There are two main ways of re-thatching your roof:

	Leaving a base coat of old thatch and "sparring" a new coat on top.
	Fixing the new coat directly onto roof timbers

In most older thatched properties which still have the original roof timbers in place, the first method of thatching would generally be preferable as the timber roof structures are not usually suitable for modern fixing techniques.

A new coat can be applied directly onto more modern roofs built to current building regulations (and slightly modified for thatch). A recent innovation in this field utilizes stainless steel wire screws to fix the thatch to the timbers.

There is little difference in the finished effect. Both methods are recognised techniques which provide a traditional and attractive thatched roof.

Please note that if you have a cob walled cottage, in some cases a new wall plate may be needed where the cob has crumbled after successive rethatchings.