Guides
What to know before you finish a home
Plain answers to the questions owners ask us most — written by the people who do the work, without a price list.
Most of the expensive mistakes in finishing are made before the first tradesman arrives: the wrong order of work, a level of finish that does not match the budget, a material that will not survive the coast. These guides are here so you can avoid them, whoever you hire.
Guides
Finishing a flat, step by step
Finishing has a right order, and most expensive mistakes come from breaking it. Here is the sequence from bare walls to handover, with what to check…
See more Guides · Before you startThe finishing BOQ: every line that should be written down
A muqaysa, or bill of quantities, lists every job and material in your finish with its unit and specification. Read properly, it is the only fair…
See more Guides · Before you startChoosing a finishing company without regrets
There is no best finishing company for everyone, only the right one for your job. These are the questions and checks that separate a serious company…
See more Guides · HandoverTaking handover: what to check before you sign
Handover is the last moment when defects are easy to fix. Go through the unit room by room, with the power and water on, and write everything down…
See more Guides · MaterialsMarble, granite or quartz?
All three look beautiful on the first day. The difference shows years later, in a kitchen with lemons, on a stair with sand on it or on a terrace in…
See more Guides · MaterialsFinishing by the sea: what lasts and what fails
A finish that lasts for years in Cairo can fail within a few seasons on the North Coast. Salt, humidity, sun, sand and long empty months each attack…
See more Guides · materialsEgyptian marble, type by type
Egypt quarries many marbles, and most of them are beige, but they are not interchangeable. Here is what the main types look like, where each one…
See more Guides · materialsChoosing floors, room by room
Floors cover more of your home than any other finish, and they are the hardest thing to change later. Here is how porcelain, ceramic, marble and…
See more Guides · materialsKitchen materials compared
A kitchen is a box, a door, a worktop and the hardware that moves them, and each needs its own decision. Here is what HPL, acrylic, poly-lac, wood…
See more Guides · repairsDamp walls: find the cause first
Painting over damp hides it for a season, and then it comes back, usually worse. The fix depends on where the water comes from, and the shape of the…
See more Guides · before you signThe finishing contract, clause by clause
Most finishing disputes start with something the contract did not say. This is a general checklist of the clauses an owner should look for before…
See more Guides · materialsImported marble, family by family
Imported marble is chosen for looks Egypt does not quarry in volume: bright whites with grey veining, deep browns, black with white veins. Here are…
See moreAlso useful
What decides the cost of finishing
The factors that move the cost, and why we do not print a price per metre.
See more GuidesProcess
From the first visit to handover: every stage and what happens in it.
See more SupplyThe stone catalogue
Before you choose a stone, see its name, origin and finishes.
See more