Thatching A Curved Roof

A thatched roof is one of the most distinguishing features of a traditional english cottage.

Thatching a curved roof. The shingles are bent along a curved framing support and roof edges and laid in undulating wavy courses. Tie the four corner boards together by nailing in cross members extending from each corner parallel to the ridge pole and 24 inches apart. Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw water reed sedge cladium mariscus rushes heather or palm branches layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof since the bulk of the vegetation stays dry and is densely packed trapping air thatching also functions as insulation. By bending shingles around eaves and gables and by curving course lines and changing exposures craftsmen simulated the look of real thatch.

Dickie wright from rj wright and son master family thatchers explains the key elements to thatching a roof as he demonstrates his skills at the royal bat. Step 1 build the roof structure for the thatching by nailing a 2 by 4 inch piece of lumber from each of the four corners of the building up to a center ridge pole that runs parallel to the ground. While thatched roofs have a classic look and feel there are reasons why they ve been superseded by more modern building materials chief among them their high cost and extensive maintenance requirements.