
Check that animals are not currently nesting in your thatch.Īnd if they are, they can be humanely removed from your thatch by pest control specialists, if the situation requires. You want to avoid animals having easy access to your thatch, roof spaces and the rest of your home. If there are any holes in your thatch they are either a sign that you have a nesting site or a point of ingress for animals that have made your thatch their home. In fact, thatch offers a perfect nesting site for many species of birds and small mammals.

Your success will also depend on the extent of the damage and the type of thatch you have.Įveryone loves a thatched roof including animals. Needless to say, both options are time-consuming to DIY and will probably require you to hire a scaffold for safety.
ARE THATCHED ROOFS HARD TO MAINTAIN PROFESSIONAL
There is some potential that the edges of your thatch may be split or not be as cleanly cut by a hedge trimmer as by professional methods of trimming. Using a hedge trimmer doesn’t require you to remove or replace sections of the thatch.Īlthough it does require brushing back into place. Unless you’re an expert you can probably see that this method may disturb the integrity of the remaining thatch.Īlternatively, you could use a hedge trimmer. The process requires you to pull out sections of the thatch prune the ends and then push them back into place.

ARE THATCHED ROOFS HARD TO MAINTAIN MANUAL
There are a variety of different tools that professionals use which are designed specifically for the care and maintenance of thatch.īut if you’re intending to brush the thatch yourself, you could use the manual method of using pruning shears. And other popular thatch – Combed Wheat, Long Straw or Water Reed from Eastern Europe can last 55 – 65 years.īut you’ll only get the maximum lifespan out of your thatch if it is well-maintained.Īnd with the average price of re-thatching in the UK ranging from £33,000 to £67,000, no further incentive is needed than to do just that. Norfolk Reed has a lifespan of 50 – 60 years. So, cleaning and maintaining your thatch regularly is a surefire way of prolonging its life. And part of that rural idyll might include buying the picture postcard ideal of a rural property – that’s one with a thatched roof, of course.Īnd while there’s no denying the beauty and historical value of owning a property with thatch, there’s also denying that it’s a costly thing to maintain.Īs with any part of home maintenance, prevention is better than the cure. Many people dream of escaping to the country.

Thatch Roof Maintenance Cost Why is Cleaning Your Thatch Roof Important?.Are Thatched Roofs Expensive to Maintain?.Check the Integrity of Your Thatch – Especially Corners, Gullies, Valleys.What Maintenance Does a Thatched Roof Need?.How Often Should Thatch Brushing Be Done?.Why is Cleaning Your Thatch Roof Important?.
