Tag Archives: nairobi

Can your furniture cause cancer?

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Manufactured boards are boards made from wood products such as ply wood, chip board and Medium Desity Fibre[MDF] board.

They usually come in a standard size of 4 feet by 8 feet.

Due to the scarcity of wood products, MDF boards have become common and are a good replacement to plywood, chipboard and blockboard.

MD boards are made by glueing wood fibres under intense heat and pressure.

The strength of the board is measured by the screwing strength of the section in Newtons. The average screwing strength is around 750-1000N.

The glue used is fomaldehyde based .
Research shows that formaldehyde causes various side effects to humans.
Check out this link
This has resulted to the grading of MDF in terms of formaldehyde level, E0 being the lowest and E4 the highest. Most MDF boards on sale in Kenya and around the world contain EI and E2 formaldehyde levels .

MDF boards are sold with or without the laminate. The laminate can be on one side or both sides. The laminate is finished smooth to various natural wood finishes such as peach, oak, teak and mahogany.

The strength of the MDF is directly proportional to its thickness, density and internal glue bond.
Most MDF is manufactured in thickness of between 8 mm to 20mm. The mdf laminate skins are usually 2mm thick.

For furniture use which is not structural i.e does not support alot of weight such as wardrobe door, 12mm MDF both sides veneered is recommended. For Furniture that supports heavy weights such as tables, doors, 16 to 20mm MDF boards thicknesses are recommended. Once your architect has information of the design and preferred uses for the boards, he will be in a position to advise you accordingly.
The thickness is also important if the MDF board is going to be grooved. If a groove is to be engraved, MDF of 12 mm and above is recommended.

Frank Gichuhi
www.prismafrica.com
Nairobi, Kenya.

How to repair Leaking and Flooding Basements

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  1. Now that the El Nino rains are here with us in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, many basements will begin leaking and solutions for this must be taken into consideration. Invite your architect to have a look at the basement and recommend the best solution.

    You will require this chemical:ISONEM MD 27 (Semi-flexible waterproofing compound).

    It is a semi-flexible waterproofing compound containing cement and acrylic binders. This cement based compound provides a waterproof coating, and transforms concrete, brick, etc. surfaces into new surfaces. If you are in Kenya,Uganda, Tanzania,Rwanda, You can contact www.prismafrica.blogspot.com in Nairobi for advice and sale of this.

  2. Step 2

    Once its applied, it forms a semi-flexible layer and bridges the cracks.
    Its very useful for renovation of old surfaces on foundations and walls subject to sea water tanks, basements, damp locations, on places for which waterproofing and protection is desired against salt water, on concrete surfaces for protection against carbonization and chlorine, on concrete piers and screeds near sea .

  3. Step 3

    It forms a carbonization-resistant cover, withstands pressure up to 7 bars Exhibits perfect adhesion capabilities, is semi elastic, and unaffected by pedestrian traffic Breathes freely and is unaffected by carbon dioxide and chlorine ions, does not get affected by sunlight and UV Is ecological, has no adverse effects to human health

    Packaging : 25Kg craft bag (powder) + 5 Kg can (liquid) Consumption : 2 kg/m2

How to Increase new customers through display stand designs.

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How to Increase new customers through display stand designs.

Research has proven that the design of a display stand influences the number of buyers of a product.
A study carried out by the Small Business Association on the effects of display signage on restaurant customer base discovered that over 30 percent of new customers in a typical restaurant entered the restaurant because they got attracted to the display sign.
The most significant factor in attraction of new customers came from the display design.

Research also shows that over 70 percent of sales of a product in the supermarkets are influenced by the display design. That is to say if two same products from two different companies are placed side by side in a supermarket shelf, and one product is placed in a well designed display, the product in the well designed display will sell 70% more than the other.
Display stands must be designed to be unique and communicate strongly to the customer so that they stand out from the other competing displays around them.

We at Prism Designs work with our clients to come up with the best and most cost effective designs that attract and appeal to the customers’ eye.

The best display designs are the ones that influence the buyers without the buyers feeling pressurized to buy.
Currently, the displays in the market are so many and too common such that the customers do not seem to notice them. This is why unique and innovative display designs are very crucial to drive the sales up.

Well designed display stands also enhance a product’s brand and etch the product’s logo in the customer’s mind which makes a very powerful attachment to customers so as to influence potential later sales.

Overall architectural design of the complete building or shop is also a key factor in driving sales up because when well designed, this increases the audience and can target many more customers.

Simple but not simplistic.

Designs can be designed to look simple so as to easily communicate with the cognitive mind. Such designs may look simple but in reality, are very powerful tools of communication of a particular brand hence increasing sales.

A good display design will effectively show-case your products and let them stand out from the competition resulting I increased sale.

Article written by
Frank Gichuhi

Frank Gichuhi is an Architect working with Prism Designs.

Budget control using House Design Types in Nairobi, Kenya.

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It’s possible to achieve a great house design with a low budget. To achieve this, one must invest keenly on the architectural design.
A good example is Allan Donovan’s House in Kitengela which is designed with a West African concept in mind-flat roof with pigeon holes on the parapet wall.

See http://www.africanheritage.net/ for more images.
Another example is the Hacienda Eco City Development in Mombasa which is also coincidentally designed with a West African/Islamic architectural concept with a flat roof and pigeon holes on the parapet walling. See pictures on http://www.haciendakenya.com/gallery.htm
The presidential State Lodge in Sagana, Nyeri is also a magnificent piece of architecture that has utilized architectural design to achieve greatness without necessarily using very expensive materials. It’s a plain rectangular house with hipped roofs and low aluminum casement windows.
Technological uses also affect budget. New lighter roofing materials such as stone-coated steel roofing tiles save on the amount of timber trusses used to support the roof.
The choice of foundation type will also affect the costs. Estates such as Jericho in Eastlands area were built on a raft type of foundation which is very cheap to put up. The ground floor slab rests on small sized beams which are laid on top of the ground so no excavations and foundation walling is done.
On superstructure walling, within Nairobi area, masonry stone is readily available hence not expensive. A cost-effective way to achieve elegance is to have the stones hand-dressed to a pattern of your liking. Hand-dressed stones bring out character to your house and will save you in terms of maintenance since they virtually require no maintenance at all.
Prefabricated houses are slowly coming into the Kenyan market. These houses are the solution to affordable housing in the developed economies such as USA, China and Europe and it’s a matter of time till they find their niche in Kenya.
In conclusion, architectural design and use of appropriate technology can greatly reduce the cost of construction of your house.