Week 3. July 17th – July 22nd 2017 Foundation wall. 11 courses or 2.6 meters. All to be buried in the ground. Septic tank. It has a unique way in which it inclines to serve its purpose. If its not cemented it cant be serviced by an exhauster. Substructure The stones and hardcore on the side is used to bury the substructure. It is back filled (poured) into the "rooms" then compacted to form...
Week 2. July 10th – July 15th 2017 The house is finally taking shape. Setting out. Septic Pit Dressing stones The journey continues. Special thanks to the client for allowing us to take the photos and granting us access every week. Kariùki Wawerù PS. Kariùki Wawerù is the author of Kenya’s ONLY real estate book called “The ABC of Real Estate Investment in...
Week 1. July 1st - July 8th 2017 The Engineer advised that because of the nature of the black cotton soil on the plot, the client should excavate out the black cotton soil that is undesirable for construction. The Structural Engineer together with the Architect and Quantity Surveyor advised a 2 meter deep excavation of all the area where the house will sit. The contractor decided to use mechanized...
31/8/2016. John walks into the bank with what he thinks are all the necessary documents. The banker asks him, “Where are the drawings and bill of quantities”? John asks for two weeks to get the said documents. He immediately calls Mary, his wife, and updates her of the requirements. He also calls his friend who's a quantity surveyor and he's referred to a competent and pocket friendly architect. He...
29/8/16. The copy of title and a letter of offer is finally sent. The size of the plot is 477 sq meters not 500 sq meters as the broker had said. The letter of offer has a spelling mistake on John's second name. He writes to the broker to ask that they correct the letter. John then sends an errand guy to buy him a map at Survey of Kenya offices in Ruaraka and do a search in Thika lands office. John says...
10/8/2016. John finds an advert on OLX about plots in a gated community. He gets the brokers number and starts chatting him up. He's told that the plots are 1km from the Thika super highway in Ruiru. He dismisses the plots as being too far. 19/8/2016. It's a Friday and John finds himself in Thika on a work assignment. John decides to call up the broker to meet up in Ruiru. He visits the site and is very...
John met with the bank official yesterday. I met him in the evening and he had several forms to fill. Below is the list; Account opening form. A 12 page document Mortgage application form. Another many page document. Life insurance form - in case he dies or is permanently disabled during the course of mortgage repayment the insurance will pay the balance. Unemployment insurance- in case he loses...
John is my childhood friend. He has allowed me to write about his journey to owning a house. John’s Bio Name: John Age: 31 Marital status: Married with a son Employer: Government of Kenya John’s wife is called Mary. Mary’s Bio Name: Mary Age: 29 Employer: Self employed Background. The Government has put up a scheme to allow its employees to own houses....
Affordable housing in Kenya is a reality This surprises even me, for I have often thought that owning a house is for the “other” class. Truth is, with a little homework, you too will discover that affordable housing in Kenya is real and within reach. Use of eco-blocks This technology is relatively new in the Kenyan market. As discussed in an earlier article (the eco-block), one needs an eco-block...
You as the potential buyer are able to explore a range of options before settling on your house. Shopping around allows you to see the different designs, quality of finishing and so on before settling on a house to buy. You also don’t have the challenges encountered in getting approvals for the construction of your home. These include architectural and structural plans approvals and the environmental...