Age and type of house
Wire netting over thatch is loose at the ridge and the surveyor did not lift the coat. What condition of the reed or straw was not inspected?
The condition of the reed or straw under the wire was not inspected. Loose netting at the ridge is what the survey could see without lifting the coat. Depth of the thatch, the fixings, the ridge work itself and any softness or decay in the coat stayed hidden. Wire holds the surface and deters birds. It is not the thatch. A slack ridge wire does not tell you the coat is sound, and it does not tell you the coat has failed. The survey stopped at the netting it did not lift.
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?
Thatch is judged by the coat: how much useful reed or straw is left, whether the ridge is worn through, and whether the fixing spars are still doing their job. Netting can be loose while the coat underneath is still thick, or tight while the coat is thin. Because the surveyor did not part the wire and lift the thatch, none of that thickness or fixing was examined. The sentence in the report is about the netting at the ridge, not about a completed thatch survey.
A thatcher is the person who can lift or part the coat enough to judge the reed or straw and the ridge. Tell the solicitor the home survey did not do that, so the thatch condition is still open. The survey has not specified a new coat, a new ridge or a repair of the wire alone. Do not pull the netting aside on a viewing. Until a thatcher has looked, do not treat a tidy golden surface, or a slack wire, as the condition of the coat.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you limit the thatch note to loose wire because you did not lift the coat?
- Which part of the ridge had slack netting, as you saw it?
- What of the reed or straw did you leave uninspected?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the note as loose ridge netting, not as a thatch condition survey.
- Ask a thatcher to inspect the coat that was not lifted.
- Do not decide for or against a new ridge from the wire alone.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
If the wire is renewed, has the thatch been inspected?
Renewed wire would still only be netting. The survey did not lift the coat, so the reed or straw remains uninspected until a thatcher looks under the surface. New wire does not answer that. Asking about it again later still leaves this netting point outside what the survey decided.
Can a dry loft under thatch stand in for the ridge inspection?
No. A dry loft does not show the depth or fixing of the coat at the ridge. The survey still has not lifted the thatch, and the loft is not a substitute for that look. The home survey itself did not pursue this ridgecoat question any further than the visit.