Materials, Compared Honestly
The material decides how long a kitchen lasts far more than the design does. These pages set out what each one actually does in a Nairobi kitchen, including where the cheaper option is perfectly sensible.
Camphor, podo, cedar and teak Four timbers common in older Nairobi houses and difficult to obtain now, which changes what you should do when one needs repairing. Cypress The plantation softwood most Kenyan roofs and painted joinery are made from: cheap, plentiful, adequate, and wrong for two specific jobs. Finishes and ironmongery The two things that decide how fitted joinery ages: what goes on the surface and what the doors swing on. Both are invisible on installation day. Mahogany The workhorse hardwood of Kenyan joinery: most ready-made doors, frames and stair components are mahogany, and for good reasons. MDF, melamine, blockboard and marine ply The four boards Nairobi joinery is actually built from, what a sheet costs, and the one distinction that decides whether a cabinet survives a wet room. Mvule The premium Kenyan joinery hardwood: dense, stable, insect-resistant, and worth the money on a short list of specific jobs. Termites, humidity and choosing timber What actually destroys timber in Nairobi, which species resist it, and why detailing matters more than species on every job we do.
Tell us what your roof is doing
A photo of the ceiling stain or the roofline is usually enough to start. We will come back with what is likely wrong, what it costs to put right, and whether it needs doing before the rains.
Photographs welcome · no charge for a written quotation