Two very different problems get called the same thing. A large roach that appears one at a time in a basement or bathroom came in from outside — from a crawl space, a drain line, a woodpile — and it is a moisture and exclusion problem. A small roach in a kitchen, seen more than once, was brought in and is breeding — and that is a building problem that gets worse without treatment.
Size and location separate them in seconds, and in a Virginia rental the difference reaches all the way to who pays.
This is general information, not legal advice. Identification from a description is never certain, and how the code applies to your facts is a separate question.
Telling them apart
| German cockroach | American / smokybrown | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | half an inch, small | one and a half inches, unmistakable |
| Colour | tan to light brown, two dark stripes behind the head | reddish brown, glossy |
| Where | kitchens and bathrooms, near warmth and water | basements, crawl spaces, drains, garages |
| How many | several, then many | usually one at a time |
| Where it came from | carried in, and breeding indoors | wandered in from outside |
| What it means | an infestation | an entry point and, usually, damp |
The two stripes are the whole test. A small tan roach with two dark lines running back from the head is a German cockroach, and that identification changes the plan entirely.
The big ones are what most Virginians call waterbugs. They are what a crawl space produces on a wet summer night. Finding one does not mean the house is infested; finding one every night means there is a route and something making it attractive.
Why the small one is the serious one
A German cockroach female carries her egg case until it is nearly ready to hatch, and each case holds thirty to forty eggs. The population compounds indoors, in wall voids and behind appliances, and it does not need anything from outside.
They are also the reason single-visit treatments fail. Sprays kill what they touch; the population is in voids. Control runs on baits, on removing competing food, and on more than one visit. A quote of one visit and one price for German cockroaches is quoting the visible fraction.
Where they come from matters in a rental. They arrive in cardboard, in second-hand appliances, in shopping bags, and — in multifamily buildings — through shared walls and utility chases from a neighbouring unit. That last route is the one that decides responsibility arguments.
The big ones are a moisture question
American and smokybrown roaches live outdoors in Virginia and come inside when it is wet, hot or cold enough to make indoors better. Crawl spaces are the classic source: dark, humid, and connected to the house by every pipe penetration a builder made.
What draws them is the same list that draws everything else into a Virginia crawl space — a downspout discharging at the foundation, no vapour barrier, standing water, mulch piled against siding. That list is also what an inspector writes down as conducive conditions on a wood-destroying insect report, which is why the same repair often solves two problems. Damp-loving insects in a basement or crawl space →
Drains are the other route. A rarely used floor drain or a dry trap in a basement is an open pipe. Running water into it occasionally closes it.
What to do today
Photograph one, with something for scale. A coin, a key. Size is the first half of the identification and it is the half a description gets wrong.
Note where and when. Kitchen at night, one at a time in the basement after rain, several at once behind the fridge — each points somewhere different.
Look with a torch after dark, behind and under the fridge, the base of the dishwasher, the hinges of cabinets near the kettle, the gap behind a bathroom vanity. Roaches are nocturnal and daytime sightings usually mean numbers.
Do not spray a German cockroach infestation with an aerosol. It scatters them into voids and into neighbouring units, and it can interfere with the baits that would have worked.
Do not throw out infested cardboard indoors. Take it straight outside.
If you rent, write it down and send it. The date matters more than the wording.
What this means for you specifically
If you rent and it is the small striped kind
This is where the asymmetry in the Virginia code becomes practical.
§ 55.1-1227 names insects and pests explicitly among tenant duties and makes the tenant responsible for the added cost caused by unreasonable delay in reporting. § 55.1-1220, setting out the landlord's duties, does not mention insects, vermin or extermination anywhere — the obligation reaches pests only through the duty to keep the premises fit and habitable.
Since Parrish v. Vance in March 2024, a lease clause making pests the tenant's responsibility cannot waive that duty. But your own duties survive.
Your action: send written notice today, and say whether neighbouring units are affected. In a multifamily building that single fact moves the argument from housekeeping to structure. When the tenant pays →
If you rent and neighbours have them too
Treating one unit while the units either side go untreated is the most common reason a multifamily roach job fails, and the failure is visible in the record.
