Care and feeding of thatch - Other Crafts

ST Surf tiki Member Va Beach Joined: Jun 28, 2005 Posts: 270	ST Surf tiki Posted posted on Fri, Oct 23, 2009 7:22 PM So my brother-in-law and I built an outdoor bar with thatched roof that is attached to his house about 3 (4?)years or so ago. We used the fire proofed thatching. We had to replace it this summer due to deterioration. Is there anything that can be done to prolong the service life of thatching? We live in Virginia Beach so we get all 4 seasons, hot humid summers and cold wet winters, plus throw in some hurricanes and nor'easters for good measure. Granted, the first time we made some rookie errors like not treating or otherwise covering the roofing, so we had to replace that as well. This time we put roofing felt down to prevent wood rot and used thin strips of vinyl siding material screwed on top of the thatching to secure it. I don't know whether that will do anything one way or the other but it is my bro-in-laws bar and his idea so I went along with it. You can't see the felt or the vinyl strips.

So my brother-in-law and I built an outdoor bar with thatched roof that is attached to his house about 3 (4?)years or so ago. We used the fire proofed thatching. We had to replace it this summer due to deterioration. Is there anything that can be done to prolong the service life of thatching? We live in Virginia Beach so we get all 4 seasons, hot humid summers and cold wet winters, plus throw in some hurricanes and nor'easters for good measure.

Granted, the first time we made some rookie errors like not treating or otherwise covering the roofing, so we had to replace that as well. This time we put roofing felt down to prevent wood rot and used thin strips of vinyl siding material screwed on top of the thatching to secure it. I don't know whether that will do anything one way or the other but it is my bro-in-laws bar and his idea so I went along with it. You can't see the felt or the vinyl strips.