The Thatched House Re-Thatched (almost!)

[paddytt]

With the winter re-thatching on our house nearly complete, I thought you might be interested to see the latest update on our blog:

http://thethatchedhouse.blogspot.com/

The next project will be to complete the central heating and dig the French Drain - any suggestions or support would be very much appreciated!

regards


paddytt

 

[middi]

Very Nice.

SUPPORT !!!!!, What support. I suggest you suffer, on your own, like the rest of us ( :wink: )

I don't think you have much to worry about, you have a roof on your head and appear to progressing well.

Once you have finished, just make sure those chimneys ( or liners) are kept well swept if you intend to use solid fuels.

Middi

 

[Feltwell]

Looks good! Making those decorative curves to match all by eye certainly shows some skill.

I'm rather surprised to see the use of mortar to seal up against the chimneys - I would have presumed it would have been lead flashing all round. Don't get me wrong, it's not a criticism as I know very little indeed about thatch and it seems you've got a good thatcher there - I'm just curious as to the reason.

Certainly it's very bad practice to use mortar to seal a chimney against a tiled roof - it's liable to crack and part company with the chimney at some point. It's not unknown, my neighbour has it on his tiled roof, and it's in bad need of replacement having long since failed. What do other people on here with thatch have?

 

[Bayliss]

Very interesting blog, thanks for posting up the progress.

 

[TheForge]

We have 9 chimneys on ours and our neighbours thatched roof. All but 3 are 'filleted' with mortar as opposed to lead and this seems a common practice. Unfortunately they do indeed crack and drop, especially if the thatch is not well packed up to them!

 

[middi]

Mortar " flushing" is more traditional than lead on old cottages.
It is also true that mortar can ( and will in most cases) become adrift from the stack, leading to leaks and deterioration of thatch.
The best way to stop mortar coming away from the stack, therefore maintaining a good sealing joint, is to attach a strip of stainless steel expanded metal lath ( EML) onto the stack. This can be held onto the stack with stainless steel screws and washers.
S/S EML will act as a reinforced rib to the mortar holding it securely against the stack, it will also stop the cracking of mortar.
All in all a very traditional application aided by modern materials.

Middi

 

[Feltwell]

Fair enough, and the use of EML sounds sensible. Thanks for explaining.

There are without doubt some areas where the use of modern materials is preferable to what was done originally - roofing membrane instead of torching, and plastic underground drainage instead of clay spring to mind straight away. I'd also put copper pipe with soldered fittings in there instead of black iron or lead for domestic plumbing.

 

[Penners]

Paddy - I smiled to read your comment about the thatcher's apparent "instinctive" measurement of the curves of the ridge. My daughter and her husband recently had a new ridge put on their Norfolk house, and I watched the process with great interest. Their thatcher also appeared simply to judge the curvature of the "scallops" by eye. A tape never appeared! And yet they all look identical and they finish neatly at each end - no part-finished curves where the roof runs out!

I guess that's part of what you pay for. Supreme skill.

 

[paddytt]

I asked one of the Thatching team today about the use of mortar v's lead (unfortunately the Master Thatcher wasn't there).

He said for conservation and grant reasons it does depend on what was previously there, and mortar is better because the ridge needs replacing every 10 to 20 years and the mortar can be cheaply replaced each time. The depth of straw can vary each time, so lead might be in the wrong position after a new ridge is fitted.

Regards

Paddytt

 

[paddytt]

The reed re-thatching of the Thatched House is finished! (try saying that three times quickly...!)

http://thethatchedhouse.blogspot.com/

regards

paddytt

 

[Feltwell]

Lovely job Paddy. Much like our re-roofing job, it's nice to think that by the next time it needs major attention it should be some other bu##er's problem! :lol:

 

[tobydog]

Very nice job Paddy and it makes the house look even more impressive. We also have a hairy house but on a somewhat smaller scale. Would it be too rude to ask what the final bill was for the roof? Our reed roof is still a good few years away from being replaced but we've already started "The Thatch Fund" as it's generally referred to at home!

 

[paddytt]

Hi tobydog

You have a PM!

regards

paddytt

 

[tobydog]

Thanks very much.

 

[middi]

You can tell us how much it cost paddytt, we won't tell anybody, promise ( )

Middi