What does cabro cost in Kenya?

Blocks alone KES 750–1,100 per m² for 60mm and 80mm. Supplied and laid, KES 1,400–1,800 per m² for plain and 1,800–3,200 for coloured or 3D. A 60m² domestic driveway in plain 60mm is roughly KES 84,000–108,000 laid.

Why is laid nearly double the supply price?

Because the base is most of the work: excavation, cart-away, sub-base compacted in layers, bedding sand, edge restraint, jointing and vibration. The blocks are the visible part and the cheap part. The rest is what decides whether you pave once or twice.

Which thickness do I need?

50mm for footpaths and patios only. 60mm for a domestic driveway. 80mm where lorries run or vehicles turn on the spot, and we specify 80mm at gate aprons even on 60mm drives, because turning loads paving far harder than driving over it.

How long does a driveway take?

A 60m² domestic driveway is three to five working days, longer with excavation or drainage. It is not a one-day job, and anyone promising one is not compacting the sub-base in layers.

Can you lay in the rainy season?

The blocks do not mind rain; the base does. Saturated subgrade will not compact and loses bearing capacity. On black cotton we postpone rather than lay onto ground we know will move: inconvenient to say, and cheaper than doing it twice.

My paving has rutted. New blocks?

Almost never. Cabro is durable and the blocks are usually reusable. Ruts mean the sub-base was inadequate or the subgrade lost bearing. Lifting, correcting the base and relaying the same blocks costs far less and is the only fix that holds.

Which areas do you cover?

Across Nairobi and the satellite towns: Karen, Runda, Muthaiga, Gigiri, Kitisuru, Lavington, Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Westlands, Parklands, Lang'ata, Kiambu Road, plus South B and C, Embakasi, Kasarani, Ruaka, Syokimau, Rongai, Upper Hill and Thika Road.

Cabro Laid on a Base That Will Hold It

Cabro almost never fails as blocks. It fails because the sub-base went in as one lift instead of layers, or because nothing was haunched at the edges. Both are invisible the day the job finishes, and both are what we charge for.

Plain cabro laid from KES 1,400/m² · blocks alone 750–1,100/m²

A 60 m² domestic driveway is roughly KES 84,000–108,000 laid, in three to five working days.

Registration, insurance and the full base build-up stated in writing on every quotation

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Most cabro decisions are made on colour. The decisions that matter are thickness, base depth and where the water goes.

Cabro blocks 50mm, 60mm and 80mm explained, shapes, laying patterns, and which colours survive Nairobi UV and murram dust. Cabro prices KES 750–1,100 per m² for blocks alone, 1,400–1,800 laid. What that difference actually buys you. Installation cost What the labour covers: excavation, sub-base in layers, bedding, edge restraint, jointing and vibration. Repairs and relaying Rutted, spread or settled paving is almost never the blocks. Usually they lift, the base is corrected, and they go back.

What cabro costs

Per square metre. The gap between supply and laid is the entire build-up below the blocks.
Work	Rate	Notes
Plain cabro, supply only	KES 750 – 1,100 / m²	60mm and 80mm; blocks alone, nothing laid
Plain cabro, supplied and laid	KES 1,400 – 1,800 / m²	Excavation, sub-base, bedding, blocks, compaction
Coloured or 3D cabro, laid	KES 1,800 – 3,200 / m²
Kerbs, edging and drainage channels	Quoted at survey	Installation often equals or exceeds the product cost

Rates reviewed 2026-08. Every job is confirmed with a written quotation before work starts.

Worked examples and what sits outside the rate are on cabro prices in Kenya.

