Services
How we take a house from an idea to a home
Seven stages, in order. You can join us at any one of them, though most people come in at the beginning, because that is where the money is either saved or lost.
STAGE 01
Concept and feasibility
We work out what your plot can take, what it will cost and whether the idea works, before you spend anything on drawings.
We visit the site and look at the ground, the access, the services and the setbacks, and we talk through how you actually want to live in the house. You leave this stage with a clear brief, an honest budget range for the kind of house you are describing, and a realistic programme. What you do not leave with is a drawing you cannot afford to build.
What this includes
- Site visit and assessment
- Client brief and room schedule
- Indicative budget range and programme
- Advice on plot suitability, orientation and access
Typical duration: 1 to 2 weeks
STAGE 02
Architectural design and drawings
Full architectural drawings for your bungalow, maisonette or apartment block, drawn by people who will have to build them.
Floor plans, elevations, sections and 3D visualisations, so you can see the house before it exists. Because the same company will build it, the drawings are made buildable. Sensible spans, sensible details, and materials we know we can source at the price we quoted you.
What this includes
- Floor plans, elevations and sections
- 3D visualisations of the finished house
- Bungalow, maisonette and apartment designs
- Revisions until the plan is right
Typical duration: 3 to 5 weeks
STAGE 03
Structural and civil engineering
Foundations, slabs, columns and roof structures designed and calculated for the ground you are actually building on.
Structural drawings and calculations prepared for approval and for the team on site. Soil conditions differ enormously across this region, and around Laikipia you can move from good murram to black cotton soil inside one plot. The foundation is designed for your ground rather than copied from a standard detail.
What this includes
- Foundation design for your soil conditions
- Reinforced concrete detailing
- Structural calculations for approval
- Roof structure design
Typical duration: 2 to 3 weeks
STAGE 04
County approvals and permits
We prepare and submit the drawings, then follow the approval through the county on your behalf.
Building without approval is the most expensive shortcut in Kenyan construction. It risks a stop order, a demolition notice and a house you cannot sell or mortgage. We prepare the submission set, lodge it with your county, answer the queries that come back and keep you informed until the approved plans are in your hands.
What this includes
- Submission drawings prepared to county standards
- Lodging and follow up with Laikipia, Nyeri, Meru, Isiolo or Nyandarua
- Responding to review queries
- Guidance on NEMA, WRA and other consents where they apply
Typical duration: 4 to 8 weeks, depending on the county
STAGE 05
Construction and concrete works
Stone and concrete construction by our own team. Foundation, walling, slabs, roofing and plaster.
Machine cut stone walling, reinforced concrete foundations, ground and suspended slabs, columns, ring beams and roofing. Our own supervisor is on site daily, and we buy materials directly rather than through layers of middlemen, so the price you were quoted is the price the job runs at.
What this includes
- Setting out, excavation and foundations
- Machine cut stone and concrete block walling
- Reinforced concrete slabs, columns and beams
- Roofing, plastering and external works
Typical duration: Programmed per project
STAGE 06
Joinery and interior fit out
Doors, ceilings, floors, wardrobes and furniture, milled in our own workshop from timber we dried ourselves.
This is the stage most contractors subcontract and lose control of. We do not. Our kiln and workshop produce the doors, frames, ceilings, floors, fitted wardrobes, kitchen units and furniture for our own sites, so the finish arrives on programme and the timber has actually been dried before it goes into your house.
What this includes
- Solid timber doors and frames
- Timber ceilings, panelled and coffered
- Timber flooring, skirtings and architraves
- Fitted wardrobes, kitchen units and furniture
Typical duration: Runs alongside finishing
STAGE 07
Snagging and handover
We walk the house with you, fix the list, and hand over a finished home rather than a nearly finished one.
Together we go room by room and write down everything that is not right. We fix it, you check it again, and only then do we hand over the keys along with your approved drawings and the details of what was installed.
What this includes
- Joint snagging inspection
- Defects corrected before handover
- Approved drawings and documents handed over
- Guidance on caring for timber finishes
Typical duration: 1 to 2 weeks
Already have drawings?
That is fine, bring them. We will review them, tell you honestly whether they are buildable as drawn and what they will cost to construct, and pick the job up from there. We would rather build someone else's good design than talk you into paying twice.
Not sure which stage you are at?
Describe where you have got to, whether that is a plot, a sketch, a set of drawings or a half built structure, and we will tell you what happens next.