Resin Driveways / Paths

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I've had gravel drives forever and have looked at resin a couple of times but was put off by the cost, dirt and stain management, and water dispersal. Its true that gravel shifts via tyres onto the road, but this can be mitigated a bit with under gravel plastic containing mat at the entrances. In the end although of course its personal I think I prefer the natural look of gravel and can put up with five mins sweeping it back ont the drive every now and then (but no jet washing). My drive is flat and any sort of slope will bring different problems. As a side benefit I also value the security element of being able to hear feet crunching on the gravel
 
I have had gravel laid and was worried about them getting caught in the tyres and dragged across the pavement etc, and was told 20mm stones/pebbles Don't get stuck in you tyres and get dragged across the pavement, also you don't have them too deep to cause tram lines. I have had it for a year now and as i was told No drag of stones defiantly None in tyres, which would drive me mad if they did. I am very happy and if you do see an odd weed just spray with white vinegar and it kills them off. Its important to get something that goes with your style of house.
 
... I also value the security element of being able to hear feet crunching on the gravel...

This is real ^^^ a number of years ago I spoke with someone who 'knew someone' and he said gravel completely surrounding a house was better than a moat as burglars hate it. If the noise does not wake the occupiers it will defiantly wake the owners dog.

If, on the other hand they ae coming through the front door with an axe and a crowbar no amount of gravel will make any difference....
 
i was in the game for 18 year's
You should get back in the "game" I was recently, (in the last few weeks) getting quotes for adding another drive in block paving. The soonest that I could get it done was November, worst one was next March & as you could imagine the prices reflected the fact they could not care if they got the work or not.
One thing with block paving, get it sealed & you never get weeds. Easy diy, powerwash blocks, let it dry use garden pressure sprayer to apply sealer. Give it a second coat. I find it needs done every 2 years👍
 
My son cleans driveways for a living, he tells me that the resin drives are by far the worst for cleaning. So much so that he charges extra as the job always takes longer.
 
I agree with most said the base is the main part like everything prep is king ,I very much doubt the concrete print powder was put in the mixer which concrete company is going to allow that (none) another draw back is you can't match it up when it cracks ,sealed paving is a must imo
Just be very careful who you choose to do the work ( checkertrade and the guild of master craftsmen is a con i was with both and only 2 of my previous customer's were contacted) all look good new 😀
 
I used to power wash often but I've found the best and easiest method is to spray on Sodium hypochlorite from the farm supply shop which not only brings the blocks up like new but resists weeds, moss and the dreaded black spot for a whole season. I spray once in spring and again just before winter.

An old picture of the 190e when the driveway was already 20 years old and the car even older.

View attachment 117163
Both drive and car look really good!

I’ve googled Sodium Hypochlorite but still have questions, if you don’t mind answering.

‘Sparingly’ spray, or good soak? Any dangers with its use (plants and pets particularly)? Rinse off or leave to dry? Any other tips?

Sorry for so many questions, but I was about to get the power washer out!

Thanks
Malcolm
 
I’ve googled Sodium Hypochlorite but still have questions, if you don’t mind answering.

‘Sparingly’ spray, or good soak? Any dangers with its use (plants and pets particularly)? Rinse off or leave to dry? Any other tips?

Sodium hypochlorite is just bleach. The strongest domestic bleach is around 4.5% whereas the farm supply stuff is between 10% and 15%. The farmers use it for sterilising milking equipment. You don't have to spray it on full strength other than for treating black spot. I normally dilute it to 5% and once the drive is clean a maintenance spray of only 2 or 3%. You have to spray enough on that it doesn't dry out too quickly and dampish weather rather than sunny weather is ideal. It will kill plants and grass especially at high concentrations but there is no need to worry about rinsing off as it quickly degrades to salt and water, the salt being the reason there is some residual moss and weed suppression effect. By the way salt on it's own is a cheap and effective way of killing moss. Don't get bleach on your cloths, car or garage door, I use a large sheet of cardboard as a screen to stop over spay onto places I don't want it.

I buy it in 20L or 25L containers but don't buy more than enough for one season as the strength degrades in storage. You can try domestic bleach diluted thin enough to spray to see the effect. Some supermarkets sell thin bleach very cheaply but it's only 1% so while worth a try undiluted, it won't perform anything like the farm supply stuff.

Obviously strong bleach is dangerous stuff so you need gloves, goggles, welly's and old cloths. Once it's dried there is no danger to pets.
 
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Thank you to all who have responded with comments about resin driveways & block pavers.
In my case the plan was to tidy up an original crazy paved path to my door that has 3 steps & a manhole cover area is just 20 square mtrs and is only used for foot traffic.
First quote has arrived arrived at £5k & Mrs Dave has already said 'No way' just for a path.
 

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I'm in the Midlands and we have a river gravel drive. In this area, it is sold as Trent River gravel, I can only assumed dredged up from the Trent nearby.
The stones are in the 15-25mm diameter range, and a multitude of colours. We get a little bit sticking in new tyres with deep tread pattern, but there is not too much carry over on to the pavement and this subsides as the tyres wear.

I also looked at the various driveways. I've seen round here a few driveways that look really smart. It looks like probably concrete imprinted with a fake 'stone cobbles' pattern. The colour is uniform (e.g. grey) and there is a builders mark stamped in the corner near the road/pavement. The finish then has some final shiny glaze over the top, so it seems to look fresh for a while (a few years?). I don't know what it is, but I'm guess patterns pressed into concrete.

