I have been thatching in Wiltshire and the surrounding area for 38 years. I am the former chairman, and one of the founder members of The Wiltshire Master Thatcher’s Association.
I lead a team, in which I can call on my associates, who have 40 and 25 years experience, together with Tom, my son with 14 years, and are all members of the Wilts Master Thatchers Association. My workforce is completed by my youngest son, Will, who has 10 years experience. We are a close knit family type of team who have worked together for many years.
On most jobs, I will employ the services of a reputable professional scaffolder, and although the idea of a scaffold surrounding your property will be a daunting one, will give us a safe platform to work from. The scaffold also prevents the possible damage that can be cause otherwise to your garden from constant ladder movements from the ground.
Of course there will be a small amount of loose straw around until the final clear up on completion. The site will be left clean and tidy when the job is finished and the scaffold down. We always take great care of plants, patios and gardens in general, the majority of us being keen gardeners ourselves.
Once I commence a job we aim to be on site every day until completion, I will discuss with you if otherwise. We commence work at 7.30 am, and will usually be on site by 8am to 8.30 am, we finish at 4.30pm or later on some days. This will obviously vary some days, as we have to either unload all the loose straw, or load and deliver materials for the job.
We do harvest our own wheat crop for thatching, locally, and we still use the old traditional methods of cutting and binding the specially grown straw, stoking the sheaves, and then carting it into a traditionally built Rick. At a later date the sheaves are then fed into a threshing machine, probably dating back to the early part of the last century, and then our bundles of straw are ready for your roof.
I am very proud of my reputation locally which has been built up over many years, and I can ensure you of a first class job, should you decide to employ my services.
