Carpenters in Old Town
Post the job to Old Town and it reaches providers close enough to get to you. Posting is free, and the price is agreed before anyone starts.
Carpentry in Old Town
What is particular about Old Town
Carpentry in Old Town is often the repair of things that cannot be bought new: carved Swahili doors, timber balconies and screens that overhang the lanes, and ceilings laid on mangrove poles. Matching the timber and the joinery is the job, and it rewards a carpenter willing to repair a carved panel or a door frame rather than replace it with something plain.
Termites and damp are the problems everywhere on the coast, but in Old Town they get into the structure as well as the furniture. A balcony that has started to sag, or a pole ceiling with fine dust collecting on the floor beneath it, needs someone who will open it up and look before anybody quotes for a cosmetic repair. Say which of the two it is when you post, and whether the building is one you own or rent.
The wider picture, including what affects carpentry across the whole city, is on the carpentry in Mombasa page.
Writing the request
What to include so the offers come back usable
- Measurements of the space, in centimetres if you can
- Photos, including one wide enough to show the surrounding wall
- The material and finish you have in mind, or say you want options
- Whether existing units have to be removed and taken away
- Whether the work happens at your place or in the carpenter's workshop
What moves the price
Why two quotes for the same job differ
- Material and finish, which usually dominates the quote
- Whether it is made on site or built in a workshop and delivered
- How square and true the existing walls and floor are
- Ironmongery — hinges, runners, handles and locks add up quickly
- Delivery and the number of people needed to carry it in
Help24 does not publish price ranges for carpentry. Quotes come from the carpenters themselves, and the number you agree is the number the payment is held against.
Before work starts
What to check with a carpenter
- Ask to see photographs of work they have finished, not work in progress
- For fitted joinery, agree whether the quote is for supply and fit or fit only
- Confirm who measures — and that whoever measures is responsible if it does not fit
- A NITA trade test certificate (Grade III is the artisan entry level, Grade I the highest) is the standard Kenyan proof of a trade. Plenty of excellent fundis work without one, so treat it as a bonus rather than a bar.
Post a carpentry job in Old Town
Free to post. You see the offers, you agree the price, and the payment is held until the work is done.