I’ve been trying to read up on past posts on bugs here and I feel like I’m getting conflicting answers here and from people around me.
I currently live in a maybe 20 year old sharehouse. Most of it is pretty old apart from two renovated rooms, one of which I life in.
There re 3 tatami rooms that I doubt have gotten new mats in a long time.
Been in this house a few weeks, seen a few spiders, one of those small cockroaches.
I have a huge fear of bugs, especially spiders.
Realistically, how much of a difference would it make moving into a 1-2 year old house instead when it comes to bugs.
(This is absolutely not the only reason I am considering moving but if it helps avoiding bugs it would be a contributing factor.)
22 comments
>sharehouse
Well there’s your problem right there… If you’re that concerned about bugs you need a single family dwelling where you have complete control over garbage/cleaning/leaving open doors/windows/weather stripping/etc. which has more to do with whether you get bugs inside or not.
Living in a community living arrangement you have people who are, to put it kindly, slobs who will make the sort of mess that attracts insects.
And don’t bust on spider bro, spider bro is trying to help you, spider bro eats the other insects, be kind to spider bro he won’t hurt you.
I am not an architect or anything like that, but I’d imagine pest control is a basic factor that goes into newer house design. I live in a nearly new condominium and we have zero bug issues aside from some little jumping spiders that like to nest around our veranda. One will get inside once or twice a month, but that’s about it. No cockroaches, no centipedes, no nothing else. We do live on the top floor, though.
My “pulled straight from my ass” take: ground floor units/standalone houses are going to have more issues with bugs than condos/apartments several floors up. Newer units will have had less time for creepy-crawlies to move in than older units.
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You could try growing up and not worrying about bugs so much. Seriously what kind of adult is afraid of them.
The difference is probably how well things are sealed, and how much humidity has eaten away at the (lack of) insulation. Over time and lack of maintenance, the bugs get in. How nasty your neighbors are is also a concern and harder to control
I treat bug control like a life and death situation.
Things you can try: Put bug traps and humidity-sucking gel under all the sinks, have weighted mesh seals on all sink holes, gap tape on all the windows, regularly bug spray the outside of my doors if you even see a small insect loitering, put a humidity monitor in every room and dry it if it is over 70%. Keep all trashcans always closed, and if there’s a lot of leftovers bag them in a grocery bag before they go into the trash to minimize smell/attraction to bugs.
Keeping a small spider around here and there is also helpful if you don’t mind them
When all else fails, get a cat
In my experience it makes a pretty big difference.
I used to live in an old (70s), 4th-floor concrete apartment with tatami flooring. In the summer you couldn’t stop the cockroaches and other bugs getting in through the air vents and cracks in the walls and it was constantly swarming with cicadas on the walkway outside in the evenings.
A couple of years ago I moved into a much newer, ground-floor place with laminate flooring. I think it was 3 years old when I moved in. There are snails and earwigs on the balcony outside and every now and again I see tiny spiders inside, but not often. I’ve never seen a cockroach inside the house.
Of course milage will vary based on location and other factors, but I’m convinced that newer buildings are more bug resistant, or at least easier to keep bug free than older ones.
We live in a pretty new mansion, but on the ground floor. I was worried about bugs being on the ground floor before moving in.
However, we’ve had no problems with bugs (except mosquitoes, but that’s because my kid leaves the door open, sigh). Occasionally we’ll see a spider, but I don’t mind them. No cockroaches!
I lived in new and old houses made of wood and both had issues with bugs (the new one, much less). I also lived in very old concrete apartments and haven’t seen a single bug inside my apartment in years, despite plenty of cockroaches, spiders, mukade and even frogs (lol) outside.
Of course, you need to make sure there are no cracks or slits where a bug could squeeze in: I put meshes in all the air vents and aircon drains, plastic flaps around the entrance door, and rubber/sponge tape in the sliding balcony doors. That is feasible on a concrete buildings, but wood buildings have so many holes and cracks that it is impossible to block everything.
It can make quite a big difference.
Post 2000s houses seem to use better building materials that seemingly are less prone (not completely immune) to bugs.
A friend of mine bought a new house in Tokyo, still got bugs in. I’ve lived at the 40th+ floor and haven’t seen a single bug in the last 6 years. My advice, the higher you go, the less bugs you see!
Relatively easy (in my experience) to get rid of spiders and cockroaches. Mites, however, are a fucking nightmare lol. We spent *months and months* trying to get rid of mites in our old (1980s build) concrete apartment and eventually gave up and just moved. Never saw any spiders or cockroaches, though.
