Our block is new and the roof already leaks. Is that normal?

It is common, which is not the same as acceptable. New flat roofs are frequently handed over with drainage that has never met a real storm, and the first heavy rain finds the undersized outlet or the upstand that was never dressed properly. It is usually a snagging problem rather than a failed roof, and it is cheaper to fix early.

Can you work on a road full of construction traffic?

Yes, with a booked bay. Kileleshwa's roads are narrow and often have two or three active sites on them, so there is frequently nowhere to stand a lorry. Agreeing where the delivery goes beforehand is the difference between a morning's work and a wasted day.

Roofing & Carpentry in Kileleshwa, Nairobi

We cover Kileleshwa including Kileleshwa, Othaya Road, Gatundu Road, Laikipia Road, Kasuku, Mandera Road, Siaya Road. Off Othaya Road and Gatundu Road. Rapid redevelopment means narrow roads shared with active construction, so we confirm the approach and a parking bay before a delivery.

What is different about roofing and carpentry in Kileleshwa

Kileleshwa is redeveloping faster than almost anywhere in Nairobi, so a roof here is often a new flat concrete one next door to a bungalow awaiting demolition.
New Kileleshwa blocks are frequently handed over with roof drainage that has never been tested in a real storm, and the first heavy rain finds the outlets nobody sized.
Narrow Kileleshwa roads carrying active construction traffic mean a roofing delivery needs a booked bay, because there is often nowhere to stand a lorry.

A neighbourhood mid-rebuild

Kileleshwa is changing from single houses to apartment blocks faster than almost anywhere in Nairobi, and that produces a particular mix of roofing work. New flat concrete roofs on buildings a year or two old, older tiled and sheeted roofs on houses waiting for a developer, and a lot of construction traffic in between.

New roofs that already leak

The most frequent call here is about a roof on a new building. That sounds like a contradiction and it is not. A flat roof is only really tested by its first serious storm, and a great deal of new drainage has never met one at handover. What then shows up is consistent and unglamorous: an outlet too small for the roof area, an outlet with no grating that has silted up, or an upstand at a parapet that was never properly dressed.

None of that is a failed roof. It is snagging, and it is far cheaper to deal with in the first season than after two years of water tracking into a slab.

Why we ask for the handover documents

If a building is recent there may still be a developer or contractor obligation. Before we repair anything we would rather know whether somebody else should be doing it, and we document and photograph what we find so that conversation can be had. It is a slower answer than sending an invoice, and it is the right one.

Access on a narrow, busy road

Practical rather than technical, but it decides the programme. Kileleshwa roads are narrow and frequently have several active sites on them, so there is often simply nowhere to stand a delivery. We book a bay and time the load rather than turning up hopefully.

The joinery

Redevelopment generates fitted work at two ends. New apartments need wardrobes, kitchen joinery and doors, usually to a developer’s programme with a hard handover date. Older houses need repairs to keep them lettable until they are sold. The two want completely different things from us, one wants speed and consistency, the other wants a sympathetic repair, and mixing them up is how both get done badly.

What we are usually called out for in Kileleshwa

Roof leak repair Finding where the water actually gets in, which is rarely where the ceiling stain appears, and fixing that rather than the symptom. Gutters, fascia and downpipes Guttering, downpipes, fascia and barge boards, which between them cause more roof damage when neglected than the roof covering does. Re-roofing and replacement Stripping and replacing a roof, including the structure underneath when it needs it, and the point at which repairing stops being worth the money.

Landmarks we work around here: Kasuku Centre, Othaya Road, Gatundu Road, Kileleshwa Ring Road.