A mabati house takes shape (left); nears completion; and right, inside a furnished house. PHOTOs | COURTESY
There is a perception that living in an iron fabricated house, commonly referred to as “mabati”, means one is poor or financially unsound.
Just like wooden houses, mabati houses are seen as temporary structures that cannot match the traditional stone and mortar houses widely perceived as ideal homes.
In fact, most people consider it to be an upgrade when one moves from a mabati to a stone house, but not Larry Kiplagat, a co-director at Halifax Shelters.
Kiplagat started working on fabricated houses after his jua kali steel works business started dwindling. The client who asked him to build his first ever mabati house was a foreigner who wanted double-roomed houses for his workers.
Holiday cabins
Kiplagat did such a splendid job that the client asked him to work on holiday cabins for his guests and took them to his home in Nanyuki. Both houses were delicately finished with gypsum boards and tiles, making them look like any ordinary stone house on the inside.
This is the time Kiplagat built his own house took it to his rural home. For him, the cost of building a stone house was too high and he considered iron sheets to be a better and cheaper alternative.
While houses made of timber, iron sheets and mud are a common feature in his village, Kiplagat’s house stood out from the rest due to the its complexity and final finishing.
That was 14 years ago, and that’s how the business of making fabricated houses came about.
“These are not the ordinary iron sheets used for roofing. We get ours from Car and General and General Motors. We also import them,” he says.
The panels are strong and durable and can only be cut using a grinder. Because of their hardness, bolts and nuts are used instead of nails to join them.
Preference
Erecting a structure is easy with one starting with the measurements of the house before putting up a shell, which takes two weeks.
“This requires an architect to draw the house according to the client’s preference and specifications before doing any metal work,” says Kiplagat.
The foundation is built from metal bars that will be joined to the fabricated shell. The shell of the house is assembled in the workshop to fit every fabricated wall in place before it is taken apart and transported to its final destination.
Kiplagat says this is to ensure proper fitting. They also oversee the work process from the workshops based in Bahati and Karen.
BDLife finds a structure he is working on in the Bahati workshop. It is for a three-bedroom house, complete with a spacious kitchen, entry foyer, large living room and flush toilet and bath.
“This is just the shell of the house. The owner wants us to pad the inside with Styrofoam to counter the extreme temperatures which most people fear in iron sheet houses” says Kiplagat.
Once the shell of the house is installed, which takes about a day’s work, the plumbing, electrical and decorative fittings are done depending on the client’s specifications and budget.
Double-storey houses
There are two options when it comes to lining the walls: a gypsum board and ply wood which can have either wallpaper or paint.
Ceilings are the normal ceiling boards, doors are either made of mahogany or pine wood while the floors can be plain concrete, tiled or wooden. The kitchen, toilet and bath have tiles on the walls and marble tops while the bathrooms are installed with a glass shower cubicle. The windows and doors vary in size and material used.
Double-storey houses can also be built using fabricated iron sheets but these have to be assembled in Spain and transported to Kenya, making it expensive. The technology can be used to build office blocks, chicken houses and toilets, among others.
For those who want to hide the fact that they are living in an iron sheet house, the outside wall can be lined with wire mesh and plastered to give the impression of a concrete house.
The cost of building varies depending on the size of the house, with a standard three-bedroom shell going for Sh550,000. The final finish can cost between Sh120,000 up to Sh300,000. This does not include the cost of building the foundation.
Competitive pricing
“We have the advantage of competitive pricing with no hidden costs, which has secured us business from NGOs, saccos and individuals,” Kiplagat says.
With the lack of affordable housing in the country, Kiplagat says they are trying to meet high demand by opening the Karen workshop.
ELsek Group is another company which deals with affordable housing solutions with the use of aluminium and steel walls lined with expanded polystyrene Styrofoam.
The walls are assembled in their workshop and later fitted to form housing units of up to three bedrooms.
A simple structure costs as little as Sh350,000 with the finishing, Sh700,000 for a two-bedroom house and Sh1 million for a three-bedroom house.
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