Two quite different products are sold as resin driveways and the difference matters more than the price does. Resin bound is aggregate mixed with resin and trowelled flat, and laid over a suitable base it is permeable. Resin bonded is loose stone scattered onto a resin coat, which is rougher and impermeable. One of them usually removes the planning question at the front of a house; the other does not.
Stone resin driveway: bound, and why it is the usual choice
Resin bound is mixed in a forced action mixer and trowelled out to a set depth, giving a smooth surface with voids running through it. Water passes through to the base and away, which is why it is the specification most often used for a front drive: permeable surfacing keeps the job inside permitted development. It is also the more expensive of the two to lay, because it is a wet trade with a weather window and a skilled finish.
Bonded, where it belongs, and why its resin driveway cost per m2 is lower
Resin bonded scatters aggregate onto a resin layer and sweeps off the surplus. The finish is textured and grippy, which suits slopes and ramps, and it is impermeable, so at the front of a house it puts the drainage question back on the table. It is cheaper per square metre and it wears differently: the top layer of stone is held on rather than held in.
Cost of resin driveway work: the base decides the price
The base. Both products are a surface, and a surface over a failing base fails with it. If the existing drive is sound and drains, an overlay is a modest job; if it has to be dug out, carted away and rebuilt with a permeable base and new edgings, that groundwork is most of the money and the resin is the smaller half. Any quote that does not describe the base has not described the job.
Questions people ask about resin driveways
Are resin driveways slippery?
Resin bound is a trowelled surface with texture from the aggregate and is normally fine underfoot, and resin bonded is deliberately rougher. Both can be laid with an aggregate chosen for grip where a drive is steep, which is a specification question worth asking about.
How long do they last?
A well laid resin surface over a sound base has a long life, and the common failures are base movement, laying too thin, or laying in the wrong weather. Those are decisions made on the day the job is priced rather than problems that arrive later.
Can I lay resin over block paving?
Generally not directly, because the joints move independently and telegraph through. A block paved drive is usually taken up or overlaid with a proper base first, and a contractor who says otherwise should be asked how the joints are being dealt with.