Why is laid nearly double the supply price?

Because the base is most of the work. Excavation, cart-away, sub-base laid and compacted in layers, bedding sand screeded, edge restraint haunched, jointing and vibration. The blocks are the visible part and the cheap part, roughly 750-1,100 of a 1,400-1,800 rate.

Can I buy the blocks and have you lay them?

Yes, and some clients do. Be aware you then carry the risk on quantity and breakage, and that you need about 5% extra for cuts at edges and curves. When we supply, that allowance and any breakage are ours.

Why is coloured so much more?

Pigment adds real cost in production, particularly through-coloured blocks where it runs throughout rather than sitting on the surface. Labour is identical, so the whole difference between 1,400-1,800 and 1,800-3,200 is the block.

What does a typical driveway cost?

A 60m² domestic driveway in plain 60mm cabro is roughly KES 84,000-108,000 laid. In coloured, 108,000-192,000. Excavation on black cotton, extra sub-base depth and drainage sit outside that, see the exclusions.

Cabro Prices in Kenya: Blocks Alone and Blocks Laid

Supply against laid

Blocks alone: KES 750 – 1,100 per square metre for 60mm and 80mm. Supplied and laid: KES 1,400 – 1,800 per square metre for plain cabro. Coloured or 3D, laid: KES 1,800 – 3,200 per square metre.

The gap between the first two figures is roughly 650–700 per square metre, and that is the entire build-up below the blocks: excavation, cart-away, sub-base compacted in layers, bedding sand, edge restraint, jointing and vibration.

It is the part you cannot see when the job is finished and the part that decides whether it is still flat in three years.

Worked example

A 60 m² domestic driveway, plain 60mm cabro:

Blocks alone: KES 45,000 – 66,000
Supplied and laid: KES 84,000 – 108,000
In coloured cabro: KES 108,000 – 192,000

Add roughly 5% for cuts at edges, curves and around gullies: that is material that ends up as offcut and it is real.

What sits outside the rate

Excavation and cart-away where the dig is deep or the spoil has to leave site. Extra sub-base depth where the subgrade tests soft. Geotextile over clay. Drainage. Kerbs and edge restraint on runs with nothing to push against.

On black cotton, excavation and cart-away is frequently the largest single hidden cost on the job, and it is the line most often missing from a cheap quotation.

How to read a cheap quote

If somebody is meaningfully below KES 1,400 per square metre laid, something in the build-up is not being done. Usually it is sub-base depth or edge restraint, occasionally both.

The paving will look identical on handover and will tell you the truth in about two rainy seasons.

Rates

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.

What a cabro quote usually leaves out

Every one of these sits under the surface, which is exactly why cheap quotes omit them. They are itemised here rather than discovered once the blocks are already down.

Excavation and cart-away of spoil, which on black cotton is the largest hidden cost
Additional sub-base depth where the subgrade tests soft
Geotextile membrane over soft or clay subgrades
Drainage: channels, gullies and connection to an outfall
Kerbs and edge restraint, without which the field will creep regardless of block quality

Worked examples

Work	Rate	Notes
50mm	Footpaths and patios only	Light duty, will fail under vehicles
60mm	Domestic driveways, cars	The usual residential choice
80mm	Commercial, lorries, heavy turning	More concrete per block, so it costs more