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Ridge Applications for thatched roofs

Page history last edited by Deanne Bednar 6 mos ago

 

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There are many ways to make the ridge of a thatched roof.  Here is one unusual way found by Jon Van Eck on the internet.  He writes:

 

I am looking up different ways to finish ridges for thatched roofs and I found this…it’s called the “Sod Ridge” (See explanation Below):

http://www.hiss-reet.de/images/bauenmitreet/reetdach/praxis/firste/grassodenfirst_big.jpg

Generally, there are two different types of sod ridges: The grass sod ridge and the heather sod ridge. The main roof area of a sod ridge is thatched as usual. The flat grass sod ridge consists of living grass sods with a thickness of about 5-10 cm, a length of approximately 1.40 m and a width of between 30 and 40 cm. Below the sod layer bituminous felt should be applied to protect the reed ridge.

The grass sods should be well rooted and are placed with the root ends facing downwards, so that they cover the ridge with a width of at least 1.2 m. Neither on the inside nor on the outside should there be a gap between the joints. The sods should overlap at least by half a sod.

A ligger of 50-60 cm is driven into every second sod and horizontally through the roofing to secure the ridge. A variation of the grass sod ridge is the overlapping covering. Here in direction of the ridge the grass sods overlap by half a sod.

The sod ridge made from heather sods is crafted using earth-moist heather.

The heather sods should be well rooted and have a thickness of approx. 8-10 cm, a length of 30-60 cm and a width of around 30 cm. In skew direction, as well as in sideward direction, the sods are placed to bond. Normally, such a ridge has a lateral height of 90 cm and a depth of about 20 cm.

To protect the heather ridge against birds and wind it is covered with a narrow-meshed net (chicken wire) and then fastened.

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