Maruf Miliunas

If the trees are still green enough, you might try peeling the bark off which is less work and much cleaner. I made a very simple tool which you can see in action made from a metal connector piece which I sharpened into a very thin chisel, which works wonders. You can see it in action (before I made the handle) here at the 11:00 minute marker https://youtu.be/HsY_lTS7Sbg?si=Fgxnt-DO9IopmhdX

Hi Phil, my initial thought was to tie the perimeter with ratchet straps, and lastly to tie it down with some heavy-duty rope and to tighten it like a wine cap before removing the belts. We're praying we'll be able to get a circular platform from rectangular hay bales, we're just worried about mice and humidity.

Phenomenal photo Phil, and a phenomenal thatching resource. Thankyou for sharing!

Hi all, we are having a yurt built, for which we are thinking of making a circular straw foundation on gravel. We live in temperate northern Europe in Lithuania where we get wet cold winters and hot summers. We can't build a solid foundation like concrete where we plan the yurt and building a platform on screws seems more complex than using strawbales, which are easier to come by, more eco-friendly and affordable. I have attached a drawing of how I currently see the layerings (or see image below).

We are not sure if this is a safe option to protect the straw bales from both mice and moisture, and three questions arose: First, would a layer of rodent mesh on the ground alone be enough, or should the sides be protected as well if we were to add wood siding, if so, how far up? Second, does anyone know of alternative ways to protect the straw from moisture from something other than a tarpaulin or using what we already have: wooden beams, paneling, and lots of thick meter-long boards of various thicknesses and heights (see photo)?


8meter² tarpaulins are expensive and considering that they don't sell them in round or cylindrical forms I'm thinking there must be a simpler and possibly cheaper alternative.

Third question, I am thinking to have the wooden part of the platform sit on the straw bales instead of sandwiching something into the bales to screw into, thinking that the weight of the boards and plywood would be heavy enough so as not to move. Is this ok, or am I oblivious to a vital flaw in having them separate?

Thanks for the insights about lashing and for the thatching video Glenn. In that case, I will see what I can do to add horizontal notch support on the existing dubious connections and add them going forward. Because the dowels are set in and removing them may cause more damage, I've been considering cutting out a 5/8" circular notch below the joints to tightly fit in the dowel remainders that are too short to be dowels for support.

Time is crunching and I'm realizing this roof project will likely extend to next year because we have a yurt being made and we need to build a platform so we have somewhere to overwinter and this roof is not something I can or want to rush.

Thanks Luke, and thank you Devon, your explanation makes sense to me. In some places I dug a seat into the rafters so they sit snug but it other places where the battens were thinner, I opted to reduce the waviness by not digging in. Would a tight rope joint suffice, otherwise, I think I could crafter a nook to wedge something in between the two.

Thank you for all of the replies and support, it really bolstered my confidence going forward with thatched roof.

From my understanding of all the replies is to keep in mind that the weight of a live load on the roof will be a lot, so I will go over and reinforce any joints that give me doubts. The greenwood I would think will tighten around the dry oak dowels, so in theory shouldn't it get stronger as it dries? The roofer had said I can tie with rope, so I have done that in some joints where the rafter dips lower than the adjacent rafters to keep the batten from popping up. All of the battens easily support my weight (roughly 175lb/80kg), is there any reference I could use to know if that's enough? The front side roof slope is around 55º so at the very least, I hope it won't hold too much snow. The back will be less steep and it has fewer rafters so I intend meatier battens.

As for the drying and warping of the wood, the front side uses round wood and I'm unaware of how roundwood warps over time and how that will affect the roof. At this point, and in my current state of naivete I'm thinking to go forward with it, I don't want to cover it with plastic over the winter, some parts of the house like the crucks have already overwintered twice so I'm pretty adamant about getting the roof up this year.

From all the replies I understand that I can add thatch where it's lacking to make up for any unevenness. Would anyone have any resources on how to patch any unevenness with reeds or is it something you intuitively do?

@Gunnar Shakes were my original thought before I learned that thatched roofs don't need a plastic membrane sheet and they are their own insulation, whereas sod definitely needs a waterproofing membrane and a lot of fricken strength to hold the earth.

@Devon What do you have in mind by "horizontal notch" for the purlins?

@Luke The roofer was worried that the pegs weren't tightly pegged, however, I think they are. Furthermore, what is that woven ceiling? It's fascinating and I can't find anything online about it!

I had a talk with the guy who was supposed to cover my roof with reeds. He was drunk and without inhibitions let loose his doubts about my way of building my roof and it added uncertainty to my situation going forward.

I would like advice on:
Should I continue trying to build a reed thatched roof or consider an alternative?
  and
If I go another route, what are my roofing options on an uneven roof?

My Roof Situation
My goal is to build a house from sustainable materials as much as possible without nails. Last Fall, was year 3, when I constructed the roundwood rafters and started building the battens from mostly dry wood found in the pine forest until winter came and I left the structure as is until this Spring. I returned to find an abundance of green pine, when they cleared that same forest, which I thought suitable for battens, thus I built the remainder of the front side of the roof using only green wood.

Here are the problems the guy mentioned yesterday:

The battens should be perfectly even from one to the next all the way up the roof. Mine are not aka the roof is wavy

Green wood will warp when it dries

He said: "You should never use dowel joints for a roof construction." Why, I do not know.

Wavy Roof
Having laid down the battens on my first half of the roof, I see why it's helpful to have everything as even as possible and why I've only been able to find information using dimensional rafters, however, I decided to work with what I have and can get access to, plus, building this structure is a learning process for me, full of mistakes and lessons, I couldn't have learned without some kind of experience. He told me last year to try to get it as level as possible and we'd find a way to fix it. Does anyone have advice how to level a wavy roof or how to work with it?

Green Wood, Warpy Roof with Dowel Joints
Here I posted last year how I constructed the roundwood rafters. The battens are pegged with a 5/8" dried oak peg in each rafter. I drilled halfway into the rafters at each joing, at least 4-5cm deep, drilled offsets, which alternate directions left/right going up the roof  and added wedges into both ends of the pegs. I possibly spent the most time on this part of the process.

I would like some additional perspectives. Is there something else I haven't though about that could cause issues,

Here's how far I got before we closed shop for winter and left for Spain.

Here's where it's at right now. Doing the purlins.