A thatch is a roof covering over a house. It is made with the help of straw reeds or living grass. It is held in place by using things like stones, ropes, poles or layers of mud. This kind of roofs is the oldest in the world and has been in use since a long time. It is common in both the tropical and the temperate regions of the world. The practice of building such kind of roofs is known as thatching.
Thatch roofs are very common in under developed and developing nations as they can be built with very low-cost and locally available things. Thus traditional builders often used this technique to roof houses though nowadays it is no more a roofing material in Western Europe. England has the maximum number of thatched roofs in Europe. Nowadays thatching is also used as a way of decorating big houses with all the modern amenities. Though they are not at a danger of catching fire than the roofs made of hard materials it is very difficult to extinguish a fire in a thatched roof which is one of the reasons that it fell out of favour in the recent times.
Thatch roofs are very common in under developed and developing nations as they can be built with very low-cost and locally available things. Thus traditional builders often used this technique to roof houses though nowadays it is no more a roofing material in Western Europe. England has the maximum number of thatched roofs in Europe. Nowadays thatching is also used as a way of decorating big houses with all the modern amenities. Though they are not at a danger of catching fire than the roofs made of hard materials it is very difficult to extinguish a fire in a thatched roof which is one of the reasons that it fell out of favour in the recent times.