A specialist quotes better with photos of the roof, its size and what is wrong. Send one request with the details and we pass it to thatchers who strip and re-thatch working in towns and cities across Mpumalanga.
Re-thatching in Mpumalanga
Re-thatching in Mpumalanga? Send the roof size, photos of the worn areas and a view of the frame from inside if you can, so thatchers who work in Mpumalanga and around Mpumalanga can quote the strip, the new thatch, the ridge and the travel.
The main re-thatching page explains the options, the materials and the costs in more detail.
Repairs & protection in Mpumalanga: local notes
Under big trees in the Lowveld, moss, algae and leaf build-up in valleys are the usual complaints, and cleaning followed by treatment is a common job. Lodges in the bushveld also plan for veld fires with firebreaks, retardant and sometimes a drencher system. On the Highveld side, <a href="/lightning-protection/">lightning masts</a> matter as much as they do in Gauteng. Birds, rats and borer beetles in old poles turn up on many lodge inspections.
Who builds with thatch in Mpumalanga
Mpumalanga both grows thatch and uses a great deal of it. Much of the country's thatching grass is cut on the grasslands of the eastern Highveld in winter, around Ermelo, Carolina, Badplaas and Lydenburg, and bundles leave on trucks for Gauteng and beyond. Down the escarpment, the Lowveld around White River, Hazyview, Sabie and the Kruger gates is lodge and guesthouse country, with thatched chalets, bomas and rondavels everywhere. The two halves wear thatch differently: Lowveld summers are hot and humid, so shaded roofs grow moss and rot faster, while the Highveld side gets cold, dry winters, grass fires and strong summer lightning. Mining towns such as eMalahleni and Secunda have less thatch, mostly garden lapas and smallholdings.
The requests we see from Mpumalanga usually come from:
- Game lodges and bush camps: chalets re-thatched in turn in the quiet months so the lodge stays open
- Homeowners: a worn family home roof stripped and re-laid in one dry season
- Farms and smallholdings: an old farmhouse or workers' rondavels re-thatched with grass from nearby
Local tips for Mpumalanga
Common here: lodge chalets and bomas, guesthouse re-thatching, grass bundles for other provinces. Ask each supplier about this: ask the grass supplier when the next harvest is cut and how bundles are stored. Where they work from: mbombela, White River and Hazyview for thatchers; Ermelo and Lydenburg for grass.
Re-thatching usually suit worn house, lodge, lapa and rondavel roofs. How it works: old thatch stripped, frame checked, re-laid. For game lodges and bush camps, the biggest group here, that usually means chalets re-thatched in turn in the quiet months so the lodge stays open. On the weather: humid Lowveld summers grow moss; Highveld lightning, frost and winter fires.
Service area: Mpumalanga and surrounds
Thatchers and suppliers on our network work throughout Mpumalanga, including Mbombela, eMalahleni, Middelburg, Secunda, White River, Hazyview, Ermelo. For farms, lodges and small towns, ask how travel, accommodation for the crew and deliveries are charged.