Mabati and roofing sheet prices in Kenya

Mabati is the most searched roofing subject in Kenya by a wide margin, and almost all of that search is about price. The figures below are the market ranges published by Kenyan suppliers and contractors, reviewed September 2026. They are indicative ranges and not a quotation.

One thing worth saying before the tables. The sheet is the cheap part. On a typical three-bedroom roof the covering material is a minority of the total, and the decisions that change the final bill most are gauge, what the framing underneath needs, and how much of the detail work is included. People shop hard on the sheet and then accept whatever is quoted for everything else, which is the wrong way round.

What the gauges mean

Gauge is sheet thickness, and the numbering runs backwards: gauge 26 is thicker than gauge 28, which is thicker than gauge 30.

Thin sheet is not a problem on a roof nobody ever touches. It becomes a problem the moment somebody walks it to service a solar water heater, adjust an aerial or clear a gutter, because a dented profile holds water, and standing water on a coated steel sheet is how rust starts. If the roof carries a tank, a heater or anything else that needs periodic attention, the heavier gauge is the cheaper decision over ten years.

Brands

The Kenyan market is dominated by a handful of manufacturers, and brand search volume is substantial in its own right. Sheet from the established mills is not interchangeable with the cheapest sheet available: coating weight and warranty terms differ, and warranty claims depend on correct fixing as well as on the product.

We do not publish manufacturer warranty lengths here. Several are widely quoted on reseller sites and we have not been able to verify them against a manufacturer document, so quoting them would be repeating a claim rather than making one.

What a whole roof costs

A complete three-bedroom bungalow roof typically lands between KES 280,000 and 650,000 and above, materials and labour together, with mabati at the lower end and stone-coated tile at the upper. The second table sets out the labour and structural elements that sit on top of the sheet cost.

For what a replacement involves in practice, and when a repair stops being the better buy, see re-roofing and replacement. If the roof is leaking rather than worn out, leak repair is usually the cheaper conversation.