How to Thatch With Palmetto
Palmetto thatch is a sturdy and economical roofing material. When thatched properly, palmetto palm thatch sheds rain, diffuses heat and allows natural ventilation. Palmetto thatch is cost effective because the framing required to support the palmetto fronds is less heavy-duty than that required of any other roofing material. The high pitch of the palmetto palm thatched roof sheds water, and the weeping style of the eaves line renders guttering and downspouts unnecessary. The toughest part of thatching with palmetto palm is the large number of palmetto fronds needed to complete an entire roof. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Calculate the number of palmetto fronds needed to thatch the target roof area by first determining the square footage of the target area, then measuring the width of an available palmetto frond the size of which is representative of the fronds available. Measure the width of the widest part of the frond. The fronds are stacked eight to 10 fronds to a stack and overlapped when applied to a roof, so figure half the width of the fond to compensate for overlapping, and multiply that by the 8 to 10 fronds to a stack. Finally multiply that number by the square footage to be thatched.
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Clean any palmetto fronds collected by hand, either in the traditional manner of beating the fronds against a rock or an outside wall to rid the fronds of dirt and bugs, or by fumigating the fronds with an insecticidal smoke.
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Stack 8 to 10 palmetto fronds and lash them together with twine at the end of the splines, or the part of the fronds that were connected to the tree.
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Begin at the bottom of the roof frame by laying one thatch bundle on the eaves-line so that the tips of the palmetto fronds lay or droop over the eaves. Secure the palmetto bundle to the roof frame with twine.
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Lay a second bundle next to and half overlapping the first, the tips again drooping over the eaves-line, and tie the second bundle to the frame.
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Connect the two bundles together by driving a wooden spike horizontally from the first bundle into the second with a hammer.
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Repeat the process until the entire eaves-line around the structure is covered with the palmetto thatch.
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Cover the first layer of palm thatch with a second layer, thatching this second layer exactly the same way as the first.
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Begin the second tier of palmetto thatch by laying the first bundle of palmetto thatch so that the tops overlap the first layer bundle.
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Thatch the second tier using the same procedure you used to thatch the first tier. Continue thatching in this manner until the thatch layers reach the top of the structure.
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Cap the top of the palmetto thatch roof by lashing together the splines at the apex of the structure. In other words, lash together the splines of the last layer along the front of the structure with the splines of the layer along the back of the structure.
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Tips & Warnings
Palmetto is available either by collecting the fronds by hand if there is an abundant source available, or through commercial supplier. If ordering, the supplier calculates the amount of thatch necessary to cover the square footage of the target area based on the supplier's method of bundling the fronds.
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Resources
- Photo Credit le toit de chaumes image by harmonie57 from Fotolia.com
