Sept 1, 2009: Thatch
 

I loves me some thatched roof homes. :love:
I don't have one because they are expensive, high maintenance, a fire hazard, an open invitation to insects & creepy crawlies, goat food, and won't pass code.

I've never seen a thatched roof this thick, but they sure look cool.

http://cellar.org/2009/thatch2.jpg

I think this is a community center they're working on.

http://cellar.org/2009/thatch1.jpg

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Hey Buddy! Got a light? Oops I dropped my ciggy.

I bet they're great insulation!

Yeah, they do look cozy. Although, looking again they kind of look like warriors buried to their chins...

I want a thatch roof on my outdoor area.

...said the actress to the bishop!

Well if you like thatch roofs, here is the railway station at Shirakawago (White River Village). Although it is a modern building, it is a traditional town / traditional-themed-tourist-town, so they thatched the station roof.
I was on my way home from a hike so I didn't have time to explore further.
Attachment 24636
Attachment 24637

Seen in Dawlish / UK

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...n/Thatch20.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...n/Thatch18.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...n/Thatch21.jpg

Where were you in 1539? ;)

I like the UK cob houses, some of which have thatch I think. I also like "green roofs" which can be of varying construction, but I notice that Japanese building has things deliberately planted in it, so that counts.

I watched a guy thatching a roof in the Netherlands years ago. It was so cool to watch. He was good at it. Had a lot of muscle memory in those arms. He just did it without thinking. We stayed there for at least an hour sitting on a grassy dyke just watching this guy work bundle by bundle along the roof. He would basically take a big bundle of thatch, tap it against the existing roof to get all the individual straws roughly lined up at the right angle, and plop it in place. Then he had what were essentially oversized hair pins that he stuck down in he thatch to hold it in place. After he had done a section, he took a long serrated knife, like a saw, and cut off all the thatch ends to make it even with the slope of the roof. Very simple and cool. Climbing the ladder with an armful of thatch looked awkward though.

I can't figure out why the fellow closest to the camera is wearing a hardhat.

They're all wearing hard hats.

They look like Japanese Amish.

I think, looking at the first set of pics, that maybe they weren't planted deliberately; that instead, stuff is just growing under the rain spouts, or spots where rain drips off the beams or whatever that is.

It's still a green roof, just not a living one.

There's at least one Christmas Tree Shop up in Mass. that has a thatch roof. Or rather faux-thatch.

Thatch all, folks!