88v8
Member
- Messages
- 3,131
- Location
- Glorious Gloucs
I dare say many people blunder into owning a thatched house, as we did.
'Oooh, that looks nice.'
So, just a heads up.
We are in the midst of a re-ridge. Might have posted pics if I hadn't dropped my camera, and awaiting arrival of a notnew one via eBay.
Anyway, thoughts about the cost.
The house - a picture of which at 300kb and 800x600 pixels is apparently 'too large' - has a 35' main ridge with a chimney at each end, and a 10' gable ridge with a hipped end.
At the back there is an eyebrow window.
Roofed in combed wheat, last done for the PO in 2006.
Complete re-roof, c£35,000 + VAT + scaffolding say another £1,000.
Some houses may need no scaffolding as most of the work is done on kneelers and cripples, some houses may need four sides. Here we have two sides but slightly complex due to spans and slopes.
Eleven years on, the ridges have to be redone. Eight to ten years is apparently normal.
£7,500 + VAT + scaffolding.
Next time the ridge is done, the back slope - south facing - will have to be redone. As I've said before, the sun is a great destroyer, and unfortunately we have no big shade trees protecting the house. The uv plus the wetting the drying, is destructive.
That will be perhaps £22,000 + VAT.
Another 10/12 years and the ridge plus the front will need redoing. Perhaps £25,000 + VAT.
As mentioned, the roof is combed wheat.
If it were long straw, the life would be less.
With reed, more, perhaps up to 50 years.
COs are unlikely to give permission for a change of type. We do have one house in the village that's straw on one slope and reed on the other and that is probably how I would re-roof here - reed to the south - if we were doing a complete re-roof, which in our ownership won't happen.
The roof is wired. This is good, as it keeps rodents and birds at bay. Less good, it needs a periodic strip and replace because the wire becomes baggy as the thatch ages and compacts. The first week of our re-ridge was the ridging, the second week will largely be the rewire.
And then there's the insurance The house is insured for £575,000, plus not much contents.
Insurance is £1,150. If it were tiled, make that nearer £400.
As an aside, we have two woodburners. This leads to a constant battle with the insurers over chimney height - they want 6ft above the ridge, which we don't have. And of course we only burn seasoned hardwood, no scrap.
Adding up, over the 30/35 year cycle of roof life and including the scaffolding, we have
£8,500 reridge
£22,000 ridge plus south slope
£25,000 ridge plus north slope & gable
£11,000 VAT
£22,000 notional extra cost of insurance relative to a tiled house.
£88,500 total.
Say £3,000 a year. All these costs are at 2017 prices.
So, yes it looks lovely. Yes, it's cool in summer and warm in winter. But would I buy another thatched house? Hmmm.
And, as a postscript, I certainly would not consider a thatched semi or terrace. It's quite enough having to worry about one's own house without having to worry about what one's neighbours are or are not doing.
Thatch - lovely on someone else's roof.
Ivor
'Oooh, that looks nice.'
So, just a heads up.
We are in the midst of a re-ridge. Might have posted pics if I hadn't dropped my camera, and awaiting arrival of a notnew one via eBay.
Anyway, thoughts about the cost.
The house - a picture of which at 300kb and 800x600 pixels is apparently 'too large' - has a 35' main ridge with a chimney at each end, and a 10' gable ridge with a hipped end.
At the back there is an eyebrow window.
Roofed in combed wheat, last done for the PO in 2006.
Complete re-roof, c£35,000 + VAT + scaffolding say another £1,000.
Some houses may need no scaffolding as most of the work is done on kneelers and cripples, some houses may need four sides. Here we have two sides but slightly complex due to spans and slopes.
Eleven years on, the ridges have to be redone. Eight to ten years is apparently normal.
£7,500 + VAT + scaffolding.
Next time the ridge is done, the back slope - south facing - will have to be redone. As I've said before, the sun is a great destroyer, and unfortunately we have no big shade trees protecting the house. The uv plus the wetting the drying, is destructive.
That will be perhaps £22,000 + VAT.
Another 10/12 years and the ridge plus the front will need redoing. Perhaps £25,000 + VAT.
As mentioned, the roof is combed wheat.
If it were long straw, the life would be less.
With reed, more, perhaps up to 50 years.
COs are unlikely to give permission for a change of type. We do have one house in the village that's straw on one slope and reed on the other and that is probably how I would re-roof here - reed to the south - if we were doing a complete re-roof, which in our ownership won't happen.
The roof is wired. This is good, as it keeps rodents and birds at bay. Less good, it needs a periodic strip and replace because the wire becomes baggy as the thatch ages and compacts. The first week of our re-ridge was the ridging, the second week will largely be the rewire.
And then there's the insurance The house is insured for £575,000, plus not much contents.
Insurance is £1,150. If it were tiled, make that nearer £400.
As an aside, we have two woodburners. This leads to a constant battle with the insurers over chimney height - they want 6ft above the ridge, which we don't have. And of course we only burn seasoned hardwood, no scrap.
Adding up, over the 30/35 year cycle of roof life and including the scaffolding, we have
£8,500 reridge
£22,000 ridge plus south slope
£25,000 ridge plus north slope & gable
£11,000 VAT
£22,000 notional extra cost of insurance relative to a tiled house.
£88,500 total.
Say £3,000 a year. All these costs are at 2017 prices.
So, yes it looks lovely. Yes, it's cool in summer and warm in winter. But would I buy another thatched house? Hmmm.
And, as a postscript, I certainly would not consider a thatched semi or terrace. It's quite enough having to worry about one's own house without having to worry about what one's neighbours are or are not doing.
Thatch - lovely on someone else's roof.
Ivor
