An apartment building is made of homes lived in separately, but sharing the same pipes, flues and stairwell. That shared structure lets pests move from floor to floor. A cockroach complaint from the sixth floor often does not start in that flat at all, but in the ground-floor bin room or a basement drain.
In Bodrum this happens in blocks occupied all winter and in those used as holiday flats. The quiet of a closed flat lets pests settle without notice, which is why a building should be looked at as a whole rather than one flat at a time.
What apartment blocks usually see
- cockroaches, settling in kitchen and bathroom drain gaps and around shafts
- ants, coming in at ground floor, balconies and cracks in the facade
- mice, with signs in the basement, bin room and boiler room
- bed bugs, which can be carried from one flat to another with belongings
- flies, arriving from the bin area and open stairwell windows
- spiders, building webs in basement and attic corners
Shared spaces to check
Typical places a manager should have looked at include:
- the entrance hall, letterboxes and stairwell
- the basement, shelter and storage rooms
- the bin room and container area
- the boiler room and meter rooms
- the lift shaft and shaft covers
- the roof void and terrace
These concern every resident, so cost and timing should be discussed among the owners. We do not give legal guidance on that; we can only say it helps when the manager is with us at the inspection.
For gardens and multi-block estates, residential complex pest control is the better page, and for detached homes, villa and home pest control.
Working with the neighbours
Building pests are not solved by one household. When a single flat is treated, pests may cross to the neighbour and come back. So these steps help:
- list the flats and floors that complain
- ask the manager for a shared-area inspection
- have everyone review bin and drain habits
- ask for empty flats to be checked too
Solving it jointly makes a restart harder. Where owners share information, it becomes easier to see which floors repeat the same complaint and in which seasons, and that narrows down where to look at the inspection.
Empty flats and holiday use
A good share of Bodrum’s apartments are empty in winter and full in summer. When drain traps dry out and service voids open, closed flats can turn into routes for pests. As a manager, suggesting a pre-season check to owners of empty flats reduces surprises across the building in early summer. In flats let by the season, frequent changes of occupant also change how food and rubbish are handled.
Two common mistakes
“It is not my problem, it is the neighbour’s.” Pests do not respect floor boundaries. It is not possible to say which flat is the source without an inspection.
“We treated once, so that is that.” Pests living in the building can return, particularly if the bin room and drains stay the same. That is why a follow-up visit can be arranged when needed.
A note for managers
Fees and decision procedures differ in every building, so we do not advise how a treatment decision should be made. Our advice is simple: gather complaints in one list, add dates and floors, and we will walk the building together at the inspection.
How it works with us
When a manager or a flat owner calls, we carry out a free inspection. We walk the stairwell, bin room, basement and boiler room and establish the pest, its numbers and where it is nesting. We then choose a method for the area, with Ministry of Health approved products and a certified team. After the work we explain what residents should watch, and if needed we return for a check. For a same-day appointment, call us.
All our methods are described in pest extermination in Bodrum and insect control in Bodrum, and other places we work are on the services page. Our guide to telling cockroach species apart may help you report accurately.
Where we work
We look after apartment buildings in Bodrum town, Yalıkavak, Bitez, Turgutreis, Ortakent and the surrounding districts.
Arrange the inspection
For recording and sorting resident reports, see our guide to handling pest complaints in a block.
To plan a free inspection for your building, contact us.