Resin driveways are a popular choice when it comes to driveway surfacing. They are durable, SUDs compliant, and easy to maintain. What’s more, resin driveways are an aesthetically pleasing choice, particularly in residential areas.
But what are the disadvantages of resin bound driveways and surfacing? Are there any better alternatives? In this article, we’ll explore some of the drawbacks of resin bound driveways. We will also look at viable alternatives.
Disadvantages of Resin Driveways
Resin driveways are created with resin bound surfacing (sometimes called a resin bound system). The laying process involved mixing aggregates with a clear UV-stable polyurethane resin. This mixture is then poured on to the prepared area and smoothed down to create a level surface. This surface requires little maintenance and allows water to drain away naturally, meaning that the risk of potholes and other damage is minimised.
Below, we’ll look at some of the disadvantages of using resin bound surfacing in your driveway project.
High Cost
Unlike concrete or block decorative paving, resin bound surfacing isn’t simple to install. This complexity makes it more expensive than other options – including porous coloured asphalt alternatives. Furthermore, this kind of surfacing needs to be laid properly, by an expert, in order to ensure longevity and a high-quality finish. Without that expert knowledge, the installation will not look as good as it would otherwise.
Another thing to consider in this is the type of resin and aggregates used in the creation of resin bound driveways. Higher quality decorative aggregates or coloured aggregates might be more expensive.
Heavy Usage
Resin bound driveways and surfacing aren’t the best choice for areas that regularly endure heavy traffic and usage. While this type of surface course is quite durable and robust, wear and tear over time can lead to cracking. This cracking can potentially lead to further and deeper damage. This damage can be quite expensive to repair, even at the early stages.
Weed and Moss Growth
While resin bound systems are low maintenance, weeds and moss can nonetheless thrive in these environments. When this growth does happen, it can make the surface quite slippery, especially when it is not cleaned regularly. This can quickly become a problem not only on driveways but on park footpaths and other public areas, where surfaces are maintained, leading to reduced accessibility and a possible health and safety issue.
Resin Driveway Alternatives
There are a lot of options available to you if you’re looking to create a new decorative driveway, park footpath, or any kind of public or private area which requires surfacing. Examples of these options include: block paving, concrete, gravel, slate, and grass – to name a few. Each of these options comes with their own unique advantages and disadvantages, so it’s important to explore all the options available before making your decision and investing in a new surface course.
BituChem’s own alternative to resin driveways is NatraTex. A durable, cost-effective, and low maintenance landscaping material, NatraTex boasts similar advantages to conventional tarmacadam, with few of the disadvantages.
A big point of difference when it comes to NatraTex over nearly all other surfacing choices is the wide range of colours and types available for different projects. NatraTex’s products are frequently used in residential, retail, regeneration, and recreational outdoor spaces. This wide range of case studies should hopefully give you a good idea of just how versatile it is!
NatraTex is available in a wide range of colours, including the neutral buff tones of NatraTex Cotswold and a spectrum of colours (such as blue, green and red) in the NatraTex Colour range. And for those looking for an eco-friendly and cost-effective surfacing material, we have invested considerable time and effort developing NatraTex Eco. This exciting new product boasts all the benefits of normal NatraTex while also being made from a minimum of 50% recycled material!
To read more about why NatraTex is such a good alternative to resin bound surfacing, see our article: NatraTex As An Alternative To Resin Bound Surfacing.
Learn More About NatraTex Today
If you’re exploring options for surfacing in relation to cycle paths, footpaths, playgrounds, hard landscaping, or driveways, you’ve come to the right place.
The team at BituChem are passionate about helping our clients find the right surfacing materials for their projects, be that NatraTex Cotswold, NatraTex Colour, NatraTex Eco, NatraTex ColdLay or NatraTex ChipTex. Our team would be happy to help you find a high quality coloured tarmac alternative – one that matches your needs and design brief.
Alternatively, if you’d like to see NatraTex in action, take a look at our Case Studies to get an idea of how the surface course has been used in the creation of car parks, roads, driveways, MUGA pitches and more!
Finally, if you’d like to request a sample of NatraTex, head over to our Request A Sample page.
