Editing Thatching (section)

==Maintenance in temperate climates==
Unlike conventional roof coverings, thatch has a maintenance cycle in the UK of 12–15 years.  At this time, the ridge will need to be replaced and any other works to the main body of a roof can be undertaken. Rethatching takes place when the coat work has eroded to such an extent that fixings which hold the thatch material in place become visible on the surface of a roof.  Each roof is subject to its own specific conditions and will weather according to many outside influences - the skill of the thatcher being an important aspect affecting longevity. 

[[Moss]] can be a problem if very thick, but is not usually detrimental, and many species of moss are actually protective. {{Citation | title = The Thatcher's Craft | year = 1960}}, remains the most widely used reference book on the techniques used for thatching.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.hct.ac.uk/Downloads/cp_thatch.html | publisher = HCT | place = [[United Kingdom|UK]] | title = Thatch | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120111063005/http://www.hct.ac.uk/Downloads/cp_thatch.html | archive-date = 2012-01-11 }}.</ref> The thickness of a layer of thatch decreases over time as the surface gradually turns to compost and is blown off the roof by wind and rain. Thatched roofs generally need replacement when the horizontal wooden 'sways' and hair-pin 'spars', also known as 'gads' (twisted hazel staples) that fix each course become visible near the surface. It is not total depth of the thatch within a new layer applied to a new roof that determines its longevity, but rather how much thatch covers the fixings of each overlapping course. “A roof is as good as the amount of correctly laid thatch covering the fixings.”<ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.eamta.co.uk/ | title = The Thatch & Thatching | publisher = The East Anglia Master Thatchers Association | place = UK | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110831101444/http://www.eamta.co.uk/ | archive-date = 2011-08-31 }}.</ref>