Exploring the advantages and disadvantages of Resin Driveways: Is It the Right Choice for You?
Resin driveways have been gaining popularity in recent years as a modern and stylish alternative to traditional driveway materials like concrete, tarmac and gravel. Made from a mixture of resin and aggregate materials, resin driveways offer a sleek and customisable finish that can enhance the kerb appeal of any property. However, like any home improvement option, resin driveways come with their own set of pros and cons. Let’s delve into these to help you determine if a resin driveway is the right choice for your home.
Pros of Resin Driveways:
- Stylish and modern – Resin offers a unique and contemporary look compared to traditional materials like tarmac or concrete.
- Enhances your property – A high quality, well designed resin driveway adds both kerb appeal and value to your home, as well as being something for you to enjoy coming home to!
- Customisable designs – With infinite combinations of colours and sizes, added to our creative flair, we can deliver a completely bespoke design, that totally complements your property and style. We can also mix resin with blocks, pavers and cobbles for even more design interest.
- Durability – We guarantee our resin driveways for a minimum of 12 years but with a bit of love and care, your driveway could up to 20 years.
- Low Maintenance – Unlike block paving and normal gravel driveways, resin driveways stay weed free. They do benefit from regular sweeping, and occasional cleaning (especially if you spill something on it). A resin driveway will also last longer with periodic resealing. We can advise you more on this when we come to see you.
- Permeable and SUDs compliant – Unlike resin-bonded surfaces, and other surfaces such as concrete and tarmac, resin-bound driveways are permeable which makes them SUDs compliant.
- Relatively quick installation – We wouldn’t necessarily call it a small job, especially if there is a lot of groundwork preparation required, or intricate edging needed for your design, but the actual laying of the resin is relatively quick, especially compared to block paving. Curing time is just 48 hours for footfall and 72 hours for cars. So for a lot of projects, we can be in and out over the course of a week.
When an alternative solution may be better
We’re biased because we think resin bound driveways are a really effective and beautiful solution for most properties. However there are a couple of things to think about and times when a different solution would be better:
Up front costs
It can be quite a big spend up front, especially compared to loose gravel and tarmac. For those on a tight budget, a resin driveway may be out of reach. But the durability of resin over time, and its low maintenance requirements, means a quality resin driveway is a great investment if you can put money towards it.
To get the most from your investment, you will want a quality finish, and for that you do really need a trusted professional installer. DIY installations and cheap driveway companies that seem too good to be true can be a real false economy.
A lot of the final finish and durability of your finished driveway depends upon the attention paid to proper groundwork preparation, and quality of the product and installation. Cheap generally is not best value.
And here at Cheshire Bound, we focus on providing a top quality, properly engineered job, that is going to last, and be something both you and we can be proud of.
Not suitable for all sites –
Resin driveways are pretty versatile but there are some sites where we would recommend an alternative solution:
- Heavily sloping driveways – The nature of resin, with its liquid element, means there is a chance of it sliding on slopes before the resin sets if the site is quite steep. We would not advise resin in this instance, but there are numerous other solutions so do get us round for a consultation to discuss alternatives – we work with all kinds of driveway and landscaping materials!
- Heavy traffic – A couple of household cars in and out is fine. We would not advise resin for things like car parks though where multiple vehicles are using the site day in day out.
- Areas used by large, heavy machinery and vehicles – not suitable for farmyards and hauliers yards! It’s durable but not that durable. Also, if you’re thinking about parking a large vehicle in same place for a long time, such as a motorhome, we may advise mixing your resin driveway with sections of other types of finish. Don’t let that put you off resin – with our creative designs, you will find that just adds to the sense of style!!
If you are thinking about a resin driveway but want more information, do give us a call. And remember, we offer a free design consultation, and can give you lots of advice when we come out to see you.
