| warhawkwind | 29 Aug 2015 8:41 a.m. PST |
Ok, I'm curious. Since I've been making some thatched roofs lately, a question has been gnawing at my mind. How did/do people keep the sparks from their chimneys from catching that straw on their roofs on fire? It seems that just keeping the hearth fire low wouldnt provide enough heat to keep them warm in winter. And even small fires can send up cinders.
I know these roofs are still being used today, so they must be fairly safe? |
| elsyrsyn | 29 Aug 2015 8:55 a.m. PST |
Well done and maintained thatch doesn't actually pose that much of a fire risk, from what I've read, for the same reasons it doesn't leak water, or provide homes for undesired critters. It's not just loose straw thrown haphazardly onto the roof framing (which would leak, be nested in, and burn easily). It's tightly bundled and carefully placed and secured. Doug |
| Lt Col Pedant | 29 Aug 2015 9:25 a.m. PST |
But the forced draught of a blacksmith's forge fire, say, would create enough heat to ignite the thatch. That's why medieval forges had shingle tiles on their roofs. A fact a lot of model-makers overlook. |
| Doug em4miniatures | 29 Aug 2015 9:34 a.m. PST |
My next door neighbour's house is thatched. I asked him if he had worries about fires last New Year before we launched our salvoes of fireworks and he said it was fine; they only tend to be vulnerable from fire coming from underneath – not things landing on top. Doug |
| warhawkwind | 29 Aug 2015 9:52 a.m. PST |
Ok, thanx folks! I get it, being tightly bound the straw bundles dont catch fire the same way a log wont ignite if you hold a lighter up to it. I didnt think about the straw being bound like that. I'll have to do closer research for modeling it then. I've never even seen a real thatched roof in person, living in the midwest of USA. |
| tberry7403 | 29 Aug 2015 10:16 a.m. PST |
Remember the opening credits for Robin Hood Men in Tights". As the credits rolled by there were archers launching fire arrows until the villagers came out complaining that every time there was a new Robin Hood movie their village was burned to the ground!  |
| Mako11 | 29 Aug 2015 1:11 p.m. PST |
It's very wet in Europe in Winter, or so I'm told, which would help a lot, as well. Fairly high humidity too, compared to other places. |
Frederick  | 29 Aug 2015 1:25 p.m. PST |
As noted, thatching a roof is not just a matter of piling on the straw – when we were in the Aran Islands – where most of the roofs are thatched – we watched a crew replacing a thatched roof; quite a bit of work |
| Mad Mecha Guy | 29 Aug 2015 11:31 p.m. PST |
this might be helpful: link |
