Need re-thatching in Mthatha? Thatch.co.za puts homeowners, estates, lodges and guesthouses in Mthatha in touch with thatchers who strip and re-thatch serving Mthatha and nearby areas of Eastern Cape. Send one request and you receive quotes directly, free and with no obligation.
Re-thatching in Mthatha
Re-thatching in Mthatha? 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 Mthatha and around Eastern Cape can quote the strip, the new thatch, the ridge and the travel.
Want to know more first? Our re-thatching guide covers the options, what to ask for and what affects the price.
Mthatha notes on repairs & protection
Lightning is the protection topic here. Rondavels on open ridges are exposed, and a free-standing mast installed to the relevant SANS standard, set away from the roof and earthed, keeps strikes off the thatch. Ask an installer about surge protection too. Repairs usually mean topping up worn grass, fixing the peak cap and dealing with birds and rats in the roof. Keep cooking fires away from the eaves.
Mthatha: the buildings, the weather and the thatchers
Mthatha is surrounded by rondavel country. Across the rolling hills towards Qunu, Mqanduli, Libode and Tsolo, homesteads are built around round houses, and many still carry a conical grass roof, often thatched by local builders with grass cut nearby in winter. In town and in the newer suburbs, thatch is more likely to be a lapa, a guest cottage or a lodge chalet, and holiday places on the Wild Coast at Coffee Bay and beyond use thatch too. Summers bring heavy thunderstorms, and lightning is a well known danger in this part of the Eastern Cape, so a free-standing mast is worth real thought for any thatched building on high, open ground.
Typical re-thatching requests in the area come from:
- 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
- Guesthouses and B&Bs: the oldest guest rooms re-thatched first and the rest planned over years
Local tips for Mthatha
Asked for most in Mthatha: rondavel roofs and re-thatching, guest cottages, Wild Coast holiday thatch. Where the thatchers are: local rondavel builders and thatchers; larger crews from East London or KZN. A useful tip: ask whether a lightning mast can be added when the rondavel roof is redone.
Sizes vary: one slope to a full farmhouse roof. Here, homeowners lead the requests, typically for a worn family home roof stripped and re-laid in one dry season. One local point to raise: grass is often cut locally; crews and poles come along the N2 from both sides.
Service area: Mthatha and surrounds
Our network covers Mthatha together with Ngcobo, Libode, Qunu, Mqanduli, Tsolo, Viedgesville. The building's size, photos and the address help a thatcher work out the job, the materials and the travel before quoting.