Saving 650 m2 of thatch roofing?

Hello everyone,

Our little house in Denmark is 20m2 withan ugly asbestos roof. We were hoping to find a deal on much nicer material until my friend announced one day he will be removing over 650sq meters of straw thatch roofing in spring from 3 buildings which are adjoined in a n shape, straight edges and taking down a barn built from plastered red brick.

We would like to somehow salvage the thatch and replace our asbestos plates.

How can we go about that?
If anyone could direct me to some reading material or briefly walk me through a process.

I hope we would be able to somehow cut out big chunks of thatch and place them on a large trailer. But honestly I've absolutely no idea.

All help very much appreciated,
Thank you

Thatch needs frequent renewing, which is one of the reasons why it is expensive and often replaced with conventional materials. Additionally, thatch requires a steeper pitch of roof than normally used for buildings and most insurers will insist it is backed by a fireproof barrier.

It is very likely that the old thatch being removed from the building is too old and knackered to be reused.

Hey Michael,

He got a thatching company to look at the roof and there is nothing wrong with the roof on 2 of the buildings. Barn is going down because part of the wall has collapsed.

One of those gardening shows, edwardian farm, victorian farm or one in the series, had a thatched roof put on. One of the historians was taught to latch on the thatch with sticks, and to tighten it. If the thatching on the barn is done the same way, then it might be possible to work out how to undo it from watching this. Although I think BBC has pulled the episodes from youtube by now, so you'd need to find another way to watch them, if they haven't been reuploaded.