Three Anchor Bay Thatch Treatment

Three Anchor Bay is a tiny pocket of the Atlantic Seaboard between Green Point and Sea Point, with the rocky bay and promenade at its feet. It is mostly apartments, so pest problems tend to be shared ones.

Three Anchor Bay: what drives timber pests here

Most buildings here are concrete, so wood borer is rare, but built-in timber cupboards and older wooden floors in converted homes can be affected.

Older apartment blocks from the mid-twentieth century stand next to modern glass buildings and a handful of converted homes. Shared ducts, garbage chutes and basement parking make it easy for cockroaches and rats to move between floors. Ground-floor units and those near the refuse rooms usually see trouble first.

The ocean is right there, so salt air and sea spray corrode vent covers and mesh quickly. Signal Hill rises behind the suburb, and its slopes give rodents a natural starting point. Winter cold fronts come straight off the Atlantic, pushing pests into the warmth of buildings.

German cockroaches in the older blocks are the most common issue. Rats from the promenade, Signal Hill and restaurants nearby are next. Pigeons and gulls are a real nuisance on balconies and roofs.

What gives them away

1. Fine powder dropping from the poles or laths onto floors and furniture below.
2. Tunnels or loose patches in the thatch where rodents have been moving.
3. Rustling or scratching in the roof at night.
4. Insects such as cockroaches or spiders falling from the ceiling.
5. Small round exit holes in the poles, especially in the paler sapwood.

A note from the field

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.

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.

Our process, step by step

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.
• 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.
• 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.

Questions we get asked in Three Anchor Bay

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