How To Thatch A Roof

Sometimes holloway strips the thatch right off and lays new timbers.

How to thatch a roof.

Build the roof structure for the thatching by nailing a 2 by 4 inch piece of lumber from each of the four corners of the building up to a center ridge pole that runs parallel to the ground. Begin at the bottom. And they are the most difficult ones to answer as nearly every thatch roof is a unique combination of the size shape and location of the roof and the materials and thatching skills used to create it. Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw water reed sedge cladium mariscus rushes heather or palm branches layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof since the bulk of the vegetation stays dry and is densely packed trapping air thatching also functions as insulation.

Tie the four corner boards together by nailing in cross members extending from each corner parallel to the ridge pole and 24 inches apart. Build with dry vegetation materials including water reed heather straw rushes and also palm branches. Use a hammer or staple gun to attach the thatch to the roof and check to ensure you are installing it with the rough shaggy side facing up and the woven knotted side facing down. It is a very old roofing method and has been used in.

The old thatch has been stripped down to its underwear a dry and musty thin petticoat of thatch. A beginners guide to the craft of thatching. You need to layering the vegetation to make sure if the shed would help the water run away. Start installing the thatch at the bottom edge of the roof and work in a horizontal row.

Dickie wright from rj wright and son master family thatchers explains the key elements to thatching a roof as he demonstrates his skills at the royal bat. Then the real work begins.