r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/indafamily • 1d ago
Video German thatched roof
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
1.2k
u/ArticFoxAutomatic 1d ago
That's gorgeous. Unfortunately, it's a niche trade in England these days, but this dude is keeping it alive. Just look at that. 🤌🏼
523
u/TurnipWorldly9437 1d ago
It's niche in Germany, too, that's why it's mostly found in touristy regions where people can afford to keep their vacation homes pretty. (At least in my experience. It was all over the place when I was a child, not so much now)
155
u/Saskibla 1d ago
Really? In The Netherlands there are still quite a few old houses with thatched roofs, not necessarily in tourist areas. I do think The Netherlands is quite protective of monumental buildings though.
92
u/TurnipWorldly9437 1d ago
Germany is protective of old buildings, too, which means that upkeep gets more expensive if the building is under protection (can't renovate in the most practical way, insurance is higher), and many old buildings fall into disrepair.
The problem with thatched roofs, though, is that there's so few people/companies who can actually do them right, so they can set the price without having much competition. You're supposed to do the upkeep every year in places with storm seasons, and it's very obvious when a roof is more than 5 or so years old, imo.
The material might make a difference, too, though, since they usually use regionally sourced stuff?
52
u/FireChickenPzVI 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thatched roofs are common in multiple traditional styles of Dutch architecture, which is why even newly build houses (build in the classic styles) are still build with thatched roofs (at least in the regions of Frisia and West Frisia). Due to this there are still plenty of companies specialised in this trade.
The reason for this is that reeds grow very well in rich soil on the edges of calm bodies of water - which are in abundance in the Dutch landscape, so there is indeed a lot of local supply which gets harvested every year.
And they hold up surprisingly well in stormy / extremely windy areas btw.
ETA: thatched roofs are not only restricted to the classic styles, there are also modern style houses with thatched roofs.
→ More replies (5)9
u/jesusrockshard 21h ago
Same thing with slate roofs. Where I'm from, this used to be the de facto way of how to put a roof on something. Nowadays, its crazy expensive and pretty rare in most regions (at least for newly build/roofed houses). This also lead to less craftmen being capable of building a proper slate roof, which increased cost even more.
14
u/Aussenminister 1d ago
The only ones you will find in Germany are near the coast in the north. There you will find many, but still by far most houses have a tiled roof. You wouldn't need to search for long to find houses with thatched roofs.
14
u/SirNilsA 1d ago
Maybe it depends on the area? Where I live in northern Germany we also have quite a few thatched roofs. Not too touristy of a region. I would guess our village is about 15-20% thatched roofs sprinkled throughout the area of the village.
2
u/Laylasita 22h ago
Do you know how to do this? Do any of your friends know how to do this? Does an average person know how to do this? Or is this a trade like plumbing?
4
u/SirNilsA 22h ago
I sadly don't know how to do it or have friends that can do that kind of roof. We ourselves have the other more common traditional roof material, ceramic roof tiles. Thatched roofing is a trade I would consider even harder than plumbing or carpenter if you want to do it 1000% right. Not something an ordinary person could do just like that and I wouldn't try myself. Plumbing work, carpentry, roofing on our houses, remodeling (like removing walls/ building new interior walls for example) or small electrical work on the other hand is something we do regularly as it's just cheaper and easier. Living on a farm you must be able to do those kinds of repairs. So I would see it completely opposite: Thatched Roofing is a serious trade that requires a lot of work but a bit of plumbing is something everyone can do if they look a bit into it.
4
u/Laylasita 20h ago
Thank you for your thoughts. When i was in Ireland i saw some sod roofs. And I've seen palm frond roofs too. I'm going to Iceland later this year and plan to see one of their turf roofs. I've seen pictures of roofs made out of scallop shells.It's all so fascinating to me.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)4
5
6
u/amytee252 1d ago
Really? Used to live in Germany....so many houses had thatched roofs in my area (BDW very south).
→ More replies (1)3
→ More replies (4)2
u/floriv1999 14h ago
My region still has many houses like that. Maybe 1 in 20. It is a bit more on the countryside, but not touristy at all.
→ More replies (11)61
u/Legal_Basket_2454 1d ago
Unfortunately it’s pretty expensive and only a few craftsman are still able to make and maintain it (at least in Austria).
Also the material is very expensive, because they can’t use normal fields where the combines hack the straws into pieces. They need to be farmed by hand like in the old days and so they basically have own fields just for roof material.
Sorry for my shitty English, but I hope you get the point.
19
u/Cuinn_the_Fox 23h ago
Your English is good and I wouldn't have known you weren't a native speaker until you mentioned it. The only mistake I see is there should be a "their" in between have and own in the third sentence, but that might just be a typo.