However, the main reasons I stuck with the river gravel drive are, in this order:
- It's noisy to walk on, and full frontage of the house, so thieving scum tend to keep off gravel drives and stick to all the majority of houses round here with block paving, tarmac and whatever I described above where they can tiptoe over to commit their scumbag deeds. I'm glad I've done this, as working from home on a residential street with my office window looking out the front, it's amazing how many 'undesirable types' appear to walk past seriously ogling and gawping carefully all over the front of the property like they are scoping the place out. Put it this way, if you leave a piece of metal out the front in the evening, by the time you get up the next morning it's gone! This is my No.1 reason by a mile for keeping the gravel drive.
- In this time of more and more flooding, I want it to act as a bit of a barrier should a heavy downpour overwhelm the drains in the street (not happened yet, but it seems more and more people are getting downpour flood damage).
- Cars, car cleaning, car compression of the ground, oil drips, and the associated repair and replacement due to these things. All this comes easily with a gravel drive. If there was a small oil spill, I can scoop up a few shovels of pebbles, and chuck some more down. Car washing drains away. Chuck a bit more gravel down and the odd raking to get it distributed evenly again.
- And a long way down the list, cost. The gravel is here, and taking it up and relaying a new weed membrane when the time comes is basically my labour. New builder's bags of gravel are about £50. I can't justify a 100-200x cost increase to compromise all of the more important things above on my list.

The only real downside for me is working on the car on the drive. It limits what I can do to access from above the engine, or one wheel off access (with appropriate support, axle stand, tyre under sill and 18mm ply to create a stable surface). It's a compromise I can live with.

A chunk of the above are obviously dependent on your requirements and wants, but I thought I would chuck in some of my thought process applicable to my situation, which might give you more things to think about to help you make the right decision for your situation.

Good luck getting the right outcome 👍
 
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The print is what ever you choose it's a number of rubber mats pressed into the finished surface and the shiny stuff is the sealant ,same stuff for the block paving but if you want to seal your paving wait awhile till the salt has come out of the blocks ( the white stuff) I know prices have changed since I last did it but I used to price £70-80 per sq M with manhole extra
 
I can’t add anything useful to this thread, but the guy who did a fantastic job to my patio/path/parking area is a bit of a heavy metal freak.
Calls his business ‘Block Slabbath’ - seriously!
 
I agree with most said the base is the main part like everything prep is king ,I very much doubt the concrete print powder was put in the mixer which concrete company is going to allow that (none) another draw back is you can't match it up when it cracks ,sealed paving is a must imo
Just be very careful who you choose to do the work ( checkertrade and the guild of master craftsmen is a con i was with both and only 2 of my previous customer's were contacted) all look good new 😀
They will but its a bit hit and miss as the colour can change load to load.
 
Best thing for resin drives is porous Concrete assuming you have good ground conditions you need no drains if you dont they you need drains in the substrate, think drilled pipes going off to a drain.
Some decent MOT well whacked
Lay the Concrete, usually achieves 20nm and does not need Bars etc or sawcuts ( think about it) 7 Days later add the resin topping, will last for years
 
I agree with most said the base is the main part like everything prep is king ,I very much doubt the concrete print powder was put in the mixer which concrete company is going to allow that (none) another draw back is you can't match it up when it cracks ,sealed paving is a must imo
Just be very careful who you choose to do the work ( checkertrade and the guild of master craftsmen is a con i was with both and only 2 of my previous customer's were contacted) all look good new 😀
I assure you it was mixed with the other ingredients, whether I should have done it that way is possibly debatable, but I did.
 
Thank you to all who have responded with comments about resin driveways & block pavers.
In my case the plan was to tidy up an original crazy paved path to my door that has 3 steps & a manhole cover area is just 20 square mtrs and is only used for foot traffic.
First quote has arrived arrived at £5k & Mrs Dave has already said 'No way' just for a path.
Well Dave,I have no idea if you are at all handy with the DIY,but you path is tailor made for doing just that,your path is held in everywhere and so no edging ,the quote you have is because the steps give a small problem and you can buy the galvanized insert for the drain,not very hard to install,you costs are hiring a decent sized kango a skip which looks like it will need to go on the road,if you can pile the stuff up in the front garden then a grab lorry is the best bet,at the moment the biggest problem is getting the blocks and type one,if you can live with it for another year the logistics will sort themselves out.
 
Just to add my 2p worth. I like resin but when we looked it was - as above - £££££.
So we went for gravel! Personally I find block paving a bit too austere and it does always seem to subside over time. My driveway is narrow and long. Only 9ft wide but around 30ft long so cars tend to always park in the same spot. My fear with blocks is that they would sink over time.
 
Just to add my 2p worth. I like resin but when we looked it was - as above - £££££.
So we went for gravel! Personally I find block paving a bit too austere and it does always seem to subside over time. My driveway is narrow and long. Only 9ft wide but around 30ft long so cars tend to always park in the same spot. My fear with blocks is that they would sink over time.
I must say i'm veering towards gravel now. If nothing else it's easy to replace or do any patch repairs if you get any issues from tree roots and the like. I would like resin but the angst would be a problem! What are peoples thoughts on jacking a car on gravel if i put say a thick (1cm) iron plate under the jack/axle stands? Thinking something like at least a foot square. My other option is i have a large patio area where the Alfa sleeps at the side of the house but not knowing what substrate there is under the slabs (probably 12 years old now and laid by the previous owners) i'd be nervous of jacking the car up on those.
 

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