Age and type of house
The wire that held a thatch ridge has been cut, and the straw under it looked sound. Does the cut wire rate the whole coat?
No cut wire that once held the thatch ridge rates the whole coat. The wire is a fastening at the ridge, and it has been cut. The straw under it looked sound, which is a separate comment on the coat in view. One failed fastening is not a verdict on the depth or the condition of the rest of the thatch. The visit does not lay down a fire standard for the roof. It does not condemn a coat it has described as sound beneath that cut wire.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Ridge wire holds the ridge material in the wind. When it is cut, the ridge can loosen even if the main coat still looks tight. That is a ridge note. Other thatch faults, a thin patch or a tired eaves, are not created by a cut wire when the straw under it looked sound. Keep the sentences apart. Do not promote a fastening into a new coat, and do not ignore the wire because the straw beneath it seemed fair.
A thatcher should see the ridge and say whether the wire needs renewing, and whether the ridge itself, rather than the main coat, wants work. Ask them not to price a whole new coat unless they write down defects the survey did not find. This note does not set a fire standard, and none should be read into a cut wire. The fastening is the wire. The sound straw is what was seen under it.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which wire was cut, and did it hold the ridge rather than the main coat?
- What did you see of the straw directly under that cut wire?
- Are you rating the whole thatch, or the fastening that has been cut?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask a thatcher to look at the cut ridge wire before anyone talks of a new coat.
- Keep the comment that the straw looked sound attached to the coat under that wire.
- Do not add a fire standard that the report did not state.
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Also asked about this
Does a cut ridge wire mean the thatch coat has failed?
No. The wire is a ridge fastening. The straw under it looked sound, so the cut does not rate the whole coat or replace a thatcher's own findings.
Has the survey imposed a fire rule on this thatch?
No. The note is the cut wire and the sound straw beneath it. It does not invent a fire standard, and none should be inferred from it.