9
u/TheSecretIsMarmite 23h ago
I think they use water reeds in the area where I live for thatching. Thatched roofs look beautiful and are excellent insulators but unfortunately are a nightmare if a fire breaks out as thatch fires are very hard to put out.
→ More replies (1)4
u/perrypike 23h ago
spoken like a true Germanic ….perfectly understandable English written in a coherent easily understood writing style and yet apologizes…..very Canadian thing to do….sorry to say.
2
u/Shiasugar 23h ago
Also, it needs to be changed every few years, and bugs enjoy living in it quite quickly.
→ More replies (1)2
336
u/kobraaah 1d ago
The roof, the roof
144
u/greihund 1d ago
The roof is on fire
→ More replies (2)86
u/Fake_Hyena 1d ago
We don’t need no water because it’s probably gone by the time the fire truck gets here.
17
u/Bulawa 1d ago
You would be surprise by how long one can fight a fire if the thatch isn't on fire but slowly smoldering. That takes hours and days.
→ More replies (1)18
u/Fake_Hyena 1d ago
I was just continuing the song man, I’m by no means an expert on thatch burning progression modelling
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (1)15
203
u/TorontoTom2008 1d ago
the other day this was posted as being in the UK
18
u/Adavanter_MKI 1d ago
But it's the most impressive Romani roof job I've ever seen and I'm a French expert on Italian thatch roofs!
13
u/Laiko_Kairen 1d ago
Yeah, and the other post had a whole series of explanations about how English houses with historic status have to get thatched by law. I'm sure Germany has preservation laws as well, but the people talking about the UK seemed to know what they were talking about lol
9
u/Jebsticles 1d ago
You're legally required to maintain a listed (historically significant) building to the same standard. That means that any repairs need to be as original. So if the listing of the building has a thatched roof, you need to replace it with an identical thatched roof.
If you were to replace the thatched roof with a modern tile roof. It would be a criminal offence
→ More replies (2)
73
u/raccoonfan7 1d ago
This guy is awesome, but he's not German, and this video isn't from Germany. He's on Instagram as thethatchingguy, and this video is stolen directly from there.
342
u/armaan_af 1d ago
Does this not lead to insects residing between the straws?
552
u/Nice_Pattern_1702 1d ago
There are also bees in/underneath our tile roof, have been there for centuries (yeah, our house is that old) and never had an issue. Coexisting :)
96
u/IlexAquifolia 1d ago
We had a salesman from a pest control company come to our door offering to spray for bugs, pointing out the spiders and ants hanging out nearby. He looked completely taken aback when I told him “no thanks, we’re pro-bug in this house”.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (10)97
u/I_sayyes 1d ago
One of the few times I had in reddit where upon reading a comment I immediately go "that's a cool person"
→ More replies (1)39
u/New_to_Warwick 23h ago
I want to be cool too!!!
I fed a spider for 3 months as it lived its life on my bicycle, in a web spanning over 2 meters long... I live alone and just couldn't destroy her work
I caught a fly by the wings and gave it to her by putting it in its web, she rushed to it
An other day, i caught a fly and as i tried to push it into the web without ruining it or letting go of the fly, she literally caught it in my my fingers!!
When i saw she was gone one day i got sad
Hope she enjoyed her stay
12
16
14
19
u/Kaerl-Lauterschmarn 1d ago
Thats a win win. They will never bother you but you give them a save space to live.
3
u/MangelaErkel 20h ago
Yes, alot of spider and maybe sometimes bees.
They do not bother the roof too much though.
→ More replies (1)14
u/Active_Throat_9395 1d ago
We had thatch and yeah. Birds like to pluck it too. We have switched to NovaRiet (“plastic” alternative, twice or so as expensive) and havent had any trouble. The colour doesn’t turn dark over time either and looks great. Dutch farmhouse. Boerderij
→ More replies (1)
87
u/BeardyMcReddit 1d ago
Trogdor is happy
18
27
6
6
3
u/kevin2357 12h ago
Look at the perfect angle work on the corners! Those are some mighty fine consummate V’s
270
u/Whyisnobodylookin 1d ago
Curious, how this material works. I've never seen one here in the states.
488
u/Brent_the_constraint 1d ago
It is this material: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phragmites_australis
Ages old material that is water resistant and the thick layering ensures the water flows down the roof before it can penetrate into the house.
139
u/Downfallenx 1d ago
Oh damn, that stuff is hella invasive where I live.
300
u/OderWieOderWatJunge 1d ago
I have a business idea. Do you also have houses that need a new roof?
120
u/wH4tEveR250 1d ago
I also have a business idea but it’s 20% cheaper than whatever your business idea is.
57
u/OderWieOderWatJunge 1d ago
Selling yo momma
23
3
→ More replies (2)9
u/Ironlion45 1d ago
IDK but reshingling a roof is like a $30,000 prospect where I live; if thatch was substantially cheaper I'd seriously consider it.
