What to expect when getting a new thatch roof
If you own a thatched cottage, replacing the thatched roof is one of the most expensive jobs you’ll ever need to do so it’s only natural you may feel a little anxious about the process. From wondering which thatcher to employ, to what to expect whilst the work is going ahead, read on to find out about our experience and my top things to consider before getting your own thatch done.
Choosing a thatcher
The most crucial part of the process - it is so important to get multiple quotes from different thatchers. I think we were close to ten different thatchers by the end, and it was fascinating to hear all their different opinions and prices, which varied wildly and helped us make a more informed decision on the work required. Here are a few things you could do to ensure you employ a thatcher you’re happy with.
Ask them to show you photographs of previous work or even better, ask them if they’ve completed any roofs nearby that you can go and see in person.
Ask around locally - see a thatched roof looking smart? Knock on their door and ask them if they’d mind sharing details and their experience.
Ask about the process they’d undertake to complete the job - would they use scaffolding (extra cost but quicker job) or would it just be one man with a ladder (lower cost but can take months and months).
Go with your gut. I know it may seem superficial, but if I don’t like someone’s vibe I won’t pursue work with them. I need to feel like we will be able to build a level of trust and respect throughout the process, from them being willing to listen to my requests and ideas, to their workmanship, reliability and work ethics. Over the three houses we’ve renovated this decade, my instinct has never been wrong so far!
Need repairs done? Employ your prospective thatcher for general repairs before employing them to replace the whole roof. This is a great way to gauge their skills and your working partnership without shelling out lots of money first.
What to expect when getting a new thatched roof
Firstly, it isn’t always the case that the whole roof needs replacing. Depending on when the work was done, you may find it’s just the ridge that needs doing, or one side and a ridge. For us, the roof has been thatched at four different time periods - meaning that 1/3 of it needs urgent repair, the 2/3 needs work in 1-2 years, and the 3/3 has about 8 years left, whilst the thatch over the porches has about 20 years left. Whilst this does make for a slightly less cohesive roof, it also means we can spread the costs out which is helpful.
However, with spreading the work and costs out, we also need to keep in mind that different thatchers have different styles, so going with a thatcher who is older and could retire wouldn’t have been ideal. Of course, anything can happen, but by going with a younger thatcher, the plan is he’ll still be around in the next few years when we hope to get the rest of the roof done (bar the porches.)
The thatched roof before work started. It wasn’t leaking but definitely only had a few months of life left in it!
Scaffolding
Our thatchers used scaffolding, meaning they could get the job done in less than a month with, on the most part, only one man doing most of the labour. The scaffold hire cost £1600 (Hampshire, 2025) which was actually cheaper than we expected and had other advantages such as being able to check the work closely ourselves and using the opportunity to clean and paint the exterior under the thatch. We also made the most of having the scaffolding up by getting someone in to increase the height of our chimney pot so it now meets new insurance criteria for log burners.
Just be aware the scaffolding will make your home feel quite dark in the meantime.
Weather
We were blessed with beautiful sunny dry weather throughout the whole of April, however I did ask our thatchers if wet weather slows them down, and they actually said that the straw can be easier to work with when wet so the weather shouldn’t affect work too much. However, you may find if your thatcher is just using a ladder rather than scaffolding, they may be a little more susceptible to cancel on wet or windy weather days.
Parking and Waste Removal
It’s likely your thatchers will have one or two trucks they need parking for and possibly a trailor that can get as close to the working area as possible. As the old straw is stripped away, there will be a lot of waste that needs to be loaded onto a trailor and removed. Equally, you will have deliveries of new straw throughout the process and need a spot where these can be stored.
Mess
We were pleasantly surpsied with how little mess the work did make although I think this is mostly due to watching our neighbours have their roof done by a thatcher who didn’t really clear up after himself.
Of course, there is a lot of debris that falls to the floor as the old roof is removed with lots of tiny bits of straw or moss covering the driveway. However, our thatchers have been brilliant at tidying up at the end of each day, using a leaf blower to gather together all the larger bits of straw and raking them up as they go.
There are still little bits of straw on the old roof that have blown over by the wind which our thatchers have said they will come back to tidy up once the scaffolding is down.
Being considerate neighbours
Our cottage is semi-detached so our neighbours have been impacted by the work as the scaffolding has sat on their front yard and our roof meets theirs. We have kept an open discussion throughout the process, warning them when the work will be done, the predicted timeline for the work and when the scaffold will be removed. We’ve also checked their side regularly to ensure it’s not being left messy, and have consistently told them to let us know if there are any issues.
Thankfully our neighbours are super lovely and I think they are just pleased to have some beautiful new thatch to look at it!
Tea and coffee!
Our thatchers were certainly fuelled by coffee so make sure you have plenty on hand to keep them going! Ours worked very reliably from 8am (I could have almost set my watch to their arrival time it was so consistent) to 4pm, although of course, all workers will be different.
Design decisions
You won’t necessarily need to know these straight away but it’s a good idea to start researching design ideas for the ridge as you don’t want to rush such an important decision like this on site.
We talked to our thatcher to show us examples of others he had done, which helped to give us a realistic idea of how designs looked. Our house is an L-shape, with lots of windows, porches and other details going on in the roof, so despite generally being bolder when it comes to design choices, we actually went for a simple scallop as anything else would look too busy.
When we come to do the other side of the roof, which is larger and with less going on, we may opt for a larger scallop pattern in the middle of the roof for some extra interest.
An important thing to look out for: Design details from ground level
Something I had not considered is how design details on the ridge can look different from ground level. For instance, our neighbours scallops that go over the higher window detail look slightly smaller than the scallops next to them due to the raised angle of the roof there. This is because the thatcher has probably just used a template ensuring the scallops are all the same size, however, when you actually look at it from ground level, due to the extra height in the straw from the window, to the eye from the ground, the sizing looks off.
Once our thatchers pointed this out, I couldn’t unsee it.
The solution, therefore, is to cut the designs so they look even from the ground level, even if that means, at eye level on the roof, some scallops or designs may be larger or smaller than others. This obviously doesn’t matter because the only ones who’ll see the difference at that level are the birds and Santa on his sleigh as he prepares to go down our highly insured chimneys!
Straw shortage for thatch roofs
Another unexpected element we faced was the nationwide straw shortage across the UK due to some recent bad harvests. We had originally planned to complete 2/3 of our whole roof but as there is a lack of straw, we ended up just getting the more urgent 1/3 done, and we will complete the other 2/3s when the harvest comes in.
Obviously as a completely natural, sustainable and organic resource, it was naive of us not to consider this happening, such as we are used to having building materials readily available!
If you’re replacing your thatch with reed, then you are likely to be less affected by shortages as it is imported from abroad and thus less susceptible to one nations particular harvest.
Book Recommendation:
On the Roof: A Thatcher’s Journey by Tom Allan
This memoir by Tom Allan is a beautiful and surprisingly easy to read book taking you behind the scenes of a thatcher’s life, as he works in the UK and travels beyond, talking to thatchers in the Hebrides, Denmark, Syria and Japan. A lovely read if you’re interested in the fascinating master craft of thatching!