Age and type of house
Wire netting has disappeared into the thatch coat and only the ridge wire is still visible. What thickness of coat was not measured?
The thickness of the thatch coat was not measured. Wire netting has disappeared into the coat, which is what happens when later thatch is laid over older wire, and only the ridge wire is still visible. The survey can see that the netting has been swallowed and that the ridge wire remains. It cannot say how thick the coat is, because it did not measure it. Depth is not something you can read off a buried wire from the ground or from a glance at the ridge.
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 built up in layers. Galvanised netting is often fixed over a coat and then disappears as a new coat is added, so buried wire is a clue to layering rather than a tape measure. The ridge wire still showing tells you the top has some netting you can see. It does not tell you the spar length, the fixings down the slope, or the thickness at the eaves. A home survey does not core the thatch.
If you need a thickness, ask a thatcher to measure the coat rather than asking the survey to invent a depth. Tell the solicitor the netting is buried and the thickness was not measured, which matters if an insurer asks about the thatch. Do not convert a visible ridge wire into a figure for the whole roof. The survey has recorded what was still visible. The coat depth stays unmeasured.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where has the netting disappeared, and where is ridge wire still visible?
- Did you measure coat thickness anywhere?
- Are you treating buried wire as layering, not as a depth reading?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the thatch coat thickness as unmeasured.
- Do not read buried wire as a figure for depth.
- Ask a thatcher to measure the coat if thickness is required.
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 ridge looks fat, has the coat been measured?
No. A full-looking ridge is a view of the ridge, where the wire is still visible. It is not a measurement down the slopes, and the netting buried in the coat was not used as a gauge. Thickness remains unmeasured.
Does missing netting on the face mean the wire has fallen off?
Not from this note. The wire has disappeared into the coat, which fits a later layer covering it, and the ridge wire is still visible. The survey has not said the netting fell off, and it has not measured what now covers it.