Resin Bound driveway - How old is yours?

[Evanivitch]

SWMBO and I are finally getting around to getting the driveway sorted this year. It's got an old, but stable concrete driveway with a significant slope on it.

For those reasons gravel (slope), printed concrete (slippery) and paved (having to remove the old surface first) are all out of favour.

Personally, I'm quite interested in the resin Bound options with a paver edge possibly. I've seen a few really good examples but always question how they age.

She wants tarmac. Urgh.

So, examples of your resin Bound driveway and opinions on how it's held up over the years. Any recommendations for South Wales also welcome.

[PositronicRay]

Evanivitch said:

SWMBO and I are finally getting around to getting the driveway sorted this year. It's got an old, but stable concrete driveway with a significant slope on it.

For those reasons gravel (slope), printed concrete (slippery) and paved (having to remove the old surface first) are all out of favour.

Personally, I'm quite interested in the resin Bound options with a paver edge possibly. I've seen a few really good examples but always question how they age.

She wants tarmac. Urgh.

So, examples of your resin Bound driveway and opinions on how it's held up over the years. Any recommendations for South Wales also welcome.

If the concrete is solid you can pave over it.

(I must admit I do like tarmac though)

[Flying machine]

I've got a large resin bound driveway, installed a year before I bought my current house. My thoughts are that they look really great when they are recently laid down, but mine has thrown up a number of negative points. They need maintenance, more than I was expecting, as they can discolour (including tyre marks if a light colour) and lots of weeds can grow in all of those little cracks between the gravel particles. They can also be slippery in the rain and therefore even more so in the winter, but they do drain quickly so no large pools of standing water. Additionally, we've had issues with cracks in ours, and this has been a massive pain to try and sort out. In short, I thought it was a great thing when I first saw it, but don't think I would have one installed if I needed to start again.

[Evanivitch]

Flying machine said:

I've got a large resin bound driveway, installed a year before I bought my current house. My thoughts are that they look really great when they are recently laid down, but mine has thrown up a number of negative points. They need maintenance, more than I was expecting, as they can discolour (including tyre marks if a light colour) and lots of weeds can grow in all of those little cracks between the gravel particles. They can also be slippery in the rain and therefore even more so in the winter, but they do drain quickly so no large pools of standing water. Additionally, we've had issues with cracks in ours, and this has been a massive pain to try and sort out. In short, I thought it was a great thing when I first saw it, but don't think I would have one installed if I needed to start again.

Thank you for that. There's a few examples near me that look really good, but they're quite recent. I think I'll knock on some doors, but appreciate your feedback, the maintenance was a surprise.

[RATATTAK]

As with everything, a lot depends on the quality of the construction (including the base layers)

[dhutch]

Is there any flex to the resin? Obviously tar(mac) never fully sets, so you have to get mad amounts of movement for it to crack, rather than accommodate.

What about Red tarmac? Family friends had in their sloping driveway and apron and it was still looking good after 15 years or so later, gravel parking area at the top. Reasonable us including 7.5ton horse box, heavy twin axle trailers.


Daniel

[Evanivitch]

dhutch said:

What about Red tarmac? Family friends had in their sloping driveway and apron and it was still looking good after 15 years or so later, gravel parking area at the top. Reasonable us including 7.5ton horse box, heavy twin axle trailers.


Daniel

I have considered that. Just concerned how it might look with the odd drop of oil on it (MX5).

I might take to normal tarmac with a bit of edge pavers.

[myvision]

Nextdoors has been down four years and looks a mess already it seems to stain very easily.

[macdaddy11]

I had a resin driveway put down out our place a few years ago for similar reasons. It was a lighter coloured one which looked good when it went down and was miles better than the mismatched concrete / brick driveway it covered.

It wasn't too slippery as they put down a fine glass dust over the top as it's going off to give it some grip, it does drain well and it received a lot of compliments.

However, as mentioned, they do require maintenance, as weeds etc. can grow in it as it is quite a porous base. After a while, I was starting to notice tyre marks on it as we always drove over it in the same place. It also seemed to compress under the area the car was always parked, and we had a weed push through it completely at its edge shortly after it went down.

The long and the short of it is that I wouldn't have another, not for what it costs. If you get a darker colour and keep it well maintained, there is no reason why it won't last for a while, but I think I'd go tarmac or brick setts in the future.

ETA: Oh, and don't get oil on it...

Edited by macdaddy11 on Friday 21st February 15:19

[Crumpet]

Five years for mine and it’s fked. Avoid like the plague!

[Mammasaid]

It's only been around for less than 10 years in this country, so there's no long term wear analysis.

It's a pain to do well as it needs lying over a porous surface (to let any water drain through), in one go on a warm day.

I had a look at getting into it a year or so back, and concluded it wouldn't be worth while.

BTW it will cost upwards of £75/sq. m compared to ~£25/sq. m for tarmac (YMMV).

Tarmac with chipping rolled into it can look good, along with paving edging.