Floor sanding, staining and varnishing in Nairobi
About KES 400 per square metre to sand, plus 300 to varnish
This is the best-margin work on this site and among the least searched, at 50 a month with an advertising competition index of 2. It is also the job that most reliably surprises people, because a tired parquet floor that looks finished usually is not: under forty years of scuffed varnish there is generally sound timber.
Replacing a floor costs several times what refinishing one does. We would rather sand yours than sell you a new one.
What it costs
About KES 400 per square metre to sand, plus about KES 300 per square metre to varnish. In bulk the combined figure runs roughly KES 400 to 900 per square metre. A 150 to 200 square metre house therefore lands around KES 105,000 to 300,000. Market ranges reviewed September 2026, not quotations.
When a floor can be saved, and when it cannot
It can usually be saved if the damage is in the finish rather than the timber: scratches, dullness, water marks that have not gone black, patchy varnish, or a colour you have stopped liking.
It cannot be saved where the timber itself has gone. Blocks that are loose or drumming under foot have lost their bond to the screed and will not hold a finish. Blackened boards have water damage deep in the grain and sanding exposes more of it, not less. And a floor already sanded several times can simply be too thin, which shows as nail heads or tongues appearing as you go.
We look before quoting and we tell you which of those you have. About one floor in five that we are asked to refinish needs partial replacement first, and finding that out halfway through is how a job becomes an argument.
Sequence, which matters more than people think
Sanding is dirty and refinishing is not, so the order of operations decides how good the result is and how much of your house is unusable.
Sanding first, then any repairs and block replacements, then a final fine pass so the patches level with the original, then the finish. Painting and trim work should be done before the final coats, because a dust sheet does not survive a decorator and a drip on fresh varnish means sanding that area again.
Skirting is worth replacing at this point if it is going to be replaced at all, because the saw is already set up and the floor edge is exposed. See skirting, cornice and architrave.
Finishes
Polyurethane varnish is the hardwearing default, in matt, satin or gloss. Gloss shows every imperfection and every future scratch, which is why satin is the usual choice in a family house.
Oil and hard-wax finishes look more natural, feel better underfoot and are repairable in patches rather than needing a whole-floor recoat. They need more frequent attention.
Stain before the varnish changes the colour, and it is the decision to think hardest about, because it is the one that cannot be undone without sanding the whole floor again. We put a test patch down in the actual room and let you see it in the actual light before committing.
The January job
Worth saying plainly: this is the work to book in January and February. Construction in Nairobi collapses after December, we have capacity, and refinishing a floor is entirely unaffected by whether it is raining outside. It is the one trade on this site that is genuinely counter-seasonal.
See, or the areas we cover.