A hat for a house from another age; peopled by knights, Shakespeare and gingerbread cottages. Who doesn't hold images of elegant roofs of reed and straw, on every continent and in thousands of cultures?
Thatching is detailed, labour intensive work. Each bundle precisely placed and dressed individually. At one bundle per foot, the thatcher working alone, can complete a 1,000 square foot roof in 4 to 8 weeks which will last 60 to 70 years with little maintenance.
Thatchers were artisans on the brink of extinction, but in the last ten
years they have benefited by the same gentle renaissance, associated with
other natural building systems, that will keep alive their work into the
new millennium.
Jeff Achenbach
