When it comes to creating the perfect outdoor space for enjoying those long, hot summer days, many people overlook resin-bound surfacing. However, if you’re looking for a well-crafted, visually appealing, easy-to-maintain outdoor space, then a resin-bound patio is the ideal choice.
Unlike many surfacing products, resin creates a hard-wearing, waterproof, weed-resistant uniform finish. It’s available in a vast array of colours and textures. It’s also much quicker to lay than slabs, tiles or block paving, making it perfect for many garden and landscaping projects, such as patios and pathways.
Here, we take a closer look at resin-bound surfacing’s many benefits and answer the question ‘can I use resin in my garden?’ with a resounding ‘yes, you can!’.
Why use resin in your garden?
While resin-bound surfacing is an excellent choice for driveways and adding value and visual appeal to home exteriors, it’s also great for creating stunning bespoke pathways, patio areas, garden steps and borders.
No planning permission is required to install a resin patio or path. You can achieve a flat, smooth, even finish with resin-bound surfacing, making it great for prams, pushchairs and wheelchair users.
Here are just some of the benefits that resin-bound surfacing offers. It is:
- Permeable
- SUDS compliant
- Durable
- Long-lasting
- Easy to install
- Quick to set
- Safe and slip-resistant
- Low maintenance
- Weather-resistant
- Eco-friendly
Resin-bound surfacing is incredibly hard-wearing, making it great for areas where there is heavy footfall or where children play. It’s also scuff-resistant, which means you can use patio furniture on it without the risk of damaging the surface. However, the main reasons why people choose resin to enhance their gardens are:
Drainage
As we said in the main list of benefits above, resin-bound surfacing is permeable and SUDS compliant. SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage) legislation was passed in 2008 and states that any paving over 5sqm at the front of a domestic property must be permeable. Anything non-permeable requires planning permission.
Although this doesn’t have an impact if you are installing a resin patio or path in your back garden, SUDS might apply in your front garden if you have one. It will almost certainly apply to a resin driveway, too.
The resin/aggregate mix used when installing a resin-bound patio creates a porous surface that allows water to drain naturally, which means it will never be affected by puddles or surface water, even on the rainiest days of the year. It also won’t crack when it freezes and helps to reduce the risk of slips and falls when it’s icy.
Visual appeal
While patios and garden paths have practical uses, you’ll also want them to look nice, too, particularly if they are a showpiece feature of your outdoor space.
Perhaps the most significant benefit of resin-bound surfacing is the virtually limitless potential to get clever and creative with your design. With so many colours, aggregate types, sizes, textures and finishes to choose from, you can literally create the outdoor space of your dreams.
Other paving options aren’t anywhere near as flexible as resin when it comes to design, which means they can end up looking plain and boring. With a resin patio, that’s not an issue, as the only limit is your imagination. And if you’re unsure what you want, we also offer an in-house design service to help you create a stunning looking resin path or patio that works within the space you have available.
Low maintenance
While some people enjoy spending time sprucing up their gardens, it’s a necessary evil for many. After all, you want to spend your time enjoying your patio, not cleaning it every couple of days, right? This is where a resin-bound patio holds the edge over other paving types, as it’s easy to keep clean and maintain.
A quick sweep with a stiff brush every couple of weeks will help keep the surface free of dust, dirt or debris. A couple of deep cleans a year with a jet wash will help keep it looking as good as new. And because resin binds the aggregates together, it creates a fully sealed surface with no splits or cracks, which helps keep those pesky weeds at bay.
UV stable
One of the main drawbacks of a concrete, slab or block paving patio is that the weather can bleach or fade the surface over time and cause the colour to change, fade or yellow.
UV light can bleach the surface and create an uneven finish, especially if there are shaded areas that aren’t as exposed to the sun’s rays. Resin-bound surfaces are UV-resistant, which helps to lock in the colour, so they hold their ‘as new’ appearance for many years.
And because resin helps to seal the aggregates, it helps prevent oil, residue and other coloured liquids from staining the finished surface. Because the resin creates a porous finish, any potentially staining substances are absorbed rather than needing to be wiped or washed away.
Let Buffalo Driveways help you create the perfect resin patio
If you’ve been looking to upgrade your garden, then a resin-bound patio is the way to go.
We can help design, create, and install a high-quality resin patio tailored to your personality and tastes to bring your garden or outdoor entertaining space to life.
All our work comes with a 10-year warranty if we install the sub-base, or a 5-year guarantee on all overlay work on existing sub-bases, giving you peace of mind for many years to come.
To find out more, drop us a line at sales@buffalodriveways.co.uk, or give us a call on 01773 712288.