montakute

Moving to a newer highrise in Penang, what should I expect to encounter in the way of bugs/insects? How many, how often? I keep the windows closed.

bakedbean

If you keep the windows closed.....minimal, hardly any bugs.

If you keep the windows open....maybe some mozzies here n there**

I am 20+ floors up. We (currently) keep the windows closed with a little bit of aircon. You don't need so much aircon at high level. Then on cooler days get the windows, doors open to freshen up, and let some of that dusty haze in

**I've actually been pretty much condo-bound the last few days and, during a nice cool storm, got the windows open to freshen it up. Same evening got a very nice mozzie bite on my ankle I hadn't been outside apart from throwing the trash, so my suspicions are that you do get one or two mozzies up at higher level.

Apart from that.... in the 4+ years we have lived in this condo...no 'roaches (yet). During renovation had quite a lot of ants, and had to get a pest guy in to find the nest, which he did. He said caused by workers bringing those sweet drinks in and hanging them on the door. Haven't had any ant problems since (yet). Hope I am not tempting fate here.

bakedbean

Not actually bugs but in the last month or so have had a bat out on the balcony wall (first time ever) and a black bird (no idea what it was) that landed on balcony railing also, looked in and then flew straight into the balcony doors and nearly brained itself, poor thing.

My spiritual friends tell me that bats are very symbolic Probably true actually.

Gunnar45

In general we keep our windos open until going to bed at night.
I had a bat visiting our living room one evening.
Managed to catch it with a towel and let it out again.
Then you have the ants which tend to swarm one or two days after a heavy rain as they come flying in thousands. But it lasts thankfully only for a few hours each time.
I have also seen the occasional rove beetle, but otherwise there have been no problems.
Mossies are quite rare and have so far not been a problem, but there was a case of dengue in the neighbour building
If on low floors, monkeys entering through the windows could be a problem.
One thing regarding open windows is that there can be some sudden very strong wind gusts, creating havoc with lighter interior decoration details, etc.
So we never leave any windows open when leaving the flat.

InVinoVeritas

No bugs 12 floors up, the odd mozzie if you leave the windows open (and, of course, those bloody Norwegian Blues)!

bakedbean

Well it's fate, isn't it. But it took a while.

I was lounging on the sofa last night with a book, glass of wine at hand, feet up, and slippers were down on the floor. Nice, relaxing evening.

And I just thought....did I see a shadow of *something* ....but the mind plays tricks eh? And I ignored. And then I looked down at my slipper and a big roach emerged from it

Did anyone hear the scream?

JC3

Something to watch out for, particularly if buying a property, is termite infestation. This happens even in condos. Search on Google for "Penang condominium infested with termites" and you'll see some examples.

JC3

Englishmum

The last place we lived in, in neighbouring Singapore was a duplex on the 23rd and 24th floors in a brand new condo (I remembered looking at an apartment in the previous condo on the same site a few years earlier).

We always had the patio doors adjacent to the balconies open all day until we went to bed....from time to time we would get the (huge) flying cockroaches coming in on a gust of wind. I used to freak out big time

We often had baby geckos in the apartment and I was very fond of them, oddly enough I rarely spotted the adult ones although we had them quite often in other apartments we lived in on lower floors.

One thing which horrified me though was that I went to see the new baby of an Aussie who was living on the eighth floor....we got to talking about cockroaches and she was telling me that whenever she opened the rubbish chute she would see them scuttling around, so always banged on the chute door to scare them away before opening it.... Even worse, she told me that when they removed the ceiling light cover for the fluorescent lights, there were dozens of roaches. This was alarming considering it was a brand new complex. However there was a construction site next door and there were loads of workers from China and the Indian subcontinent eating and drinking on site. I'm sure it didn't help with the roach situation.

On our roof balcony on the third level there were always lots of ants...they were probably in the plant pots of bouganvillea etc. which I'd purchased from a garden centre.

The very first place we ever lived at in Singapore was a maisonette on the ground floor....one day we had a cobra slithering into the utility area off the kitchen! As soon as our lease was up we moved to another apartment on the third floor lol!

InVinoVeritas

Honestly, I think this is an urban myth, like snakes on the 16th floor.

JC3

For termites search on Termites in Condos and you'll see it's no myth. It's a problem housing associations often have to deal with.

Moments ago I was just reading about a snake in the toilet bowl on the 19th floor of a condo in New York - How Did Snake Get Into 19th Floor Apartment Toilet Anyway?: Gothamist

A friend in Penang found a cobra under her bed 10 days ago. You can use boiling water to kill a snake instantly if it happens to you.

JC3

InVinoVeritas

I did, that's why I think it's a myth. I'm sure they sometimes find there way into an apartment but that's always because infested furniture was moved in. Similarly I don't think for a moment that a snake climbs 32 flights of stairs to scare the living bejesus out of some old lady - it gets a helping hand, albeit unwittingly.

bakedbean

Those flying roaches in Singapore are just horrible.

bakedbean

I'm not sure I'm buying the termite infestation. Used to get this in Phuket but that was because all the properties had so much wood in them . Do termites eat concrete?

JC3

No, wood and cellulose. But once in a building they spread - wooden floors, doors, kitchen cabinets, furniture, structural beams....
According to Rentokil Initial MD Carol Lam termites are the number one pest in Malaysia, as well as the most destructive causing damage to all types of property.

More on termites in condos here (albeit a US website), and how they get in, and how they spread:
http://www.termite-control.com/termi...tes-in-condos/

JC3

teejaydee

They have them in Penang too.