Ksh 800K Wooden House Elicits Debate Among Kenyans

A photo timbre house built at the cost of Ksh800,000.
A photo timber house built at the cost of Ksh800,000.
Photo
Mboya Kevin

A picture of a Ksh800,000 house shared on social media elicited debate among Kenyans who differed in opinion over the construction cost of the two-bedroom house.

In a post on Twitter on, Tuesday, January 10, digital media consultant Mboya Kevin shared images of the house which he stated was exclusive of the Ksh120,000 parcel of land he bought in 2007.

He revealed that he had planned to build a three-bedroom house but that proved to be costly.

"The initial plan was to construct something unique, beautiful, well thought out and a modern architectural design of a three-bedroom wooden house. 

Workers at a building under construction
Workers at a building under construction in Nairobi County on November 2021.
Photo
Construction in Kenya

"My quantity surveyor Eric said it will cost me Ksh3,600,000 to construct such a house. I had to think of something else," he stated.

However, many questioned if a wooden house would cost that much given that timber was readily available in some parts of the country.

Others opined that the consultant should have added some money and built a brick house

"I think the cost is highly exaggerated. Half of that, inclusive of labour could be reasonable," Twitter user Quantum Watson asserted.

Mboya, in a rejoinder, explained that wooden houses were expensive, contrary to misconceptions that were held among Kenyans.

During the debate, other Kenyans also echoed Mboya's sentiments even as they shared images of their wooden houses and the cost of the projects. 

In some instances, other homeowners revealed that a two-bedroom house had cost them Ksh2.5 million to set up.

Kenyans .co.ke spoke to a real estate expert and Nairobi-based architect Arnania Ogutu who also shared some insights into the wooden house building industry.

In the interview, Ogutu agreed with Mboya, indicating that there were so many misconceptions about wooden houses, especially with respect to costs.

The real estate expert explained that the cost of wooden houses was high given that the price of timber had gone up in many parts of the country.

He added that some of the anti-termite treatment that timber required during the building process also could have raised the cost of the Ksh800,000 house.

"Depending on the quality of the timber to be used, a house can be costly. The wood also had to be treated to avoid being ruined by rain and termites and that drives the cost up," he stated.

Despite the cost, the architect expressed that timber houses were becoming common all over the world given the advancement of mass timber construction where solid wood panels are nailed or glued together to form strong panels and beams.

Pine, oak, and cedar are some of the commonly used wood to build houses in Kenya.

A file photo of a mass timber house warehouse being built within Nairobi.
A file photo of a mass timber house warehouse being built within Nairobi.
Twitter
BigRentz