Can anyone tell me,whether from experience or second hand knowledge how much it costs to put up a house in an upsclae neighbourhood of nairobi. (dont factor in the land) I am talking about a large 4 to 5 bedroom house.) The house should be well finished to an upmarket standard,ie structure and walls. you can ommit the fine finishing details,like ceramic floors and kitchen cabinets,appliances etc.) Any help will be highly appreciated.


Those who dared,reaped

Ksh 10M will be enough. It's the finishing that makes or breaks the budget! Yes,10M!


bY aNy MeAns NecEsSaRy.....

@thekauzi


I have been helping my folks build a house and my analysis of their experience may help.

Description of the house

The house is a 1-storey 4-br(3 ensuite) maisonette with a servant's quarter located on roughly 1/4 acre with a medium steep grade. It has a total plinth area of 423 sq mts(233 ground,190 top) i.e. 4553 sq ft. The house is not finished yet(currently working on the inside finishes and joinery fittings but will use estimates)
NB:) Not in Nairobi but analysis should be similar

Raw Percentages(before corners)

Casual labour 11%

Skilled labour 18%

Cement 15%

Ballast 6%

Sand 8%

Stones 10%

Metal 19%

Wood & Tiles 8%

Tools & Misc 5%


Tips

-Schedule to start building when either you or your spouse or family members are on leave. Stagger your times off so that you have at least one person you trust who can make it to the site on a daily basis. Actively participating in the building of the house will probably cut around 15-20% of your expenses.

-Get a skilled fundi to help supervise the building from start to finish. Use your contacts to find an honest one with good recommendations.

-Get multiple people to provide quotations for skilled labour. Use fundi above to provide specifications to give to the people quoting. This usually cuts you labour expenses significantly.

-Source most of the materials yourself and shop around for the best prices. Don't use brokers but buy directly from the source in bulk if possible.

-As mentioned below,rent out idle trucks,buy an old truck and to dispose later or get one from someone who is already building. This will shave off 5-10% from the ballast-sand-stones combination.

-If the design includes a servant's quarter,build the skeleton very early on. If not build a wood structure with offcuts. Use it as a store and buy cement,wood etc in bulk and store them there. Ensure the place is secure though.

-Buy cement in bulk(100+ bags) from the big distributors and store it. Same for the metal especially for the slab.

-For wood,buy used timber and poles from other construction sites for the foundation and slab. Alternatively,cut down trees in your plot if any. Go to shags or if yours is far,go to a friend's shag with your lorry. Hire a machine saw(you can always get one at the local trading
centre) and saw of your pieces.You have to know the sizes and amount of the pieces you will need beforehand from your fundi. Ensure you cut down the right tree types especially for roofing wood. After you are done with the timber,sell it to another construction site. You can cut the cost of timber by upto 40% with the above tips.

-Borrow or rent out tools and leftover materials from other construction sites.


So far,with all the above tips,the cost of the finished house plus landscaping should be around 17,800 per sq mt(~1650 per sq ft) from an original estimate of about 22,000 per sq mt(~2000 per sq ft).


@Cicero

Wow,you mean 1 large lorry of sand in Nairobi is 35,000. I can get the same in Thika for under 25,000 from a broker. No wonder you give a wide range of cost per square feet.

Wow! The costs r dropping lyk dominos since jaribu's post. Now let me drop them further....assuming u acquire an old isuzu tx/ftr fwd for 500k,sand wont cost more than 7k including fuel per truckload. Again,buy reject stones,that r usually slightly chipped at the edges for half the price,i think 12 bob a piece. U can get fm shagz cheaper watu wa mkono 2b staying in the mabati store/sq. I guess we r now staring at approx. 4m having sold the truck....My several cents.

The only reason why some people are still alive is coz its illegal to shoot them!!

where is the like batton

So how much was the total cost of building the house??