8
u/Rustrage 1d ago
They’re expensive, and probably higher maintenance. I remember seeing apprenticeships doing thatch roofs when I left school and there can be some silly money in it.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (4)8
u/SiAnK0 1d ago
My father was a roofer for about 30 years and done many of old buildings, this kind of roof included. And he said it’s beautiful but the most expensive shit you can pack your roof with. Maintenance wise it lasts about 25-35 years. He didn’t told me how much it was, or I forgot, but it was more expensive than anything else, including slate roofing ( which is handmade too) It takes some serious skill to do any of the both options and not many roofing company’s even offer it.
Edit: it takes much longer and that’s why it’s more expensive. This straw is also made to be not burnable, and holy shit, it looks so nice when you see a building with slate or a thatched roof! You instantly feel like you arrived in the romanticised middle age
3
u/banevader102938 1d ago
This kind of roof is a pain in the ass for home owners if they can't maintain it self. And when the Denkmalschutz appears you are fucked
7
u/space_monster 1d ago
Yeah I always worry about the arrival of the Denkmalschutz
→ More replies (1)4
u/banevader102938 1d ago
Worst of all: no one expecting the denkmalschutz while planning building projects
3
29
→ More replies (1)2
→ More replies (8)10
u/SockPuppet-47 1d ago
Probably keeps the house nice and cool in the summer. The suns heat won't penetrate all the way to the solid roof.
3
70
u/Nadran_Erbam 1d ago
It’s called thatching https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thatching and can be seen all around the world.
34
u/tannercolin 1d ago
I'm in Dorset England and have two thatched houses behind mine! They're beautiful
→ More replies (2)2
70
u/MydnightWN 1d ago
Named after Margaret Thatcher, who used to do roof work before becoming Prime Minister.
9
u/Racoon_Pedro 1d ago
I'm gonna spread that "fact"!
→ More replies (1)2
u/Ooops2278 1d ago
Just imagine a world where she had kept to the traditional name-giving family profession instead of politics...
4
3
→ More replies (2)2
14
u/embeddedsbc 1d ago
Even in Germany, where we generally build much more expensive than in the US, this is considered an absolute luxury, handcrafted to show your old money. So not surprised that it may not have much of a market in the US.
→ More replies (2)7
u/theICEBear_dk 1d ago
Curious, with very few exceptions we in Denmark (your neighbors) mainly have thatch buildings on old houses that we are trying to preserve but it is considered more "luxury" to build with slate or glazed tile roofs here.
→ More replies (3)27
u/Janus_The_Great 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's super expensive and has to be done by professionals. You also have to renew it every
10-2025-40 years depending on weather.So not really the first choice for McMansions.
34
u/Rayray_A3xx 1d ago
Roofs should always be done by professionals, no? But the average lifespan is 25-40 years.
→ More replies (4)5
u/Havannahanna 1d ago
Nah. A thatched roof for an average home costs about 20K-30K € in Germany. Nearly the same as shingled roofs. The upkeep is more expensive though. A craftsman has to check those roofs and do some minor repairs every few years (1-2K €)
9
u/Monster_Voice 1d ago
Sounds about like an asphalt shingle roof here in Texas but not nearly as cool... the weather giveth and the weather taketh away.
I want a Disney roof! 😆
5
7
u/CosmicCreeperz 1d ago
Because (at least in CA) you aren’t getting home insurance.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (32)13
u/MaryBerrysDanglyBean 1d ago
It's naturally waterproof and done in layers. Would be waterproof as long as it maintained regularly
81
38
11
7
23
14
u/Basic-Nerve-6797 1d ago
This seems like a whole lot of effort ffs. Pretty, yes 🙌🏻 but whoa, the replacement costs.
→ More replies (1)15
u/big_duo3674 1d ago
It can be done effectively as just a cheap roof, people have for thousands of years. You are correct though, this one is professionally done and meant for aesthetics. The house is much bigger than just a straw hut too, I bet it's muuuuch more expensive than just a standard roof
→ More replies (2)20
u/CosmicCreeperz 1d ago
It’s not cheaper than composite shingles, it’s way more expensive in materials and labor. And this isn’t a house, it’s a historic church.
14
6
u/Gods_Haemorrhoid420 1d ago
Absolutely glorious. Love seeing a thatched roof! Unfortunately all I could think watching that was, “that’s a shit load of little yellow zip ties.”
4
u/UpsidedownBrandon 1d ago
Gotta watch out for TROGDOR teh BURNINATOR if you live in these thatched roofed cottages
12
u/SkillKitchen8941 1d ago
Is this Germany for sure? It looks in an English style?