As long as your house is on the newer side (built 90s – 00s), I don’t think age is necessarily the problem. I live in a cheap apartment near the mountains on the osaka-nara border and despite the massive fucking insects in this area I’ve kept the vast majority of bugs and spiders out of my home by
* Regularly using insecticides (about 1x per month) – I use the powder stuff around the front door and on the balconies, the one made for screens/windows on well, the screens and windows, and blast both the windows and front door with a spider repellant
* Replacing the net in the kitchen sink for catching food waste/scraps every day
* Taking out the trash every day
* Wiping down kitchen surfaces every time I use them
* Clean the apartment regularly – dust, vaccumm, etc every 1-2 weeks (ideally once a week, but sometimes life gets busy)
* Putting on the little cover thing for the AC pipe that’s supposed to help keep bugs from crawling in it
By doing this I get less bugs and spiders than some of my relatives who live in nicer apartments in the middle of the city. I feel you, I don’t like bugs and I’m terrified of spiders too. The one thing I do deal with are dead roaches in front of my door and on the balconies, I think the powder kills them, but hey, at least they’re dead already.
Also, I’ve heard tatami can attract bugs, I avoid it when renting since it’s harder to clean than hardwood (or the fake hardwood stuff), so I have no personal experience, but moving somewhere without tatami may also help.
I had to live in two apartments. One was brand-spanking new and had no issues, but I guarantee you that after four years or so they start finding their way in.
The other was a 15 year old Leopalace. I knew they might be there, so I did the only thing I could think of to avoid bugs.
I never ate at home. I made enough to allow for dining out with no issues.
I’ve lived in a brand-spanking-new house from last year. We’ve had no roaches (I’ve placed black caps all around the house), but we’ve had a handful of spiders. They probably come in from the doors and windows when they’re opened. Can’t really do anything about that.
Newer houses has less holes for creeps. Definitely there will be less. But if there is a big mountain or woods nearby, you will get bugs.
Ive had huntsman spiders in a 4th floor flat, japanese giant wasp because there is a cherry blossom tree close. Moved to a newer, clean, and far from the mountain house and I didnt have the problem anymore.
Depends completely on:
* Where it is located (both address and what floor it’s on)
* Who else lives there (both in the unit and in the building)
* What it’s made of
A brand new wooden first floor house is still going to get a lot of bugs. A brand new leopalace is going to get bugs no matter how clean you are because you’ll have terrible neighbors. A brand new sharehouse is probably going to get bugs no matter how new it is thanks to the inevitably dirty people you’ll live with.
To avoid bugs, think less of how old the building is, and think more of living alone, on a higher floor, and particularly in a building made of concrete. When I lived in a place like that I barely ever saw a single bug.
My last apartment was 新築 about 7 mins from a somewhat busy station in west tokyo, 2F. Kept very clean, yet still managed to get a cockroach running around tormenting me for an evening. Never saw another in 2 years. Since moved to another 2F 新築 apartment, and nothing yet (knock on wood). My first apartment in central tokyo was 10F, never saw one there. It depends on height from ground level, yours and your neighbors cleanliness, and luck.
I think it also has a lot to do with the area you live in. When I lived in the countryside I lived in a totally new home and still got a few of those huge cockroaches (4 times in 2 years and always when it was pouring rain for some reason) I now live in a first floor apartment in the city and haven’t even gotten spiders (I had a lot of then in my inaka house). Im guessing that having a shared house contributes to more filth and unwashed dishes that makes bugs more common.
I moved into a new apartment on the second floor. I get flies in summer (partly my own fault) and the occasional tiny spider but aside from that, nothing.
On the first floor it’s always going to be a possibility, I think.
It really all comes down to how well sealed the place is.
I live in a 7-year old house a stone’s throw from forested hills and across the street from rice paddies and an orchard.
The occasional cockroach used to slip in (probably while bringing in groceries and leaving the door open) until we moved our wood pile to a different location and started spraying around the doors.
The only bugs we get in the house are the occasional spider or tiny fly.
The exception is during the two annual stink bug seasons, in which the exterior of our house is coated at pretty much any hour of daylight by several thousand of the things. The little brush strips between the window screens doesn’t stop their hard, flat bodies, and they get in with extreme ease. We have to keep our windows closed for about 2-3 months out of the year excepting night time. That’s from being close to the forest, though. If we lived in the city there wouldn’t be many of the bastards.
Ive lived in an 80s wooden house and the bug situation was horrible. It was okay in winter but as soon as it got slightly warmer they started coming in from all the cracks in the floor, under the sink etc. I’ve had to kill like 10-15 bugs minimum daily. There were pretty much no spiders tho, only found one. Moved out of that place 2 months after moving in.
Worst thing is the asshole fudosan company knew about the bugs and said they can only spray some repellent outside but I doubt that wouldve helped since the issue was deep rooted. Apparently that’s what the previous tenant agreed to but Ive had enough bugs after only a month.
Now I live in an 80s concrete mansion on the highest floor in a newly renovated flat. So far no bugs apart from mosquitoes when you open the window with the light on at night.
As for sharehouse there’s lots of people living together and a lot of them don’t care. Used to live in a newly build one, moved in a year after it was built. No one took out the trash but waited for the once a week cleaning person to come and take it out. So once the bin was full people would just put more trash in to the point of it overfilling and spilling on the floor. Naturally there were a couple roaches
Imo it’s what the building is made out of and what the cleanliness standard of the tenants is.