Surfaces
Resin bound driveways.
Seamless, permeable and quick to lay, on top of something that is already capable of carrying a car. That caveat is the whole story.
- Cost
- £70–£120/m² over a sound base (indicative)
- Thickness
- 15–18mm wearing course
- Requires
- Sound tarmac or permeable concrete base
- Laying window
- Dry, above roughly 5°C and rising
- Written, itemised quotesExcavation, sub-base, edging and drainage priced separately
- Site survey before pricingNobody prices a driveway properly from a satellite photo
- Compliant surface water drainageBuilt to meet the 2008 permeable-surface rules, not around them
- Local installers onlyCrews working their own patch, not a national call centre
Resin bound is graded aggregate mixed with a clear resin in a forced-action mixer, then trowelled out to about 15–18mm as a solid, porous mat. No joints, no loose stone, and water passes straight through it.
It is a wearing course, not a structure. It contributes almost nothing to load-bearing, so everything about whether a resin drive succeeds is decided by what is underneath it.
These two names are used interchangeably by people selling them and they are different products. Resin bound is aggregate mixed through with resin and laid as a solid porous surface. Resin bonded is a coat of resin painted onto a base with loose stone scattered over the top, cheaper, not permeable, rough underfoot, and it sheds stone for the rest of its life. If a quote just says resin, ask which. On this site, resin means resin bound.
Where resin is the best-value option
If you have an intact tarmac drive that is faded, patchy or gone porous on the surface, resin bound over the top is genuinely excellent value. There is no excavation, no spoil, no skip and no disposal cost, and most domestic drives are laid in a day.
Disposal is a much larger share of a driveway price than most people expect, so avoiding it entirely is a real saving rather than a sales line.
Where it is the wrong answer
Over block paving. The blocks move independently and the joint lines reflect through the surface within a couple of years. Anyone offering this is either inexperienced or hoping you will not still be looking in year three.
Over cracked or moving concrete. Resin follows what is underneath. If the base cracks, the crack telegraphs through, and the cause of the cracking has not been addressed.
On a drive that ponds. Resin will not correct a fall. If water stands on the existing surface, it will stand on the new one.
On a bare plot, resin is the finish on a build that still needs excavation, sub-base and a bound base course first. That is fine, but compare the total against block paving on the whole job, not on the surface alone.
Choosing an aggregate blend
Blends run from pale golden quartz through to dark basalt and everything between. Two practical points that showrooms tend not to lead with: pale blends show oil, tyre marks and general grime far more readily, and very dark blends get noticeably hot in direct sun.
Look at samples outdoors, and look at them wet as well as dry. Resin darkens significantly when wet, and a blend chosen under showroom lighting can be a surprise in February.
Costs and comparison
| Situation | Typical £/m² | Time on site | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Over sound tarmac | £70–£95 | 1 day | The best-value scenario. No dig, no disposal. |
| Over sound concrete | £75–£100 | 1–2 days | Needs a permeable outlet or it is not a permeable drive. |
| New permeable base + resin | £110–£170 | 4–6 days | Full build. Compare against block paving on the total. |
| Over block paving | Not recommended | , | Joints reflect through. Relay the blocks instead. |
FAQ
Common questions.
Is resin bound permeable enough to avoid planning permission?
The surface is porous, but a driveway only drains if the layers under it drain too. Over solid concrete with no outlet, the surface is permeable and the driveway is not. Over an open-graded permeable base, the whole build-up drains and you are within the rules.
How long does resin last?
Fifteen years and more on a sound base, with a UV-stable resin holding its colour. The yellowing seen on some older resin drives is a non-UV-stable system, cheaper, and still sold.
Can I park on it straight away?
Foot traffic the same evening in normal conditions, vehicles after roughly 24 hours. Cold weather extends both, and it should not be laid in the wrong conditions to hit a date.
Does resin stain?
More readily than block paving, particularly pale blends. Diesel and hot tyre marks are the usual culprits. Most staining cleans off, but on a seamless surface you cannot swap out a single unit the way you can with a block.
Are resin driveways slippery?
Not in normal use. The aggregate sits proud of the resin and gives a textured surface with reasonable grip wet or dry. Where it can get slick is under algae on a permanently shaded drive, which is a cleaning issue rather than a surface fault.
How long do resin driveways last?
Fifteen years and more over a sound base with a UV-stable resin. The base is the variable, not the resin. Laid over failing tarmac it will telegraph every crack underneath within a couple of seasons.
Are resin driveways permeable?
Resin bound is porous, resin bonded is not, and the two get confused constantly. Bound means the stone is mixed through the resin and laid as a trowelled mat that water passes through. Bonded means loose stone scattered onto a sealed layer, which is neither permeable nor durable.
How do you clean a resin driveway?
Warm water, a stiff brush and a mild detergent for most things. A pressure washer is usable at low pressure and a wide fan held well back, but close-up work will pull aggregate out of the matrix, and once that starts it does not stop.
How thick is a resin driveway?
Fifteen to eighteen millimetres for a domestic drive, which is why the base matters so much. That is a wearing surface, not a structural layer, and it carries no load on its own.
Related pages
Written and reviewed by the PaveLocal team. We build and specify driveways across Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. Pricing and specification guidance on this page reflects what these jobs cost and involve in this region, not a national average.
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Get a free quote.
Send your postcode and a rough size and we will arrange a survey. A photo of what is there now tells us more than a paragraph does.
- Itemised, in writingExcavation, sub-base depth, edging, drainage and surface priced as separate lines, so you can compare quotes properly.
- Surveyed before it is pricedGround conditions decide the cost of a driveway. Anyone quoting a firm price off a photo is guessing.
- No obligationA quote is a quote. If you use someone else, that is fine, we will not chase you about it.
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