Thatch Treatment Kalksteenfontein

Kalksteenfontein is small enough that most people know their neighbours, and that helps, because rats here are a shared problem rather than a private one. Give us a block of five or six houses that agree to treat together and we can make a real dent.

Kalksteenfontein: what drives timber pests here

Little timber is exposed in most homes, but wendy house floors and pine roof trusses can get beetle. Small round holes with fine powder underneath are the sign to look for.

It is mostly compact council-built homes in rows and pairs, with wendy houses and brick rooms added in the backyards over the years. Roof lines often run unbroken across several homes, which gives mice a private corridor above the ceilings. The backyard rooms, with their timber floors sitting on sand, are where we find rat burrows most often.

The ground is open, flat Cape Flats sand with very little to break the wind. After a few days of winter rain, low corners and blocked drains hold water, and the open veld nearby stays soggy. In summer the South-Easter piles litter against fences, and that windblown rubbish becomes rat food.

Expect rats first, then German cockroaches in kitchens. Summer brings flies and fleas, and bed bugs come up where furniture changes hands.

Tell-tale signs

1. Insects such as cockroaches or spiders falling from the ceiling.
2. Tunnels or loose patches in the thatch where rodents have been moving.
3. Small round exit holes in the poles, especially in the paler sapwood.
4. Droppings on beams or along the top of walls under the thatch.

From the technician

Pale, fresh powder means activity; dark, compacted dust in old holes usually means the beetles left long ago. That distinction saves a lot of unnecessary treatment.

Borer damage in thatch is often blamed on the reed, but the reed is rarely the problem. It is the poles and laths holding it up that the beetles are after.

What happens when we come out

We start by inspecting the underside of the roof, the poles, the laths and the eaves, looking for borer exit holes, frass and rodent or bird activity. Affected poles and laths are treated with a borer spray or injection designed for timber, applied to the wood rather than soaked through the thatch. For insects living in the thatch, we use a targeted residual treatment on the underside, keeping it as light as will do the job. Rodents are handled with traps and tamper-resistant bait stations placed at wall plates and entry points, and we advise on bird netting or proofing at the eaves. Fire safety of the thatch itself, such as retardant treatment, is a separate specialist job and we will tell you if it looks overdue.

Want the full step-by-step? See how our thatch treatment service works.

Keeping them out afterwards

• Have electrical wiring in the roof inspected regularly, especially if you have had rodents.
• Fit bird netting or wire at the eaves if birds keep pulling reed or nesting there.
• Keep trees and creepers trimmed back from the thatch so rodents cannot step straight onto the roof.
• Have open thatch ceilings in lapas and lodges checked once a year, since problems are easy to see early.
• Ask your thatcher to check the poles and laths for borer whenever the roof is being repaired or re-combed.

What affects the price

The price depends on the size of the roof, how much of the structure is exposed and how many poles and laths show borer activity. A small lapa with an open underside is a very different job from a double-storey home with a closed ceiling. Rodent and bird work is added where needed, and timber that is too damaged to treat has to be replaced by a builder or thatcher.

Adult borer beetles emerge mainly in the warmer months, so fresh powder and holes often appear from late spring into summer. Rodents move into thatch most during the wet Cape winters when it offers dry shelter. Treatment can be done at any time of year, though a dry day makes inspecting the roof easier.

Frequently asked questions

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