Your action: say so in your written notice, by unit number if you know it. A building-wide problem is not a tenant's housekeeping.
If you own and it is the big kind
The roach is the symptom. The crawl space is the subject.
Your action: get the moisture and the entry points assessed, not just a spray. Ask what the company thinks the source is before you accept a price.
If you are selling
Roaches are not a wood-destroying insect and will not appear on the NPMA-33. A home inspector will note the conditions that produced them, and buyers react to droppings in cabinets more strongly than the fix costs.
Your action: deal with it before listing, and fix the drainage rather than only the insects.
If you are a landlord
A German cockroach report in one unit of a building is a building question until proven otherwise.
Your action: inspect adjacent units when one reports, treat as a building where the pest travels, and give the 48-hour written notice under § 55.1-1223 before any application unless the tenant asked for it. What you owe →
Before you call: what costs what
An inspection and a treatment are two separate services with separate prices, and with German cockroaches the number of visits matters more than the price of one.
| Typical Virginia range | What it produces | |
|---|---|---|
| General pest inspection | often free where the company expects to quote treatment | a verbal or written assessment |
| German cockroach treatment | quoted per unit; normally a course of visits | a treatment record |
| Exclusion and moisture repair | quoted separately, sometimes by a contractor | the reason the big ones stop coming in |
| Written report for a landlord or a court | charged separately | a document, not a price |
What is usually free: a quote once a company has seen the kitchen.
What is usually not: a written report describing the condition — which is exactly what a tenant's assertion or a repair-and-deduct claim needs.
Ask which applies before you book, and ask how many visits the price includes.
Common misunderstandings
"A roach is a roach." Two problems, two causes, two treatments, and in a rental two different answers on responsibility.
"They mean the place is dirty." German cockroaches arrive in things people carry in, and they travel between units in shared walls. Cleanliness affects how fast they grow, not whether they arrive.
"One spray will do it." For the outdoor kind it may. For the striped kind, the population is in voids and needs baiting over several visits.
"Bombing the flat works." Foggers rarely reach voids and can scatter the population, including into neighbouring units.
"My neighbour's problem isn't mine." In a multifamily building it is the same problem with two addresses.
"The lease says pests are mine, so I have no options." After Parrish v. Vance a clause purporting to waive statutory rights is unenforceable.
What to ask a pest control company
- Which species is this, and what supports that identification?
- How many visits does this price include, and how far apart?
- If this is a multifamily building, will you inspect the adjacent units?
- What conducive conditions did you find, and what needs to change structurally?
- Will you provide a written report describing what you observed, separate from the invoice?
- Can you estimate how long this infestation has been established?
- Under what name is your Virginia pesticide business licence held?
The last two are what you need if the question of who pays is heading anywhere formal.
What to have ready before you call
Size and colour with a photograph for scale, where and at what time you see them, how many at once, whether neighbouring units are affected, the date of your written notice if you rent, whether anything has already been sprayed, and whether the property has a crawl space.
Frequently asked questions
Are cockroaches a health risk? Their debris is a recognised asthma and allergy trigger, particularly for children, and they can carry organisms across surfaces. That is a stronger reason to treat properly than the sight of them.
Why do I see them in the day? Usually because the population has outgrown its hiding places. Daytime sightings suggest numbers.
Can I get rid of German cockroaches myself? Sometimes, with patient baiting and no spraying. The common failure is impatience, then an aerosol, then a scattered population.
Do they come up the drains? The large outdoor kinds use drains and dry traps routinely. German cockroaches spread through wall voids and utility chases rather than sewers.
My landlord says it's my housekeeping. Is that the end of it? No. It is one argument, and § 55.1-1220's habitability duty is another. Neighbouring units being affected is the fact that usually settles it.
Verify before you pay anyone
VDACS publishes an updated list of licensed pesticide businesses weekly, with a public lookup confirming an active Pesticide Business License. General pest control is category 7a under 2VAC5-685-70 — not category 8, which several sites state and which is public health pest control.
Ask which name the licence is held under. If you intend to deduct the cost from rent under § 55.1-1244.1, the receipt has to let anyone match the company to the registry. How to check →