Replacing a thatch roof with a conventional tile or sheet roof - specified, engineered and built as one contract, on single homes and across whole estates.
Thatch has become expensive to insure. Premiums load, excesses climb, and some insurers now decline to cover thatch structures at all - or will only continue cover on condition that the roof is replaced. For a lot of Gauteng property owners, converting is no longer a style decision but a condition of keeping the building insurable.
A conversion strips the thatch and its supporting structure, replaces or reinforces the roof structure to carry the new load, and installs a conventional roof - usually concrete tile, or profiled sheeting where the pitch or the span suits it better. Done properly it is a permanent fix: the fire risk drops, the maintenance cycle largely disappears, and the insurance conversation ends.
We measure the roof, assess the existing structure and establish what it can carry. A tile roof is considerably heavier than thatch, so this determines whether the structure is reinforced or replaced.
You get a documented scope - roof covering, structure, waterproofing, rainwater goods, ceilings and making good - against a fixed price, so the quote can be compared line for line with anyone else you approach.
Structural changes carry engineer certification. Where the local authority requires plan submission, that happens before work starts rather than after a stop order.
Thatch and the old structure come off in controlled sections with the building sheeted and protected. Occupied homes stay watertight through the process.
Trusses or reinforcement, battens, underlay, covering, ridging, flashings and gutters - installed to the specification you signed off.
Ceilings, cornices, paintwork and any damage from the strip-out are put right, and you receive the certification your insurer will ask for.
The two questions homeowners ask first are what it costs and how long the house is open. We answer both before you commit: a fixed written quotation, and a programme that keeps the building watertight section by section rather than stripping the whole roof at once.
If your insurer has raised the issue, send us what they sent you. The requirements are usually specific, and matching the specification to them from the start avoids paying twice.
Estate-wide conversions are a programme, not a job. We specify once so every unit is converted to the same standard, then phase the work so residents stay in place and the estate is never a building site end to end.
Trustees get one contractor to hold accountable, a documented specification to put to the members, and progress reporting they can take to a meeting. For commercial owners - lodges, venues, offices - the programme is built around your trading calendar rather than against it.
Not always as it stands - a tile roof is much heavier than thatch. That is exactly what the structural assessment establishes, and the quotation then includes whatever reinforcement or replacement is needed. It is not an extra that appears later.
Usually not. We work in sections and keep the building protected and watertight throughout. Where a room is directly under active work you may lose the use of it for a few days, and we plan that with you upfront.
Sometimes. It depends on the extent of the structural change and on your local authority. We establish this at assessment stage and handle submission where it is required.
Yes. Estate programmes are a core part of what we do - a single specification applied consistently across units, phased so the estate stays liveable, with reporting to the trustees or managing agent.
It depends on pitch, span, structure and appearance. Concrete tile suits most residential conversions; sheeting often suits larger spans, lower pitches and commercial buildings. We will tell you which we recommend and why.
Roofing, conversions, new builds and renovations - run by the same team, under one contract.
Replacing a thatch roof with a conventional tile or sheet roof - the work insurers increasingly require, delivered on occupied homes and across whole estates.
Read moreNew thatch installations, re-thatching and targeted repairs - leak tracing, ridge work and fire-retardant treatment on existing roofs.
Read moreFull residential builds from foundation to handover, run as a single contract with one point of accountability from plan approval to occupation certificate.
Read moreExtensions, alterations and refurbishments - structural work, second storeys and full interior renovations on occupied properties.
Read moreSend us the details and photos of the property. We will come back with a scope and a written quotation.