Thatching
Now we come to the real grass part of the house, for we have had to use small sticks for the framework instead of bamboo, and where the Filipino uses palm-leaves we will use grass.
Gather some long, coarse, fresh blades of grass for thatching both the roof and walls, and begin with the walls. Bunch the grass evenly, the stem ends all together, bend the bunch at the centre, then spread it out at its centre, and hang it thickly over one side-wall beam, which is the upper stick ([Fig. 61]). Have the stem ends inside the house hang down as long as the tip ends on the outside, and let the outside ends hang down below the edge of the floor; then take a flat strip of wood and place it near the top of the grass-covered wall, bend the ends a little and slide them back of the uprights ([Fig. 62]). Smooth the grass down evenly and put in another flat stick, this time at the bottom ([Fig. 62]). If you want the inside of the house as perfect as the outside, slide in two other strips on the inside of each wall to hold the grass down. [Fig. 62] shows the grass partially trimmed off to make it even at the bottom.
Fig.63 - Pole rafter being thatched for roof.
| Fig.64 - Shows exactly how the raffia is tied | Fig.65 - Hang grass over ridge pole of roof. |
To thatch the roof you will need two more sticks for rafters. Over one stick, near the end, tie a bunch of grass into a tassel, using a piece of raffia to bind it; hang more grass over the stick or rafter, and tie it into another tassel, and with the same piece of raffia tie a third tassel ([Fig. 63]). [Fig. 64] shows exactly how the raffia is tied. Make the tassels rather thick and put them close together so that there will be no space between.
When this rafter (the stick) is covered with thatch lay it across the side of the roof half-way between the ridge-pole (top stick on the roof) and the stick forming the side wall of the house, and tie the ends securely to the slanting sticks of the roof. Thatch another rafter and fasten it on the opposite side of the roof, then cover two shorter sticks with thatch and tie one across the front, the other across the back peak of the roof on a line with the thatched rafters on the sides.
Fasten more thatch at the front and back peak of the roof, tying it to the ridge-pole, also to the two slanting sticks. Allow the grass to hang down far enough to cover the top of the thatch below it ([Fig. 50]). This thatch must entirely fill up the ends of the roof made by the peak. Now hang grass over the ridge-pole at the top of the roof as you would hang your doll's little sheets on your toy clothes-line ([Fig. 65]), and bring the ends down over the thatched rafters on each side of the roof. Hold this top thatch in place by laying sticks across the grass just below the ridge-pole on each side of the roof. Bind and tie these sticks at each end to the framework of the house ([Fig. 50]).
If grass cannot be had for thatching, soak hay in water to make it soften and take the stiffness out, then use that. Raffia dyed green might do, or should all else fail, take fine broom-straws softened in hot water for the thatch, and use loosely twisted string for binding and tying. Of course the string should not be white, but you can dip it in coffee and dry it; the color will then be like the color of rattan.