Working within a set budget when shopping for cabinets in Nairobi, either for new cabinets or replacing existing ones, can be a daunting task without proper information on materials and where to get the right design and builders to execute quality finishing in Nairobi.
In this article we go through a step by step guide on renovating a worn out kitchen to a luxury style kitchen cabinet within a reasonable budget and short timelines to work with, in order to give you a brief explanation on what goes on in sorting out your kitchen cabinet construction job in Kenya
Client History and Problem Faced
Our client is a Nairobi based company having a staff of over 60 employees with a kitchen cabinet unit that was operational at all times during the weekdays, so we had to work during the weekends to ensure the kitchen would be fully operational the following Monday.
The plumbing system was ok, but the entire cabinet structure was water logged due to water leakage from the tile countertop which had poorly done joints.
Assessment
Our initial assessment made us come to the following conclusions:
- we do a full overhaul by demolishing the entire cabinet structure
- replace with a hard wearing countertop that would withstand the intense heat and workflow,
- We make new cabinets within the existing partitioned design layout, as it was ideal enough for storing the many sufurias and foodstuffs.
Client specifications
The client was more interested in a functional kitchen cabinet with the following factors in mind:
- Have a strong and hard wearing countertop that can hold three 2 burner cookers used in cooking for the 60 employee staff,
- waterproof top to prevent water leakage inside the cabinets from the top,
- have plenty of storage space for the many sufurias used in cooking for the large number of staff,
- Beautiful to look at.
All within a budget that would be reasonable and realistic.
To achieve all these parameters, we were able to advice on the following
- acquire the services of industrial machine cutting and edge banding from our boards supplier, which would ensure all the cuts and edge banding was professionally done
- The hinges were high quality soft closing hinges that would resist the intense open and closing from the cooks when placing and storing the food and sufurias
- The board used was particle boards which hold screws better than mdf boards, and are actually cheaper
- The countertop selected was granite instead of marble or tiles, which are more hard wearing and can withstand scratches and intense heat
Herewith is a breakdown of the materials needed to do the kitchen cabinets renovation job of a space of 3 metres by 3 meters for low level cabinets only, together with services and additional cost implications we went through to execute this kitchen cabinet job in Nairobi.
Timelines taken
2 days
Kitchen cabinet design layout
- L shaped low level kitchen cabinet measuring 3 meters by 3 meters
- with a concrete slab for the bottom
- no back panel
- no inside horizontal partitioning
A. Material List (unit price may vary slightly with the type of brand and hardware you purchase from)
- Particle boards 6 pcs @ 2700 total 16,200
- Soft close hinges12 pairs @ 250 total 3,000
- Lipping cord 50 meters @ 30 total 1,500
- Mdf screws 5 packets @ 200 total 1,000
- Granite slabs 3 pieces @ 12,000 total 36,000
- Adhesive powder 1 bag @ 500 total 500
- Silicon 3 bottles @ 300 total 900
- Conta glue 1 liter @ 500 total 500
- Grout 1 bag @ 300 total 300
- Bracket holders for supporting the granite at the back wall 10 pairs @ 80 total 800
B. Labour
Granite install 2,500 per meter for 6 meters total 15,000
Cabinets install 2,500 per meter for 6 meters total 15,000
C. Additional Charges and costing
- Machine edge banding 54metres @ 35 total 1,890
- Machine cut to size 52 meters @ 35 total 1,820
- Demotion of existing cabinets and carting away debris total 2,000
- Transportation to site total 3,500
TOTAL 99.900 exc VAT (price may vary depending with design, size and quality of materials used)
Smartrenos Facilities Management company is an all in one service provider based in Nairobi offering facilities management services to homes, offices and property owners, reducing the burden placed on managers and property owners in facilities management and reducing costs of hiring in house workers.
For more information on your next custom kitchen cabinets construction in kenya, for either design or building advice, reach us today and we shall surely advice accordingly.
Article written by Eric Macharia- Senior designer and Project Manager at SMARTRENOS Ltd