Building new home - considering a thatched roof?

[Marc]

I may build an oceanfront home along the Garden route. If so my wife would like to seriously consider a thatched roof on it.

Now I know this is not the norm. I also am aware of how it does not last anywhere near as long as other roofs. There is also the fire hazard. Yet...I would like to hear other people's comments, good, bad or what-have-you on how a thatched roof home is regarded there in South Africa, particularly along the Gardenroute.

In England, a thatched roof house is viewed as a "rich man's" folly. An expensive indulgence. Higher insurance, yet quaint charm. My feeling is that in South Africa where it is far more common, that in some ways it has the reverse appeal. Is this correct?

The house will be a upmarket one. I don't want just a brick faced thatched thing, but possibly a design that breaks the traditional setting. Lots of glass to open itself up to the vistas, yet with that more natural material feeling based upon thatching material and the nice open vaulted ceilings.

I am interested in hearing what various people's opinions are about thatching, its faults, its advantages, etc. Anybody have direct experience living with thatch?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I can't say from an beach location point of view, but I live in Cape Town and own a thatch roof house. It's definitely a 'rich man's folly' in my humble opinion. A recent quote to restore the roof was R130 000 and a complete new tiled roof will cost only R70 000. The thatch is guaranteed for 30 years after which it is likely you will have to redo again. The maintenance has been pretty heavy in the last five years and no ceilings in my wife's opinion has been a serious dust problem. We have had problems with spiders, birds, ant's, wasps and bees. I don't believe we would have had the same size problems in a normal tiled roof home.

I must admit the thatchers have pretty much upgraded their treatment of thatch and 30 years is a long time, but as an option I would rather go for a tiled roof given the opportunity again. Even with the treatment, no lightning danger in the Cape you are still forced to install a sprinkler system on the roof at high cost and the insurance premiums are a real killer.

Other than that it really look great :-)

[Marc]

Thanks for the info.

130,000 rand is a lot of money for a roof. You mentioned insurance rates, any idea what the actual cost would likely be for insurance with a thatched roof versus the tiled roof? This is an important cost factor and I would like to know more about the size of the insurance premium on a thatched roof.

Marc

[Anonymous]

A lot depends on the Insurance company, the type of policy, the cost of the home, cost of the contents etc. In my case for example the price difference is almost R250.00 on a policy that is currently R750.00. This means that the price difference is 50% more from tiled to thatch. I cannot say if this is in line with most insurance companies or whether this is a fair assessemnt or not, but this is what I am paying and I made a quick call to my broker to get the difference should I replace with a tiled roof.

My advice is to goto: http://www.autogen.co.za and get them to mail you a quote. Auto & General are one of the leading short term insurance companies in South Africa ( I think :-) )

Hope it helps