

A thatched rondavel (or “roundhouse”) is quintessentially African – this guesthouse in the Hogsback mountains recently had a face-left to bring the traditional rondavel into a clean, modern space for guests to enjoy.
Our clients chose the Structure Stays conversion system which retains the original structure of the thatched roof but strips away all thatch. On this project we also stripped the thatching laths and installed a timber tongue and groove ceiling in the rondavel.

As the thatch was stripped entirely additional insulation had to be installed to ensure temperature management – the Hogsback mountains see a lot of snowfall in the Winter! Our team installed double sided raden shield to the roof before erecting a lightweight wooden support structure for the new tiles. In the cavities between the wooden batons bulk insulation was also installed.



The tiles were then applied to the wooden support structure.
Metrotiles
This thatch roof conversion made use of Metrotiles; Metrotile is a lightweight steel tile coated in aluzinc. The tiles are available in a variety of profiles and colours. Our client in Hogsback chose the Woodshake profile in Charcoal grey which is designed to have the look of a traditional wooden roof, therefore fitting in as a permanent replacement for the look of thatch on this traditional style building. The tiles also have a degree of flexibility which makes them perfect for Structure Stays conversions where the original thatch roof structure often has curves and bends which are not practical to convert to a rigid roofing product. Metrotiles carry a 40 year product guarantee in this area and are extremely hard wearing and weather resistant.

This roof originally had a small dormer window in the thatch – our team increased the size of the window and adapted the pole structure around it during the conversion – allowing more height inside the upstairs room of the house and more light.

The timber tongue & groove ceilings installed inside the house were varnished in a transparent varnish to retain the warm, natural colour of the wood on the inside.

The project was completed in May 2018.
To find out more about our thatch roof conversion systems and roofing products visit our web page: Thatch Roof Conversions >
70sq m. Thatch
Hi there,
Thanks for taking the time to read our article and comment. Are you looking to convert a thatched roof of 70m²? If you could send more details on email we can assist in putting a quotation together – info@bosazzaroofing.co.za.
Hi, I would like to convert a 300m2 thatch roof to tiles or something similar by keeping the thatching pole infrastructure – St Francis Bay Eastern Cape
Good morning Louis,
Thanks for your comment and inquiry – I have emailed you directly – please check your inbox 🙂
Kind regards,
April
Is there people in Gauteng or Mpumalanga that can do this?
Hi Christo,
Apologies for the slow reply! We are based in the Eastern Cape but we work nationwide on larger projects – look out for an email from me in your inbox – I would like more details about the job.
Kind regards,
April
Good day. We are planning to build a 3 roomed rondavel in Dutywa. I don’t know the SQm size. But we are intending to have radius at 7m. We plan to have a square metre skylight above each room. Are you able to do aluminium roofing, zinc with appropriate insulation? We might also have a wood burning stove with a wood burning fireplace; the roof might have 2 chimneys. Kindly quite us one chimney, 2 chimneys and without a chimney. We are still at planning stages, and we not sure what budget is required at the moment. Thanking you in advance. Thabisa
Hi Thabisa,
Thanks for your comment and email – we have emailed through a quotation and wait to hear from you.
Kind regards,