Until recently, VN builders tended to deal only with the main structure of a building - the foundations, walls, openings, and vaults - leaving the finishing work to other local trades. But given the commercial incentive to become entrepreneurs able to advise their clients on, and to estimate costs for, all aspects of the work, more and more VN builders are taking on the finishing tasks (rendering, tiling, electrical work, plumbing...). Such tasks can be carried out during the rainy season, when major construction work is not feasible.

Interior finishes

Depending on the resources and the tastes of the owner, various options are possible:

 renderings and floors of cement mortar might replace those made with mud
 coloured or plain lime washes are inexpensive to apply to the interior walls, and help reduce insect infestation
 installation of an electrical supply during construction is straightforward
 interior showers, with cement floors and tiling, can be installed
 interior partition walls (20cm thick) can be fitted.

Roofs

Clients wishing to reduce regular maintenance to a minimum can, as an alternative to enriched earth, use a final rendering coat of thin fibro-cement mortar over an earth base. It is advisable to wait one year after construction before doing this, to allow for any settlement to occur. The fibro-cement rendering can then be further waterproofed with a coating of hot tar. However, such precautions may often be unnecessary, and clients are advised to wait at least a year to judge the state of the roof after one rainy season before making this extra expenditure.

Walls

Several technical options are available to clients who wish to eliminate the need for re-rendering of external walls:

 on earth brick walls, to use a thin cement rendering (very common in the Sahel regions), or a mix of tar/sand/earth/lime, which gives a very attractive finishing coat
 to use laterite bricks or concrete blocks for the outer layer of load-bearing walls, with cement mortar joints.

Such modifications can lead to major cost increases for purchase of imported materials such as cement; regular maintenance and re-rendering with enriched earth mortars is in fact sufficient to guarantee the durability of the buildings (as demonstrated by the traditional architecture of Gourounsi in Burkina Faso).