Thatch

[original PM]

You also need to ensure you keep your thatch well trimmed or it could put people off.

Nobody likes to look at an unruly thatch with little creatures living in it.

Also import to make sure it does not completely cover what is underneath as they should complement each other - one should not dominate the other.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

This ^

Also, you will need to replace the ridge every 10 years or so, depending on how well you maintain the roof over its lifetime. This is probably starts at around 3k depending on the size of the roof. Thatchers are a hardy bunch, and they tend to do things that would make an H&S officer scream, however even they are now forced to use scaffolding to get on to a roof.

Then there is the routine maintenance on the roof itself. Birds and rodents like to try and get in to the roof. This will need repairing every couple of years or so, depending on the amount of damage caused.

Insurance is becoming a right pain. The number of companies willing to offer quotes is shrinking, and the premiums are going up. There will be stipulations about the condition of your internal wiring, particularly wrt modern consumer units, safety inspection frequency, and protecting cables in the roof space from rodent damage (if they let you have them up there at all).

Wood-burning stoves offer their own special challenges as modern building regs specify the linings and distance (height) between the pot/cowl and the thatch. We had to rebuild and line all our chimneys to meet the regs, or we weren't insured for a chimney fire, or a fire in the thatch caused by the stoves.

Thatch is fine, if you get in to it with your eyes wide open. Having said that, this is our third thatched property and it will be our last.

Interesting post, thanks.

There's no access to the roof void in this property so Lord knows what's up there.

Have you made any effort to stop the rats getting into your roof? My understanding is that rats aren't very good climbers but can get up drainpipes and climbing plants etc. Should be easy to stop that happening I guess though I never succeeded in my last cottage. Property was a semi so no matter what measures I took, I couldn't stop the blighters climbing up next door's pipes and scuttling along the guttering into my end of the house.

Decided the most humane way of dealing with them was a humane trap followed by a pellet in the head from my air rifle though I never actually found out as I moved house.

Yes, you need to go in with your eyes wide open but a whitewashed, thatched cottage is just the quintessential rural English property and I'm completely sold on it.

[d000hg]

Sounds like you've found your personal slice of middle little England paradise, hopefully the village is kept clear of poor people and foreigners somehow?

[OwlHoot]

My understanding is that rats aren't very good climbers ...

Brown rats aren't, but black rats are and they're the ones that used to carry the plague.

(Following the Fire of London in 1666, thatched roofs were banned in London and that's the main reason the plague of 1665 never returned: Black rats no longer had any thatch to nest in, and brown rats preferred to nest underground instead of over peoples' heads like the more agile black rats.)

[Paddy]

Interesting post, thanks.

There's no access to the roof void in this property so Lord knows what's up there.

Have you made any effort to stop the rats getting into your roof? My understanding is that rats aren't very good climbers but can get up drainpipes and climbing plants etc. Should be easy to stop that happening I guess though I never succeeded in my last cottage. Property was a semi so no matter what measures I took, I couldn't stop the blighters climbing up next door's pipes and scuttling along the guttering into my end of the house.

Decided the most humane way of dealing with them was a humane trap followed by a pellet in the head from my air rifle though I never actually found out as I moved house.

Yes, you need to go in with your eyes wide open but a whitewashed, thatched cottage is just the quintessential rural English property and I'm completely sold on it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDcQdmt37EE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ePUMIvCBQo

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Brown rats aren't, but black rats are and they're the ones that used to carry the plague.

(Following the Fire of London in 1666, thatched roofs were banned in London and that's the main reason the plague of 1665 never returned: Black rats no longer had any thatch to nest in, and brown rats preferred to nest underground instead of over peoples' heads like the more agile black rats.)

Yes, I don't think we have many black rats round here - they're all the brown variety. They don't really bother me per se but it's their habit of chewing through cables and pipes that makes me want to get rid when they make an appearance.

[SueEllen]

Are thatched roofs plagued by squirrels?

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Sounds like you've found your personal slice of middle little England paradise, hopefully the village is kept clear of poor people and foreigners somehow?

Wow! That's some leap of logic. Even for you

[Chuck]

There's no access to the roof void in this property so Lord knows what's up there.

Have you made any effort to stop the rats getting into your roof?

We've never had a problem with rats, but mice are excellent climbers and they will get in. They like to chew the PVC off cables, so any wiring in the roof space should be protected in some way, either armoured or in steel conduit.

Talk to the insurer about anything you aren't sure about. They will have very specific requirements which you must follow, or they will drop you in the tulip the moment you try and make a claim. Same as any insurance really, but thatched buildings are a world unto themselves.

If the property is thatched, there's a reasonable chance it's also Listed (the sale particulars will mention this). Dealing with Listed Building Consent for any changes can add cost and time to any projects you made need, or want, to do.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

We've never had a problem with rats, but mice are excellent climbers and they will get in. They like to chew the PVC off cables, so any wiring in the roof space should be protected in some way, either armoured or in steel conduit.

Talk to the insurer about anything you aren't sure about. They will have very specific requirements which you must follow, or they will drop you in the tulip the moment you try and make a claim. Same as any insurance really, but thatched buildings are a world unto themselves.

If the property is thatched, there's a reasonable chance it's also Listed (the sale particulars will mention this). Dealing with Listed Building Consent for any changes can add cost and time to any projects you made need, or want, to do.

Fortunately, this one isn't listed. That was made clear in the particulars.

I do wonder if it would be possible for somebody to decide that will be listed at some point in the future though....