until traps catch zero