Here (finally!) is my final post on house construction.
Once the roof is thatched, it looks like this. The ends of the last layer of bundles form a tuft at the top of the roof.
The tuft looks kind of fun and punky, but it's not very solid or waterproof.
This house has a more finished look, with what I call a "roof topper," for lack of a better term.
This is the most common kind of roof topper. It is made by tying bundles of grass very securely and placing them "upside down," i.e. with the tied part at the top and the loose ends on the bottom, around the tuft at the top of the hut and tying them together.
The loose ends at the bottom of the bundles are then trimmed off so that they are relatively equal.
The picture below shows two women starting to make a roof topper. They are placing bundles "upside down" around the tuft made by the top layer of bundles.
These ladies were actually making a topper for a rectangular hut. Here's a little video of one of them trimming off the ends of the topper.
It's common here for people to add a cross to the top of the topper.
Close-up of the bundles tied together.
Sometimes they get creative and stick other things on top!
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