What we do

Cabro paving from KES 1,400 / m² Cabro laid on an engineered base with edge restraint, the two things that decide whether it lasts. Driveways from KES 1,400 / m² Driveways in cabro or concrete, with block thickness and falls specified for the actual traffic. Kerbs and edging Haunched kerbs and edging, the restraint without which paving spreads regardless of block quality. Drainage and falls Falls, channels and outfalls designed before laying, because paving concentrates water it did not create. Concrete slabs and hardstanding Yard slabs, parking bays and hardstanding, jointed and cured properly rather than poured and abandoned. Ready-mix supply from KES 9,000 / m³ Ready-mix supplied and placed, with the class specified and the volume calculated rather than guessed. Precast concrete products Kerbs, channels, slabs, culverts and copings: supplied and, more importantly, bedded correctly. Repairs and relaying Lifting, correcting the base and relaying, usually with the blocks you already have.

Why paving fails in Nairobi

Six things that put paving back on the ground within a couple of seasons, every one of them under the surface.

The sub-base was placed in one lift

A 200mm sub-base dumped and rolled once is not compacted through its depth, whatever the surface looks like. It has to go in layers. This is the single most common cause of rutting, and it is completely invisible on handover day.

No edge restraint

Cabro works by interlock. With nothing haunched at the edges the field migrates outward under traffic, joints open, jointing sand escapes and the interlock stops working. Then it accelerates, and it gets blamed on the blocks, which are fine.

50mm blocks under a car

Thickness follows traffic. 50mm is a footpath block. 60mm is a domestic driveway. 80mm is for lorries and anywhere vehicles turn on the spot: including gate aprons, because a pivoting wheel loads paving far harder than a moving one.

Nobody asked where the water goes

Paving does not create water, it concentrates it. Two hundred square metres that used to absorb rain now delivers all of it somewhere in a hurry. Falls, channels and a real outfall are designed before laying, or the driveway floods the garage.

Laid on saturated black cotton

Wet black cotton will not compact and loses bearing capacity. Paving laid on it in the long rains settles once the ground dries and moves again next season. We postpone rather than lay onto ground we know is wrong.

Cart-away left out of the quote

On black cotton the excavation is deeper and the spoil is heavy and voluminous. Removing it is frequently the largest hidden cost on a Lavington or Karen driveway, and it is the line most often missing from a quote that looks cheap.

Interlocking concrete paving blocks laid tight with sand-filled joints

Frequently asked questions

What does cabro cost in Kenya?: Blocks alone KES 750–1,100 per m² for 60mm and 80mm. Supplied and laid, KES 1,400–1,800 per m² for plain and 1,800–3,200 for coloured or 3D. A 60m² domestic driveway in plain 60mm is roughly KES 84,000–108,000 laid.
Why is laid nearly double the supply price?: Because the base is most of the work: excavation, cart-away, sub-base compacted in layers, bedding sand, edge restraint, jointing and vibration. The blocks are the visible part and the cheap part. The rest is what decides whether you pave once or twice.
Which thickness do I need?: 50mm for footpaths and patios only. 60mm for a domestic driveway. 80mm where lorries run or vehicles turn on the spot, and we specify 80mm at gate aprons even on 60mm drives, because turning loads paving far harder than driving over it.
How long does a driveway take?: A 60m² domestic driveway is three to five working days, longer with excavation or drainage. It is not a one-day job, and anyone promising one is not compacting the sub-base in layers.
Can you lay in the rainy season?: The blocks do not mind rain; the base does. Saturated subgrade will not compact and loses bearing capacity. On black cotton we postpone rather than lay onto ground we know will move: inconvenient to say, and cheaper than doing it twice.
My paving has rutted. New blocks?: Almost never. Cabro is durable and the blocks are usually reusable. Ruts mean the sub-base was inadequate or the subgrade lost bearing. Lifting, correcting the base and relaying the same blocks costs far less and is the only fix that holds.
Which areas do you cover?: Across Nairobi and the satellite towns: Karen, Runda, Muthaiga, Gigiri, Kitisuru, Lavington, Kilimani, Kileleshwa, Westlands, Parklands, Lang'ata, Kiambu Road, plus South B and C, Embakasi, Kasarani, Ruaka, Syokimau, Rongai, Upper Hill and Thika Road.