Thread: Chimneys and thatch roof

I had been wondering how to overcome this problem, then I saw this thread and thought the poms should have an answer to it when they build these type of roof all the time... https://teakdoor.com/construction-in-...d-roofs-2.html (Traditional English Thatched Roofs)

The house I wish to build in Kaoh Yai has a thatched roof and as it is a cold climate, during winter months very cold at night, I do want to have a fireplace which I will also utilise as a water heater for the spa, household and a wood fired oven.

But how the hell do you stop it being a fire hazard ? Seems to can get 'spark' arrestors for the chimney, no idea how these work, but surely some sparks get through and with a highly combustible material on the roof, very risky.

I found a synthetic thatch that looks very authentic, but it can only be treated apparently for a fire retardant, not fire proof.

Any ideas anyone ??

The easiest way is to try and get away without a fireplace. As your starting from scratch you should be able to design a place that can be warmed by the sun in the day and then find a way to keep the warmth in. Two suggestions are to have thick curtains and somehow use water, as this stores heat well.

Use gas to cook with and a simple solar water system to heat the spa. The skies are clear in the winter, so there's plenty of sun.

Also, about thatch roofing. Will you have ceilings also? If so be careful that you not making a nice home for rats. We have a steel roof with thatch on top. It's great insulation and quiet when it rains, but rats are a problem.

Make the chimney taller than standard so that any sparks will die before descending down to roof level.

Is it really just as simple as that...

A spark arrestor will work but MUST be cleaned every year or else larger clumps of carbon will collect and flake off which is a worse fire hazard than without it.
They cost 84GBP

SEE , Fireproofing your Thatched Home

Use Magma TAS Firestop sprays, two fire retardants designed and tested specifically for use on thatched buildings. There are two varieties - an indoor and outdoor spray.
The outdoor spray is sprayed directly onto the surface of the roof. Not only does it provide fire retardant capabilities, but it is also water repellent. This impregnation product cannot be washed out and is a special protection against leaching. The indoor spray is used on the internal surface of the thatch and the supporting timbers.
Magma TAS Firestop has been tested not only to NEN 6063 in the Netherlands, DIN 4102/7 in Germany but also BS 476 Part 3 (1958) in the United Kingdom and achieved EXTS:'BA' rating (Test Report TE 85766). This is the highest rating achieved by a fire retardant designed for thatch. In the British test, Magma TAS Firestop achieved the highest rating 'A' for its ability to retard the spread of flame and protected the roof for well over half-an-hour. It also scored 'B' in the penetration assessment.
While the protection may last for up to 10 years, we recommend testing the roof every 5 years to assess the degree of protection with a view to respraying if necessary. The internal spary does not require any assessment or retreatment provided the thatch is maintained in good order.
Magma TAS Firestop is non-toxic, bio-degradable, odourless, non-shrinking, and does not affect other materials in any way. It is fast penetrating and drying (maximum 3 hours) and has minimal environmental impact. It is produced to ISO 9002 standards.

Excellent, I like the biodegradable and non toxic also as the run off will be straight into a fish pond.

Wonder how you test it after 5 years and what is classed as a failure lol.

Originally Posted by Nawty

Yes, well a fireplace is not a necessity, but it is a desirable aspect I would like to have for various reasons.

It's also not enviro friendly, compared to the options.

Originally Posted by Nawty

It is not logical to design the house to attract warmth and retain it, that is for colder climates.

You mean those types of climates were ppl have fireplaces? It could be done without making the place any hotter for the rest of the year.

I'm interested in the plastic thatch stuff. Is it also insulating and is the water safe to drink if you collect it? The stuff I've seen is made from recycled plastic. Is it expensive?

If you are having a chimney, I'd also want to make sure it didn't melt.

You are right, not enviro friendly at all. Maybe I should forget the idea...but at the end of the day, nothing like a nice fire on a cold night.

I also want to make double use of that heat to warm the spa and pool, not just waste it up the chimney, but solar would also be used for that purpose for everyday hot water requirements as a fire would not be a nightly occurance, just special occassions.

I also wanted to make double use of the fireplace to the rear of it as a wood fired oven, pizza, breads, ckaes, biscuits etc. So I have actually utilised the use of the fireplace for a few other requirments to use the energy, not just waste it.

As for what I meant by not logical, I meant in the tropis, where the need for warmth or a fireplace is only required for lesser months of the year. it makes no sense to design a home to catch heat for 3 months of the year when it is only required at night and early morning and for a short term period. The the remainder of the year, say 9 months it is still attracting that warmth only it is not wanted because it is bloody hot already.

What if I promise to pland a tree for the chimney...but then all the ones that get cut down to burn will do away with that good deed.

Originally Posted by Smithson

I'm interested in the plastic thatch stuff. Is it also insulating and is the water safe to drink if you collect it? The stuff I've seen is made from recycled plastic. Is it expensive?

If you are having a chimney, I'd also want to make sure it didn't melt.

I have a brochure from the architect show at impact, I will dig it up and post it.

Originally Posted by Nawty

You are right, not enviro friendly at all. Maybe I should forget the idea...but at the end of the day, nothing like a nice fire on a cold night.

I also want to make double use of that heat to warm the spa and pool, not just waste it up the chimney, but solar would also be used for that purpose for everyday hot water requirements as a fire would not be a nightly occurance, just special occassions.

I also wanted to make double use of the fireplace to the rear of it as a wood fired oven, pizza, breads, ckaes, biscuits etc. So I have actually utilised the use of the fireplace for a few other requirments to use the energy, not just waste it.

As for what I meant by not logical, I meant in the tropis, where the need for warmth or a fireplace is only required for lesser months of the year. it makes no sense to design a home to catch heat for 3 months of the year when it is only required at night and early morning and for a short term period. The the remainder of the year, say 9 months it is still attracting that warmth only it is not wanted because it is bloody hot already.

What if I promise to pland a tree for the chimney...but then all the ones that get cut down to burn will do away with that good deed.

What if you only burn wood from trees you've planted?

I know what you mean about my suggestion not being logical, but there are a few different ways to go about it. There are plenty of houses built in climates that have cold winters and hot summers, especially in Aust. I would look at doing something with greenhouse plastic, that could be removed most of the year.

Sure the fire is a nice idea, but collecting the wood might become annoying, not to mention trying to get the ppl to build something they know little about.

The Thai winter is perfect for solar energy, you don't need expense units to heat water.

I don't pretend to know much about the subject but a couple of points that might be relevent.

Insurance. We had a cottage in Devon with a lovely thatched roof. The insurance got so bad we had to remove it.

Fire places. Generally, IME, thatched buildings have pretty massive stone fire places and chimmney stacks. One alternative we used at my fathers place was placing a pot bellied stove in the fire place. We ran a flue up through the chimmney with an extractor on top. Advantages were great. Much safer, the stove, when shut down ran for hours (24 +) on minimal fuel - wood. Later we got the hot water system connected and and heated more hot water then was ever needed in the winter.

The stove. I've a feeling it was called a "Benjamin Franklin stove" with folding glass doors, wasn't too expensive and looked really good. I'd post photos but I'm handicapped by atrophy and laziness. Might give it a go later.

Yes pot belly stoves and the various varieties are good also.

As for the trees for burning, I was planning to use the old gum tree saplings all over the place that are used for construction works here, discarded and left to rot, they would get a second purpose and not be wasted, used to cook bread for my kids breakfast of toast and vegemite.