Can your furniture cause cancer?

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.

http://www.chimarhellas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/athanassiadou-tsiantzi-markessini-paper-2.pdf

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 build a small Apartment on your Backyard and the construction costs estimates

How do you build a small one room apartment to go in a backyard and what are the construction costs?

 

For the backyard, you can have your architect design the apartment space so that it fits within the backyard and conforms to the local authority requirements. If its in Nairobi, Kenya for example, it should conform to Nairobi city council building bye laws.
Your architect can advice on the best materials to use for the house. The house can be prefabricated in steel structure with SIP[structural insulated panel] infill or masonry walling. If is for rent, masonry walling is better since its long lasting and does not require regular maintenance. SIP steel structure has advantages in that its cheaper and faster to erect the house.


Online consultancy

You can email me the dimensions[length and width] of the backyard and a few digital images of the backyard. From here, i will design your apartment and email it to you or post it on www.prismafrica.blogspot.com for you to download.
Once you receive the house plans, you can then look for a builder near you to carry out the exact construction.
To add another extra room to your house, you will need to consult your architect to come up with house plans for the additional room. The additional room has to be planned such that it conforms to the local authority bye laws. In Nairobi, Kenya, it should conform to Nairobi city council bye laws.
You can email us the dimensions of the existing house, dimensions of the existing compound then we work on the design of the extension which we can post on our website www.prismafrica.blogspot.com for you to download.

Construction costs are estimated per square meter of built up area. The rate per square meter depends on the region that you intend to build. In Nairobi, Kenya for example, the rate is approximately KES 20,000 to 25,000 per square meter for a middle income class finish.
An average bedroom is 12m2 in area =12x20,000=KES 240,000-estimated cost of construction. Architect's fees is 6% of the cost of construction.
Contact us for any further information.
www.prismafrica.blogspot.com

How to repair Leaking and Flooding Basements

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 read Architectural Plans

1. Once you receive the floor plan from your architect, you will see dimensions on the outer wall of the house plan. In Kenya, we use metric system whereby all dimensions are in milli meters. Other countries use dimensions in feet and inches. A very easy way to convert feet to millimeters is to use the conversion tool on your mobile phone or use a tape measure and check out the dimension in meters then turn the tape measure on the opposite side that is in feet and inches then check the corresponding dimension.

2. Step 2
   

   The outer dimension shows the start and end of the building.
   The middle dimension shows the room sizes.
   The inner dimension shows the openings i.e doors and window sizes. The Local Authority in Kenya specifies how the architect should dimension the floor plans before submitting the plans to the council for approvals.

3. Step 3
   

   Spot heights are dimensions showing the floor to ceiling height. They are usually shown on the architectural floor plan with a circle divided into 2 parts with a dimension next to it.

How to Increase new customers through display stand designs.

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.

LED Christmas lights decorations

LED lights.
LED stands for Light Emmiting Diode.

LEDs work on the concept of the semiconductor diode. When the diode is on,the electrons combine with holes resulting in emmission of energy in the form of light.

The colour of the light is influenced by the energy gap of the semi conductor.

LEDs are advantageous in that they consume less energy and are fast to switch on. They are slightly more expensive than ordinary bulbs.

LED Lights are very effective in decorating spaces during the Christmas season.
The lights can be powered by electricity or solar.

Decoration light design starts when the architect visits the site and comes up with creative design ideas on which is the most cost -effective way to place the lights to achieve the desired aesthetic appeal.
Different lights are then chosen and placed appropriately.

There are weather proof lights which can be placed on the outside and non-weather proof lights which are placed indoors.

There are the flexible lights that can be shaped into creative logos,motifs and words.These are cuttable every 3 LEDs.

These lights come in various colours,widths and LED density per meter.
Choice of colours will depend on the design and corporate colours of the area to be lit.

LED FLEXIBLE LIGHT TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Color	R(red)	Y(yellow)	G(green)	B(blue)	W(white)
Item
Power	4.8W/meter
Brightness	240 LM
Electricity/Voltage	0.15A/12VDC
Specification	10*1000mm = 0.4*39.5inch
LED quantity	3528 SMD60pcs/4.8W
Length	1m = 39.5inch 5M/roll
Material	PVC
Use	Edge-lighting , Path & contour marking, Illuminated signs

Remarks: Waterproof, can be cut every 3 pcs, easy installation and use

For further information, contact us on prismafrica@yahoo.com.