sealing a thatched roof naked

I was able to squeek 7 years out of my old thatched roof on my tiki hut and a new one is being installed as i write! One of the items that led to it demise was that I caught a nearby palm frond rubbing on a corner of the hut. I cut the frond asap and it didn't appear to cause damage but that area wore away quicker than the rest and was constantly repairing it. Another hardship was being directly hit by 3 hurricanes. I lost my screen enclosure twice and had roof damage on my house but the tiki came through in flying colors. I live in south florida and the roof is basically sabel palm leaves ( cabbage palm). The question is would it help at all to somehow spray a sealant on the leaves?? I hope that the next 7 years will be as crazy as the first in the tiki...Even my sister who lives in the congo fell in love with it. fex I just added the "NAKED" part in the title... thought it would get more hits and maybe some advice....fex

[ Edited by: tikifex 2010-07-13 14:15 ]

The first roof I had on mine was thatch that had flame retardant sprayed on. The stuff basically glued itself down after the first couple of rains and then managed to survive Katrina and Wilma with minimal overall damage.

The new stuff I just put down does not have the flame retard stuff and the sealer I did apply doesn't seem to do much. Based on what I have seen of the few months my new thatch I would suggest finding the flame proof stuff and apply that.