88v8
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- Glorious Gloucs
Harbinger of doom.
A small handful of moss, and decay.
Removed from the valley here by cutting the wire
The moss holds water and hastens the decay of the thatch. The valley is to the north and sees little sun. In the winter, none.
See here, from beneath, how the valley is rotting.
In 2006 the cottage was rethatched for the previous owner.
It was well enough done, no question of it having been a poor job.
Before that, it was done in 1981. A few weeks ago, the thatcher who did the work in 1981 dropped round out of the blue. Four tons and a half of thatch went up there, and the like came off, as he recalled. Hard work.
Five and twenty years between thatchings. The weather wetter now. Too many people in the world, too much carbon, warmer = wetter. Twenty-five years?
Perhaps not.
The thatcher - retired since 1995 - commented that the ridge needs redoing. It's a flush ridge, less durable than the block ridge one more normally sees, but more in keeping with what is an essentially simple cottage.
The pic above was three years ago, now the hazel criss-crosses are falling off and the wheat beneath is less tight.
We have 48ft of ridge, including the front wing. Today, a local thatcher called to assess the job. £150 a foot he charges. So that's 48 x £150, plus the unnecessary scaffolding inflicted by the Health & Safety crackpots, around £700, total, say, £8,000.
That's £1,000 a year to keep the ridge in repair.
The valley... that is rotting... may last another 3-4 years, then that will be another £6,000 or so.
£500 a year.
The whole roof may last 25 years. Then that will be £35,000 or more at todays' prices. Add sixteen years of inflation, that could be £55,000.
£2,000+ a year.
Annual cost of keeping a thatched roof on our small cottage = £2,000 + £500 + £1,000 = £3,500.
And then there's the insurance.
And the quincennial electrical inspection.
Thatch - a rich man's roof.
Ivor
A small handful of moss, and decay.
Removed from the valley here by cutting the wire
The moss holds water and hastens the decay of the thatch. The valley is to the north and sees little sun. In the winter, none.
See here, from beneath, how the valley is rotting.
In 2006 the cottage was rethatched for the previous owner.
It was well enough done, no question of it having been a poor job.
Before that, it was done in 1981. A few weeks ago, the thatcher who did the work in 1981 dropped round out of the blue. Four tons and a half of thatch went up there, and the like came off, as he recalled. Hard work.
Five and twenty years between thatchings. The weather wetter now. Too many people in the world, too much carbon, warmer = wetter. Twenty-five years?
Perhaps not.
The thatcher - retired since 1995 - commented that the ridge needs redoing. It's a flush ridge, less durable than the block ridge one more normally sees, but more in keeping with what is an essentially simple cottage.
The pic above was three years ago, now the hazel criss-crosses are falling off and the wheat beneath is less tight.
We have 48ft of ridge, including the front wing. Today, a local thatcher called to assess the job. £150 a foot he charges. So that's 48 x £150, plus the unnecessary scaffolding inflicted by the Health & Safety crackpots, around £700, total, say, £8,000.
That's £1,000 a year to keep the ridge in repair.
The valley... that is rotting... may last another 3-4 years, then that will be another £6,000 or so.
£500 a year.
The whole roof may last 25 years. Then that will be £35,000 or more at todays' prices. Add sixteen years of inflation, that could be £55,000.
£2,000+ a year.
Annual cost of keeping a thatched roof on our small cottage = £2,000 + £500 + £1,000 = £3,500.
And then there's the insurance.
And the quincennial electrical inspection.
Thatch - a rich man's roof.
Ivor
Triticale (Triticum x Secale)
