Three kinds of kosher schach, one roof to cover — here's how to pick between flat bamboo mats, Kaynus reed mats and loose bamboo poles, with honest pros and cons for each.
Flat bamboo mats — the default choice
Flat bamboo schach mats are smooth bamboo slats woven together with natural raffia, certified by the Badatz Eda Hachareidis of Yerushalayim.
- Pros: fastest to lay (roll it out, tie it down), sits flat without scattering, looks clean from inside, reusable for years, and comes in 22 sizes from 4×4 to 8×16 ft — so one mat usually covers the whole roof.
- Cons: costs more than loose poles; long rolls are bulky to store (store them indoors and dry).
- Choose it if: you want the roof done in ten minutes and matched exactly to your sukkah size. This is what our "With Schach" kits include.
💡 Shipping tip: the 8-foot mat surcharge — and how to avoid it
Here's something no one tells you before checkout: any mat 8 feet wide ships as a roll about 8 feet long, and parcel carriers add roughly $100 in oversize fees for a package that length. Mats up to 6 feet wide roll well under the limit and ship at normal rates.
If your sukkah is 8 ft wide (or wider), you have two options:
- One matching mat — simplest to lay, one piece, but carries the ~$100 oversize shipping.
- Two narrower mats covering the same roof — for example, two 4×16 mats instead of one 8×16, or two 4×12 instead of one 8×12. Same coverage, kosher exactly the same, and the shipping often costs a third of the single big roll.
To take the savings: order your sukkah "Without Schach" and add the two smaller mats to your cart yourself from the flat bamboo mat page — the "With Schach" kits always include the single size-matched mat. Either way the exact shipping price shows at checkout before you pay, so you can compare both carts in two minutes.
Kaynus reed mats — the mehadrin classic
Kaynus schach mats are woven from natural reeds (kanim), also carrying the Bedatz Yerushalayim hechsher — a look and feel many families specifically want.
- Pros: traditional appearance, sturdy weave, reusable for multiple years, mehadrin certification.
- Cons: fewer sizes than the flat bamboo line (6 sizes, 5×10 to 8×12), slightly heavier rolls; the 8-ft-wide sizes carry the same oversize shipping noted above.
- Choose it if: you prefer the classic reed look and your sukkah matches one of the stocked sizes.
Schach Hamefoar — the premium tier
Schach Hamefoar ("the beautiful schach") is a closely-woven premium bamboo mat, mehadrin certified, in 9 sizes from 4×4 to 8×15 ft — the pick when how the sukkah looks from inside matters most.
Bamboo poles — the traditional budget option
Natural bamboo poles laid across the roof beams are the way sukkahs were covered for generations.
- Pros: lowest cost per square foot; completely traditional; a bundle of 25 covers about 2.5 ft of roof width.
- Cons: slower to lay and space evenly, more storage hassle, and the long 10–12 ft poles are pickup only (they exceed parcel-carrier length limits — 6 ft and 8 ft poles ship fine).
- Choose it if: you're local to Kiryas Joel or want the traditional look on a budget.
Whichever you choose
- Match the size to the sukkah — one mat sized to the roof beats patching smaller pieces (unless you're using the two-narrower-mats trick above to dodge the oversize fee). The size guide maps every sukkah size to its mat.
- Check the halacha basics — open sky above, more shade than sun, tied down with natural-fiber string. Full details in the kosher sukkah guide.
- Order early — schach sizes sell through before the sukkahs do. Sukkot 2026 starts September 25; mats ship in about 4 business days with the exact price at checkout.
