Resin driveways
BMS Building lays resin driveways across Watford, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and Harrow. Resin bound gives a smooth permeable surface, resin bonded gives a textured one, and both depend on the base beneath them, which is why Perry Niven quotes every job after a site visit.
A resin driveway is a seamless surface. There are no joints, so there is nothing for weeds to grow through and nothing to re-sand, and it can be laid in a single continuous run around curves and awkward shapes that would mean a lot of cutting in block paving.
It is also the surface that depends most completely on what is underneath it. Resin is a wearing course a few millimetres thick. It has no structural strength of its own and it will faithfully copy every weakness in the base below. Most resin driveways that fail did not fail as resin.
BMS Building lays resin driveways across Watford, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead and Harrow, and works across Hertfordshire and the northwest London border.
Bound or bonded
These are two different products that get talked about as one.
Resin bound mixes the aggregate and the resin together before it goes down. Every stone is fully coated, the mix is trowelled out to an even depth, and the result is a smooth, hard wearing surface with the stone locked in. Laid over an open graded build up, water passes through it. This is what most people mean by a resin driveway.
Resin bonded puts the resin down first and scatters dry aggregate over the top. Only the underside of each stone is held. The surface is textured and grippy, which makes it useful on slopes and ramps, but loose stone comes off over time and the surface is sealed rather than permeable.
The aggregate and the resin
The aggregate sets the look: natural gravels, crushed stone, and blends mixed to a colour. Stone size matters as much as colour, because the depth the surface is laid to has to suit the size of the stone. Too thin for the aggregate and the surface ravels and sheds stones.
The resin matters more than it looks like it should. UV stable resin holds its colour. Non stable resin ambers over time, which turns a cool grey blend into a warm yellowish one, unevenly and worst where the sun hits hardest. It is worth asking which is being used, because the difference does not show for a year or two.
How the job is done
- Assess the base. What is there, how sound is it, does it move, does it drain, is it contaminated. This decides everything that follows.
- Build or repair the base. Either a new build up, dug out and compacted in layers, or repairs to an existing sound one. A new base has to cure before resin goes on it.
- Edges. A resin surface needs something to finish against, whether that is an existing kerb, a new edging or a channel.
- Prime where needed, so the resin bonds properly.
- Mix and lay. The resin and aggregate are mixed in batches in a forced action mixer, poured out and trowelled to an even depth, with each batch worked into the last so there is no visible join.
- Cure. The surface is left alone. Foot traffic and vehicles come later, not the same afternoon.
Weather decides the day
Resin is laid dry and needs to stay dry while it cures. It also needs the ground temperature to be above a working minimum. That means resin jobs get moved for weather in a way block paving does not, and a contractor who will lay it in the rain to keep to a date is not doing you a favour. Base preparation can carry on in most conditions; the resin itself waits for a dry window.
What decides the finish and the lifespan
- The base. Sound, stable, drained, uncontaminated. Everything else is second.
- Depth against aggregate size. Laid to suit the stone, consistently across the whole drive.
- The resin to stone ratio. Too little resin and it ravels. Too much and it floods and goes shiny.
- UV stable resin, if you want the colour you chose in three years.
- Drainage detail. Permeable build up, or a designed fall and an outlet. A permeable surface over a sealed base is just a slow puddle.
- Edges. Where resin has nothing to finish against, it breaks away.
Looking after it
Sweep it, and keep leaves and debris from sitting on it over winter. Rinse it occasionally. If you jet wash, use a wide fan, keep the lance well back and keep it moving, because a narrow jet held close will lift stone out. Do not put down rock salt in a way that leaves it sitting in pools, and avoid dragging sharp edged skips, ladders or bin wheels across it.
What to ask a resin contractor
- Bound or bonded? And which one you are being quoted for.
- What is happening to the base? New, repaired, or laid straight over.
- What depth, and what aggregate size?
- Is the resin UV stable?
- Where does the water go? Through the surface, or to an outlet.
- What is the weather plan? A contractor who has one is a contractor who has laid resin before.
Working with BMS Building
Perry Niven quotes every job himself, and over twenty years of driveways, patios and groundworks sit behind the work. The base is treated as the job rather than as preparation for it.
- Vetted TrustATrader member since 7 March 2018, membership TT13412
- Environment Agency registered waste carrier, CBDU453042, held by BMS (trading as BMS Building & Groundworks Ltd, formerly BMS Landscaping & Paving Ltd), so the old surface and spoil leave site legally
No prices are listed here, because what a resin drive costs depends on its size, the aggregate, and above all on what has to happen to the base first. The quote follows a site visit, it is agreed upfront, and it does not change halfway through.
Book a site visit
Resin is one of the surfaces covered by our driveways work. Tell us what you have, and whether there is an existing base, and Perry will come and look at it.
Common questions
What is the difference between resin bound and resin bonded?
Resin bound means the aggregate is mixed with the resin in a forced action mixer and then trowelled out, so every stone is coated and locked into the mix. The finish is smooth and, laid over the right build up, water drains straight through it. Resin bonded means resin is spread on the base and dry aggregate is scattered onto it, so only the bottom of each stone is stuck down. The finish is rougher and more grippy, loose stones come away over time, and it is not permeable. Bound is the usual choice for a driveway.
Can resin be laid over my existing driveway?
Only if that base is genuinely sound. Resin is a surface layer, not a structure, so it takes the shape and the strength of whatever is under it. Existing concrete or tarmac in good condition, properly drained and with no movement, can often be used. Cracks telegraph through, oil contamination stops the resin sticking, and anything that moves will crack the surface above it. A failing base gets dug out and replaced. Laying resin over a bad base buys a year or two and then costs twice.
Does resin get weeds or crack?
There are no joints for weeds to come up through, which is one of the main reasons people choose it. Moss and seedlings can still take hold on the surface if debris is left to rot on it, and they brush or wash off. Cracking is a base problem rather than a resin problem: if the ground or the base below moves, the surface above it will follow. Resin laid too thin for the aggregate size, or with the wrong resin to stone ratio, can also ravel and lose stones.
Is a resin driveway permeable enough to avoid planning permission?
Resin bound can be, resin bonded is not. In England a front garden hard surface over five square metres needs planning permission unless it is permeable or drains to a lawn or border. A resin bound surface laid over an open graded, free draining build up lets water through the whole construction. That only works if the layers underneath are built for it, so the answer depends on the base as much as the resin. Check your own case with your local council.