RESIN BOUND DRIVEWAYS

In Birtish and Irish paving markets Surfacing systems based on resins are relatively new initiations. The development there for last 25 years, is due to the innovations made in this field. The fundamental is this that the gravel in multi colours is made to stick on the surface with the help of the resin of some matching colour.

This results into a hard perfect surface which is good for both the indoor and outer atmosphere and is also unaffected by weeds. The best advantage is the low maintenance cost.

If all goes well in making, the floor totally resists oil and petrol and doesn’t lose the glow even in sunlight. It also remains good in wide range of temperatures. The attraction increases due to the availability of too many designs in colours and patterns. This all is dependent on the aggregates and resin.

The reason why resin-base surfacing is being used so much is the versatility. It fits on almost any scale of construction and can be lemmatized in any range of budget. The applications are indoor flooring, footpaths, cycleways, service lanes, parking areas for vehicles etc.

It can be applied to fit in any view of the place you desire to. The large number of colours available, which are supposed to be almost 700 justify this point.

Some colours naturally exist and others are produced by blending the existing colours.

So, if it’s so wonderful, why isn’t it seen as often as, say, block paving?

In older times, the only problem in resin-base surfacing was the expenditure on it. But with the passage of time, as the market grew, the prices decreased. So this problem was solved to a great extent. Also with the adaption of latest technology and methods, the manufacturing costs were also controlled and the benefits from the field increased.

The biggest hurdle is the popularity of the technique amongst the public as most of the people are unaware of this. The architects, contractors and suppliers also don’t know about it as it is also not used in the drive ways patios and other such places. As the interest level is being increased through the articles on this website so that the leading companies can get their products publicised on the pages of this section.

Two methods are basically adapted in the application of resin-based surface: technically they are known as Resin Bound and Resin Bonded. These terms are not for the customers who are interested in having applied this. The manufacturers wish to remain stick to the previous nomenclature.

So, in order to keep the ease, two other terms are used, Scatter Coating and Hand Trowelling for Resin Bonded and Resin Bound systems respectively. These are made clear in the coming articles, so relax and read carefully.

This page covers the principles used in both the methods and also the details of the Scatter method and Trowelling method are on the coming pages.

Furthermore, there is also a page covering the details of resin bounding surfacing for tree pit surroundings and other similar.

Firstly there is made a base on which the resin system is applied as overlay. Sometimes the new base is formed for the application of resin system but in most cases the existing surface is used as the base after cleaning. The already existing surface can be concrete or tarmac pavement.

The bases are different for various kind of materials but mostly the preference is bitmac or concrete as they are monolithic in nature. It means that there are very less chances of joints between them and are made in single piece structure. The partial structure pavements are not good for resin surfacing are they are constructed by parts and joints between different units.

The question why elemental pavements are not suitable is answered by the fact that reflective cracking occurs in such surfaces and it destroys the look of the resin-based system. Even the resin is too hard to crack but if it is not laid on the suitable base, the loading can result in deformation.

Flags and block paving face deformation when subjected to heavy loads such as weight of cars and other vehicles. It can lead to the serious issues of ‘reflective cracking’. This is the reason why the bases with joints are not good for resin surfacing. Therefore the bases with single phase structures are more preferable for the surfacing.

Apart from the types of bases, the condition of the base is also important. It is made sure before the application of resin surfacing that the base may not have any major cracks or partitions. That is why Bitmac or concrete surfaces are good for the process because there are less chances of cracks in them. However the manufacturer’s advice should be kept in mind while cleaning and preparation of the base for surfacing.

Best constructed bases are from mass or reinforced concrete, or from bitmac, asphalt etc, but depends on end use and atmospheric and weight conditions.

See concrete hardstandings and/or tarmacadam page for details of constructing such bases.

As most of the manufacturers recommend a base of wood, flags/slabs or block paving can be used for resin bonded surfacing, but these surfaces are not suitable but can only be used in extreme conditions when there is no other option. However wooden base can only be used on indoor applications, because these may swell or break on outdoor surfaces, and if a wooden base is used, should only be applied to a proper exterior grade wooden deck surface.

Extra and organic material is removed by cleaning so that all dust and other particles are removed. Support on the free edges is provided by some hard material strips such as aluminium which holds the surface layer and gives fine edges. In some cases of specific products, polymer primer is applied on base before surfacing.

As discussed earlier, there are two methods of surfacing namely, Scatter Coating and Hand Trowelling.

Resin Bound
In this method, first of all base is prepared and then a mixture of aggregate and resin is formed in a mixer. This mixture is then laid on the existing base with the help of screeding bars or trowels. This method of application is more common as it guarantees that the equal thickness is applied over the entire surface.

Most Resin Bound systems (Trowelled) are tweaked to stick in a perfect manner but are more suitable to be applied to an unbound surface. This is the main reason why these systems are best for application on tree pit surfaces which are now a days common in cities and all residential areas.

It takes very short time to set the resin, almost 1 hour, doesn’t matter which method of surfacing is applied. So it becomes essential to ensure the uniform spreading of material over the base before the stiffness occurs. So care should be taken while selection of contractors to whom the project is to be awarded. Only experienced person can handle this material on a larger scale, whereas for small indoor pavements competent DIY’ers can perform this task.

After the work is finished a certain liquid (solvent) is applied on the equipment for cleaning. For human safety sake, proper masks should be used while applying epoxy resins and solvents.

Resin based surfacing is an awesome paving system, if it is applied on a suitable base. It eliminates the chances of presence of small stones or weeds. After the resin is properly set, things like petrol don’t effect it and can be easily removed from the surface. It is also resistant to slip. It can be applied as a complete chain as a paving scheme in complete sector of construction to join the foyers and all corridors. It can be made more fascinating by selecting the desired colours and patterns from a wide range of colours and blends present in the market.

As resin based surfacing is considered as a remedy on one hand but on the other hand there are some issues which are only caused due to the lack of experience of contractors. Many examples of such situations can be seen where either the surfacing is in thin layer, base is not well prepared or is laid on already laid patios. The importance of good contractors can never be denied. Therefore this website along with some featured products, also provides a list of trained and well experienced contractors in the market which provide material as well as labour for laying the surfacing.

The major fail in the resin based surfacing occurs due to lifting of resin from the base. It happens due to lose base where its components move when the surfacing is applied but other reasons again are the lack of experience of labour. Due to base movement, a void is formed under the surface which on the application of load collapses.

Micro repairs are not possible as in the case of monolithic surfacing like tarmac or PIC. The best solution is to remove the defected area and do again the surfacing where the repair becomes more noticeable then the remaining pavement.

Prices are not fixed as the minimum expenditure estimated by contractors is £2,000 or above. In general the rate of resin based surfacing varies from £20 to £80 per square metre with the thickness of surfacing and types of aggregates being applied. This cost is exclusive of the construction of base, so it should be made clear with the contractor before the deal that what is included in the said cost.