Another thread on this : https://www.4x4community.co.za/foru...y-a-Thatched-roof-house?p=3359952#post3359952
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Thatched roof experiences
- Thread starter Speedster
- Start date
deweyzeph
Honorary Master
It's actually ridiculous how many thatch roof houses have burnt down in St Francis, some more than once. And every time they burn down the owners rebuild them with another thatch roof. And then they burn down again. And then they rebuild with thatch again. To be fair I think there are forced to use thatch due to the local building regulations requiring all the houses to conform to a certain standard, but still, how many times does your house have to burn down before you realise thatch probably isn't the best idea in a high fire-risk area.
deweyzeph
Honorary Master
Just to add to that, there are also liability issues if you have a thatch roof house and it burns down and takes down your neighbours' non-thatch roof houses with it. I would not be happy living next to a thatch roof house, just purely because of the fire risk.
Dairyfarmer
Executive Member
Not all insurance companies are the same though. But read the fine print on what is covered, or excluded, with regards to thatch. They may give you a lower premium, but may also exclude certain things in the event of a claim. Similar to car insurance. You may have an exclusion or reduction in pay out if the drive had had their license for less than x years.
Dairyfarmer
Executive Member
Thatching should be done in layers (Courses) with thicker stemmed thatch inside and getting finer going out. The best is to use reed on the inside before thatch. This makes it more waterproof and lessens the dust (no fine stuff on the inside).
Leaking is a sign of incorrect pitch and thickness of the thatch. The closer the roof is to a dome shape, the better. Straight lengths may develop dips as the roof sags inwards. This is why a thatched roof is so much higher than a non thatched roof.
Steamy Tom
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would you take the grass off or go over it?
be warned, it is mad expensive, a small 6 x 7 thatch was quote at R45k to harvey tile over, im sure a house would cost in the region of like 150-300k depending on size
Speedster
Honorary Master
Over the thatch. Quotes are in the region of R500/m2
Steamy Tom
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so a 150m2 roof you would be looking at R75k...
personally for me i wouldn't do it, and if i did i would have them take everything off, put that foil insulation, a layer of cape reed grass and then harvey.
Speedster
Honorary Master
It's pricey. It does remove the need for maintenance costs though. And it allows me to add solar panels.
Steamy Tom
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I mean if you are happy to install panels over it then there is no reason you cant add panels onto a thatch...you just add threaded rod through to the beams to mount the brackets on. you will still have the dusty issue inside, grass smell, cold winter issues etc etc
Speedster
Honorary Master
From what I've read you can't put panels over thatch. I guess one can always make a plan though.
Speedster
Honorary Master
Follow up thread about re-roofing here.
mybroadband.co.za
Re-roof thatch
Has anyone here re-roofed thatch? What would you suggest, do I leave the thatch and clad over it or is it best to remove the thatch? Also, what does one re-roof with? Harvey tiles, Fiddler, Onduvilla or something else?
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