Our developer driveway has rutted already. Is it the blocks?

Almost never. The blocks are fine and reusable, the sub-base was too thin for the traffic. Lifting, deepening the base and relaying the same blocks costs far less than replacing them, and it is the only fix that lasts.

Plumber in Kiambu Road, Nairobi

Q: Do we need scheme approval to repave?

For anything visible, usually yes. Block colour and pattern are typically set in the scheme guidelines because driveways form part of the external appearance. We get it cleared before ordering, since blocks are not returnable once cut.

We cover Kiambu Road including Thindigua, Two Rivers, Edenville, Fourways Junction, Membley, Ridgeways, Garden Estate, Thome. Off Kiambu Road and Northern Bypass. Gated schemes approve external changes and log contractor visits.

What is different about plumbing in Kiambu Road

Kiambu Road gated schemes at Thindigua set paving block colour and pattern in the scheme guidelines, reviewed before any work begins.
Ground near Two Rivers holds water close to the surface, so a soakaway serving a paved area there struggles for weeks during the long rains.
Fourways Junction units hand over with developer paving laid on a thin sub-base that ruts in the wheel tracks within a few years.

Paving on the Kiambu Road corridor

This corridor is recent gated housing, and almost every unit was handed over with paving already down. So the work here is mostly correcting somebody else’s build-up.

Developer paving ruts on schedule

Handover driveways are laid on a sub-base specified to a handover price. The blocks are perfectly good; the base underneath them is not deep enough for the traffic.

The result is ruts in the wheel tracks within a few years, and owners reasonably assume the paving was poor quality. Lifting, deepening the base and relaying the original blocks is far cheaper than replacement and is the only version that lasts.

Scheme guidelines first

Block colour and pattern are usually set in the scheme’s design guidelines, because driveways form part of the external appearance everyone bought into.

We get it cleared before ordering. Cut blocks are not returnable, and a driveway laid in a colour the scheme then refuses is laid twice.

Water near Two Rivers

Ground toward the Two Rivers end holds water close to the surface. A soakaway there cannot discharge during the long rains, because the surrounding ground is already saturated.

That needs either a different outfall or permeable construction, designed alongside the paving rather than added when it floods.

What we are usually called out for in Kiambu Road

Repairs and relaying Lifting, correcting the base and relaying, usually with the blocks you already have. Cabro paving Cabro laid on an engineered base with edge restraint, the two things that decide whether it lasts. Drainage and falls Falls, channels and outfalls designed before laying, because paving concentrates water it did not create. Kerbs and edging Haunched kerbs and edging, the restraint without which paving spreads regardless of block quality.

Landmarks we work around here: Two Rivers Mall, Ridgeways Mall, Kiambu Road, Northern Bypass. See what cabro costs.