Sealing gaps and cracks with caulks is a proven way to stop bugs and roaches from entering your home.
But are these caulks roach-proof?
Can roaches eat through caulk? Or the caulk wears away with time and weather, which allows the cockroaches to sneak inside your home?
Keep reading to find it out!
Can Roaches Eat Through Caulk?
The answer is no. Roaches cannot eat through caulk.
But always use silicone-based sealant to caulk the cracks. Silicone-based sealants hardens fast, roaches can’t chew through it, and they can easily last for at least 20 years.
There are many caulk sealants, especially branded as organic, available in the market.
Those are ineffective, so please avoid them.
It’s because they contain natural gum that wears out with time.
There are silicone-based caulks available that contain boric acid too.
These caulks are the best and most effective against roaches because boric acid is a roach killer.
So, inorganic caulks that are silicone-based and contain boric acid are best against roaches.
How To Use Caulk To Prevent Roaches From Entering Your Home?
To caulk the gaps with sealants, you’d need a caulking gun and an inorganic silicone-based sealant.
Insert the caulk tube in the caulking gun. You’d need to push the trigger, which will cause the plunger to ejaculate the sealant inside the caulk gun.
The real trick of using the caulk effectively to prevent roaches from entering your home is to zero-in on the places where you must caulk.
The kitchen is the favorite place for the roaches to hide. So, seal the gaps that you see in your kitchen cabinet, countertops, plumbing areas, and around the electrical outlets.
Also, if there’s any gap on the kitchen floor, seal it with a caulk too.
The secret hiding place of the roaches inside your kitchen is the undersides of the kitchen cabinet and the countertops.
Those places develop a small gap with time. And roaches can easily squeeze through the gaps that are at least one-sixteenth of an inch.
Seal those tiny gaps too.
Do the same in your bathroom. Your bathroom is moist and has organic waste like hair and nails.
That makes it an excellent place for the roaches to hide.
Seal any gaps and cracks around the bathroom furnishings like the medicine cabinet, bathtub, sinks, and around the plumbing area underneath the sink.
Check out for any gaps around the drains and drain covers. The sealants around the drain covers wear away with time.
Caulk those gaps too.
Sewer roaches and baby roaches hide in clogged drains, and they sneak into your home through there.
Check for any gaps in the junction between the floor and the walls in all the rooms.
The junction also develops a gap, especially when the floor is wooden.
Next are the window sills, door frames, and window frames. These are the places that develop cracks.
Caulk the cracks with an inorganic silicone-based sealant.
Pro tip: Apply steady and equal pressure on the trigger. That’ll ejaculate an equal amount of sealant from the caulk gun.
Will Caulk Keep The Bugs And Roaches Out?
Caulking is one of the ways to keep your home bug-free.
Depending only on caulking for keeping your home bug-free won’t work.
You’d need to do other activities like cleaning, maintaining proper hygiene, installing window shields to keep termites and moths away, and much more.
But caulk indeed closes the doors to entry to your home, which bugs and roaches can undoubtedly exploit.
So, now you know that roaches cannot eat through an inorganic and silicone-based caulk.
What else can a roach eat through? Plastic, wood, concrete, what else?
Let’s find it out.
Can Roaches Eat Through Plastic?
Roaches can eat through single-use thin plastics.
The mandibles on the roaches’ mouth are strong enough to chew through single-use thin plastics.
So, yes, cockroaches can eat through thin use-and-throw plastic bags, zip lock bags, chips packets, plastic bread packets, and garbage bags.
But roaches cannot chew through industrial-grade plastics and thick plastic jars.
Cockroaches cannot chew through plastic bottles either. Plastic bottles are pretty firm for roaches’ mandibles to break in.
Can Roaches Eat Through Wood?
No, roaches cannot eat through wood like the way termites and powderpost beetles do.
Cockroaches can take shelter in the gaps and cracks of the wood.
Wood cockroaches that are native to North America live outdoors and feed on decaying wood. Wood cockroaches won’t eat and destroy your home’s furniture.
Can Roaches Eat Through Paper?
Yes, roaches can eat through paper and can destroy books too.
The regular paper contains cellulose, and like termites, roaches can digest cellulose.
Cellulose is an energy source for both cockroaches and termites.
That’s why newspaper piles and books in the bookshelves are an excellent hiding and nesting place for roaches.
Can Roaches Eat Through Aluminum Foil?
Yes, roaches can eat through aluminum foil. Their mandibles are strong enough to rupture the aluminum foil and reach the food beneath it.
If you think that your food is wrapped with aluminum foil so it’s safe from roaches, think again.
Roaches can easily chew through the aluminum foil and contaminate your food.
Can Roaches Eat Through Cardboard?
Yes, roaches can eat through cardboard.
Cardboard boxes are one of the prime hiding places for roaches.
Many homes have roach infestation because someone in the house bought cardboard boxes with roaches hidden inside.
Like paper, cardboard also contains cellulose.
Can Roaches Eat Spray Foam Insulation?
No, they can’t. It’s because spray foam insulation has borate or boric acid, which is lethal for roaches.
Spray foam insulation is effective against stopping bugs and roaches from entering your home.
When you apply it, the insulation expands and covers the gap entirely.
Like silicone-based caulk, spray foam insulation hardens when applied, making it impossible for bugs and cockroaches to penetrate.
Summary
Roaches cannot eat through caulk. The best types of caulks that you should use are silicone-based inorganic sealants.
These caulks are proven to last for at least 20 years and rugged enough to stop any bug intrusion.
In this post, you’ve also found out what roaches can eat through.
Matching the silicone-based sealant is the spray foam insulation that you can use to seal the gaps and cracks to prevent roach invasion.
Nang Chen is an Entomologist and Arachnologist who is associated with Vienna’s museum of natural history. He’s also a consultant with real estate groups, insecticide conglomerates and law enforcement groups as a forensic entomologist. Nang Chen holds an M.S. from South China University and he’s a regular contributor to our site.