Pest control in Norwood

Pest control in Norwood revolves around Grant Avenue's restaurants and the older homes on the streets behind them. We regularly treat German cockroaches in kitchens, roof rats in old roofs, fleas in homes with pets, fish moths in older cupboards and ants before the rains. Every job starts with an inspection to find where pests live and get in.

A village high street with older homes behind it

Norwood is a well-established suburb between Houghton, Orange Grove and Oaklands, best known for Grant Avenue, its long strip of restaurants, coffee shops, delis and small businesses. Behind the high street are streets of older homes, many from the first half of the twentieth century, on modest stands, alongside semis, small blocks of flats and some townhouses. Trees are large and old, and many houses have been renovated or extended several times.

Living close to a food strip doesn't make your house dirty, but it does mean rodents and cockroaches have a steady supply of food within a block or two. Older roofs, shared walls and the lanes behind the shops give them easy routes to travel.

Cockroaches: two very different kinds

Norwood sees both of Johannesburg's main cockroaches. The small German cockroach lives indoors, in restaurant kitchens and home kitchens alike, and spreads in boxes, appliances and second-hand furniture. The big, reddish-brown American cockroach lives in drains and sewers and comes up through manholes and floor drains on warm nights. The treatments are different, so identification comes first. Our article on the common cockroaches in Johannesburg helps you tell them apart.

For restaurants, we use gel baits in equipment and wall gaps, keep a service record for each visit, and recommend a scheduled contract so a problem never builds up. For homes, a gel bait treatment of the kitchen and bathrooms with a follow-up usually clears German cockroaches, while drain treatment and sealing pipe gaps keep American ones out.

Roof rats in older roofs

Old corrugated iron and tile roofs have gaps at the eaves, valleys and where extensions meet the original house. Roof rats climb the trees and boundary walls and get in through those gaps. We bait outside in lockable stations, trap in the roof and show you exactly where to seal. Expect a few quiet nights before the noise stops completely, as the last rats find the bait.

Fleas in homes with pets

Many Norwood homes have dogs or cats, and fleas build up quickly in summer in carpets, pet beds and shady parts of the garden. Treating the house and garden at the same time as the vet treats your pets is the only way to break the cycle. Read more on our flea treatments around Rosebank page.

Fish moths and ants

Older built-in cupboards, bookshelves and boxes in the garage are fish moth territory, especially in rooms that stay a bit damp. Ants push in along paving joints and skirting boards before summer storms. Both respond well to targeted treatment, and in the case of ants, baits that go back to the nest.

Flats and semis

In Norwood's small blocks and semis, kitchens and bathrooms often back onto the neighbour's, and the plumbing is shared. If German cockroaches keep returning after a good treatment, they are probably coming through the wall. Ask the neighbours or the body corporate to treat at the same time; it usually ends the cycle in one round.

A Norwood tip

If you live on a street that backs onto the restaurant lanes, keep your own bins on a hard surface away from the house wall, and check your boundary wall for holes at ground level. Rats from the lanes often use one broken brick or drainage gap to get into every garden on the block.

The mistake we see most

Bug bombs for German cockroaches. They fill the room with insecticide, miss the cockroaches deep in hinges and motor housings, and often send them into the next room or the next flat. A careful gel treatment does far more with far less product.

What it costs and why

For homes, price depends on the size of the house and the pest, with flea and heavy cockroach treatments often needing a follow-up. For restaurants, it depends on the size of the kitchen, the number of stations and how often we visit. This page shows a guide "from" price, and our Johannesburg pest control rates list the starting point for every service. We'll quote after an inspection, and we'll tell you if a small problem is one you can handle yourself.

Norwood is part of our Rosebank area hub. Its neighbours Oaklands and Orange Grove each have their own page.

Combat Pest Control is owned and operated by Jason van Heerden, with 25 years of experience. We're SAPCA registered and registered with the Department of Agriculture, offer service within 24 hours and guarantee general treatments for three months. Call 084 200 2700, or WhatsApp us a photo of the cockroach and we'll tell you which kind it is.