Thatch Treatment in Kensington

Kensington has the feel of an old railway suburb, with modest homes on small plots, corner shops and warehouses never far away. Our work here is mostly rats, cockroaches and pigeons, and how bad each one gets depends a lot on how close you are to the industrial side.

Timber pests in Kensington: what we see

Older homes with pine floors and roof timbers can have wood borer. If you are selling, a beetle certificate inspection is the norm.

Rows of older semi-detached and free-standing houses make up most of the suburb, many with pitched corrugated roofs and backyard rooms built over time. Some are a hundred years old in parts, with timber floors over shallow voids. Factories, workshops and storage units nearby add bigger buildings with loading bays, where rats are never short of a meal.

Kensington sits on flat land between Maitland and the Ndabeni and Epping industrial areas, close to the railway lines that run out of the city. There is little natural vegetation, so pests rely on what people leave around. Winter stormwater can back up in older drains, and in summer litter blows along the railway reserve.

Worth knowing

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.

Cables running through thatch should be in conduit. Rodent damage to a bare cable in a thatch roof is a fire risk that is easy to prevent.

Signs to look for

1. Fine powder dropping from the poles or laths onto floors and furniture below.
2. Birds pulling reed out of the roof or nesting under the eaves.
3. Tunnels or loose patches in the thatch where rodents have been moving.
4. Insects such as cockroaches or spiders falling from the ceiling.
5. Rustling or scratching in the roof at night.

How we handle thatch treatment in Kensington

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.

Prevention that actually works

• 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.
• Keep trees and creepers trimmed back from the thatch so rodents cannot step straight onto the roof.
• Fit bird netting or wire at the eaves if birds keep pulling reed or nesting there.
• Do not store firewood or boxes against the walls under the thatch, as they give insects and rodents cover.

How much will it cost?

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.

Spraying the underside of your own thatch with a garden insecticide does very little for borer, which lives inside the poles, and soaking thatch in products not meant for it can do more harm than good. We would leave borer and rodent work in thatch to someone who does it regularly. Keeping the roof clear of overhanging trees is the one thing every owner can do themselves.

Thatch Treatment questions from Kensington

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