brandsolder, noun

/ˈbrantsɔldə(r)/
Forms:
Formerly also brand zolder, brandt-solder.
Origin:
Afrikaans, South African DutchShow more Afrikaans, from South African Dutch brandzolder, brand fire + zolder loft; literally ‘fire-loft’.
historical, Architecture
1. A layer of bricks or clay laid over a ceiling to catch burning thatch in the event of fire. Also attributive.
1832 Graham’s Town Jrnl 20 Jan. 13 (advt)Fire Risks on the following moderate scale...Fourth class, — trebly hazardous which includes all thatched buildings, whether having a Brand Zolder or not..£0 15 0 For every £100 insured.
1833 S. Afr. Almanac & Dir. (advt)Fire Premiums. First Class of Assurances. Thatched Buildings..15s.Od. Thatched Buildings with Brand-zolder..12s.Od.
1845 Cape of G.H. Almanac & Annual Register (advt)De Protecteur Fire and Life Assurance Company...Allowances made, as formerly, for substantial Brandzolders.
1896 M.A. Carey-Hobson At Home in Tvl (1896) 456The brandt-solder (‘solder’ means attic, and ‘brandt’ something about ‘burning’) is a combination of the two; a layer, four or six inches thick, of clay and mud is laid upon reeds or laths which form the ceiling, and over this again is the many-gabled, high-pitched roof of thatch.
1938 C.G. Botha Our S. Afr. 75To secure the house against destruction by fire should the inflammable thatch catch alight, a thickness of brick laid in clay was placed above the boarded ceiling. This ‘brandzolder’ gave coolness to the rooms below.
1954 K. Cowin Bushveld, Bananas & Bounty 69Just before the roof itself went on, the upper side of the ceiling was covered with a layer of brandsolder...The early Dutch settlers had first used this mixture of damp earth and straw for protection against fire under a thatched roof, but our version of it, made with soil and cement, was chiefly to keep the rooms cool.
1963 R. Lewcock Early 19th C. Archit. 383The technique of laying a ‘brand-solder’ of clay over the ceiling to act as a fire-proofing seal between the roof construction and the rooms below survived sporadically for many years, and was even adopted with thatch and shingles by some of the immigrant thatchers.
1973 M.A. Cook Cape Kitchen 19Brandsolder, This was a layer of well-worked clay laid over the ceiling, about 5 or 7,5 cm (2" or 3") thick; in large houses near Cape Town, however, a thin soft-burnt brick was sometimes used instead...The brandsolder was an excellent safeguard in case of fire.
1979 Duminy & Adcock Reminisc. of Richard Paver 87As the house is strongly barricaded and a brandsolder(?) made to cut off communication between the thatch and the rooms below, I have no fear but that, with the protection of the Almighty, we shall be safe.
1989 F.G. Butler Tales from Old Karoo 91A strip of coir mat had been laid across the mud of the brandsolder, on either side of which was stored abundant furniture and junk of two or three generations.
2. rare. A loft or attic in the space above this layer; cf. solder.
1913 C. Pettman Africanderisms 87Brandzolder,..A loft immediately under the thatch of a building, with a thick mud or brick floor, to protect the under part of the building should the thatch catch fire. The Brand-zolder is usually used for the storage of farm produce.
1949 L.G. Green In Land of Afternoon 82Search your attic or brandsolder, for a complete copy of Ritter’s Almanac..would be worth as much as any Cape Triangular.
A layer of bricks or clay laid over a ceiling to catch burning thatch in the event of fire. Also attributive.
A loft or attic in the space above this layer;
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brandsiekte, nounn.brandwag, nounn.
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