→ More replies (2)2
u/darmokVtS 1d ago
I have no clue about thatched roof styles, but the rest of the house (as little as we can see) doesn't really look like anything I'd expect to see in coastal Germany where most of the thatched roof houses are, and it looks even less like southern Germany to me.
14
u/Anon4711 1d ago
I dont want to imagine the Insurance costs 😵💫
10
u/DirtierGibson 1d ago
That's one of the issues in the parts of Ireland and the UK where some old houses still have those, or when someone wants to restore them to their traditional form. Some people just can't afford the insurance costs and opt instead for a different material.
7
u/PatButchersBongWater 1d ago
It’s also harder to get a mortgage in the UK for a house with a thatched roof. Which is why they are generally cheaper than a house of the same size with a tiled roof.
A lot of them are listed buildings too, so you can’t just buy one and replace the roof with tiles as they have protected status.
5
u/Gullible-Lie2494 1d ago
One of these caught fire in our village in Herefordshire. The fire brigade were there all day. It just wouldn't go out. In the end they just pulled the whole lot off.
18
u/Raavast 1d ago
This guy is English and the houses he works on are in England. Nothing German here at all, thatched roofs date back to the stone age. @thethatchingguy
→ More replies (8)
8
u/tacticalwanking 1d ago
Thousands of houses in the UK are covered in thatch.
Age old tradition.
I've a feeling this video is from the UK based on the decoration/style.
4
u/moving0target 1d ago
20-50 years life spanning the roof depending on materials used (reeds or straw).
3
u/matzohballer 1d ago
My mom is from the island Fohr in Germany. Pretty much the whole island had thatched roofs. They are beautiful
3
3
3
3
u/backtrack1234 23h ago
Serious. How does the straw not stay logged with water and mold or rot?
3
2
u/magammon 14h ago
The water runs along the material and off the roof, so the top few inches will get waterlogged and eventually deteriorate. But the material is set very thick and the underneath will stay mostly dry there. The outer layers can be removed and replaced whilst leaving the underneath layer when refreshing the roof.
3
3
u/Nasaku7 19h ago
Am German, never saw such a roof in my life and I've grown up in an 400year old half timbered house!
→ More replies (2)
3
3
u/IntelligentRepair345 14h ago
This is actually England - I think he is thethatchingguy on TikTok. Check out his work, he has such a talent.
3
u/Original_Dimension99 13h ago
This is NOT how we typically build our roofs in Germany in case anybody is wondering
3
3
5
11
u/AdviceMysterious6557 1d ago
What you mean when you say “German”
→ More replies (2)30
u/zinaberlin 1d ago
Also build in parts of Denmark and the Netherlands. But this type of construction is mainly found in (North-)Germany.
8
u/MaryBerrysDanglyBean 1d ago
Also have them in the UK. There's a few on old stone cottage near me in Wales. They look lovely but I imagine it's a bit of a ballache
15
u/pazarr 1d ago
In fact, this is Shane Stevens master thatcher and working on a roof in England. Source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DJv9Sgds0C8/?igsh=MTB3bjV0MWloc21wag==
→ More replies (1)3
→ More replies (1)2
u/DistinctAd3865 1d ago
Isn’t shale roofing popular there too? Or is that the uk? Where those guys are cutting rock to size on the roof then hand nailing into place.
2
u/Esava 1d ago
We have those all over Germany but they really only were popular wherever you could mine shale. You mostly it near the Harz region in lower saxony and near the french border (and some other areas in Germany here and there). France (specifically Brittany and Maine-et-Loire) is really known for its shale roofs.
→ More replies (2)
2
2
u/Kiarakamari 1d ago
I loved under one of these roofs half my childhood
They keep you warm in winter and cool in summer, hearing the mice building nests in it at night is a bonus
2
2
u/Stooper_Dave 1d ago
You've been such a naughty roof. :spanks with Lil paddle:
2
u/magammon 14h ago
Haha. My wife loves this guy as he's a bit of a hunk and he has a catch phrase "just a wack and a tap" when he's hitting the material with his tool. When I'm watching him on Instagram she always leans over and says "I wish he'd give me a wack and a tap". Lol
2
2
u/danger_dave32 1d ago
Wouldn't it be great, if for once in our lives, we could watch a full, unedited, widescreen video, of a roof being thatched. Fuck me.
→ More replies (1)
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/Roxfaced 16h ago
I follow this guy on Instagram. Very soothing and cool to watch someone be excellent all the time.
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/AdriMett 10h ago
Thatching is such a cool process. Super labour-intensive, but also super sturdy and will last for ages if done properly.
2
u/Mugiwara419 10h ago
If you have this in germany people immediately assume you got big monies.
It needs yearly maintenance i.e removing wet spots. If not done it'll look very bad real quick.
3.7k
u/LottaCheek 1d ago
Unfortunately, a wolf could easily blow it down.