Resin driveway cost: what the job involves and who is registered to do it

the UK roofing register

• Tarmac driveway cost
• Tarmac driveway cost calculator
• Block paving cost
• Resin bound driveway cost
• Concrete driveway cost calculator

How driveways and paving works

1. Establish what the base is. Resin bound needs a solid, free draining base, normally open graded asphalt or permeable concrete. An existing tarmac or concrete drive can sometimes be used if it is sound and drains, and the survey that decides this is the single biggest variable in the price.
2. Measure the area and the edges. The surface is priced per square metre, but the perimeter matters too: edge restraints, kerbs and thresholds are linear items, and a long thin drive costs more per square metre than a square one of the same area.
3. Settle the drainage before the design. A new impermeable drive over five square metres at the front of a house needs either a permeable surface or somewhere on your own land for the water to go. That is a rule about drainage, not about looks, and it should shape the specification rather than be discovered afterwards.
4. Ask about depth and aggregate. Resin bound is laid to a depth, usually with a larger aggregate for vehicles than for a footpath, and going thin is the cheapest way to make a quote look competitive. The depth and the aggregate size belong in writing.
5. Read the guarantee and the weather clause. Resin is laid within a temperature and moisture window and a wet autumn week can push a date. A quote that promises a fixed day without a weather clause is either optimistic or planning to lay it in conditions the resin does not like.

Insurance and paperwork

Common questions

Is resin cheaper than block paving?

Sometimes, and it depends almost entirely on the base. On a sound existing drive resin is usually the cheaper of the two because there is no excavation; on a drive that needs digging out and rebuilding, the base is most of the cost and the finish is a smaller part of the difference.

Do I need planning permission for a resin driveway?

Not if the surface is permeable, or if the water runs to a border or soakaway on your own property. An impermeable front drive over five square metres that drains to the road is the case that needs an application, which is why permeable specifications are the norm.

What is the difference between resin bound and resin bonded?

Resin bound is mixed and trowelled to a smooth permeable surface. Resin bonded is loose stone scattered onto a resin layer, giving a rougher, impermeable finish. They are different products at different prices and the words are easy to confuse in a quote.

Registered contractors by region

• Registered roofers in the East Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the East of England postcode area
• Registered roofers in the London postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the North West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Scotland postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South East postcode area
• Registered roofers in the South West postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Wales postcode area
• Registered roofers in the West Midlands postcode area
• Registered roofers in the Yorkshire and The Humber postcode area