Thatch Treatment Table View

Table View is big, busy and windy, with the famous postcard view of Table Mountain across the bay. Between the beachfront, the Rietvlei wetland and the shopping strips along Blaauwberg Road, we see a bit of everything here.

Timber pests around Table View

Wood borer is less common in the brick homes here, but timber trusses, wendy houses and pergolas can carry it. Sellers still need a beetle certificate, so an inspection before listing is worthwhile.

Much of the suburb is face-brick family homes from the seventies onward, with plenty of newer townhouse complexes and apartment blocks filling in the gaps. Busy centres and restaurants along Blaauwberg Road and Koeberg Road bring commercial pest work. Many homes have flat-roofed extensions and wendy houses that create easy shelter for rodents.

From the technician

For holiday rentals and lodges, insects falling from an open thatch ceiling are the kind of thing guests photograph. An annual check before the busy season is cheap insurance.

Signs to look for

1. Fine powder dropping from the poles or laths onto floors and furniture below.
2. Rustling or scratching in the roof at night.
3. Small round exit holes in the poles, especially in the paler sapwood.
4. Insects such as cockroaches or spiders falling from the ceiling.

Borer in the poles and laths weakens the timbers that carry the weight of the thatch, which is heavy, and serious damage can mean replacing structural members. Rodents nesting in thatch chew electrical cables, and in a thatch roof that is a fire risk to take seriously. Insects dropping from an open thatch ceiling are a nuisance in homes and a real problem in guest lodges and restaurants. Bird nests in thatch can bring mites into bedrooms below.

How the treatment works

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.

Stopping a repeat visit

• Have open thatch ceilings in lapas and lodges checked once a year, since problems are easy to see early.
• Do not store firewood or boxes against the walls under the thatch, as they give insects and rodents cover.
• Fit bird netting or wire at the eaves if birds keep pulling reed or nesting there.
• Have electrical wiring in the roof inspected regularly, especially if you have had rodents.
• Ask your thatcher to check the poles and laths for borer whenever the roof is being repaired or re-combed.

Pricing, honestly

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.

Questions we get asked in Table View

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