What Can You Lay Resin Bound on?

What can I lay resin bound on? It’s a very common question, and rightly so! For landscaping products, the system itself is usually not reliant upon a base beyond an MOT Type 1 or Type 3 – block paving, imprinted concrete etc.

But the fact that resin bound surfacing is a thin section screed (12 to 18mm) and can be laid on existing surfaces (concrete, tarmac, paving etc.) is actually one if it’s main strengths. It can permanently cover a multitude of sins, and look great!

Existing tired Tarmac driveway? Cracked concrete patchwork slab in your garden? With a little TLC, these can be overlaid with a seamless flexible natural aggregate screed bound in clear resin. And the result looks incredible! No digging up of bases, no need for skips and no need for mess!

A Few Tips About Landscaping Bases:

1) MOT refers to the Ministry of Transport
2) Type 1 is the most commonly used type of base in the construction industry
3) Both Type 1 and Type 3 are permeable due to containing larger aggregates
5) MOT Type 1 and 3 can be purchased from a Builders Merchants and compacted using a ‘wacker plate’

The Next Most Frequent Follows up Questions After ‘What Can You Lay Resin Bound On to?’ Are:

1) Can you lay resin bound on to no sub base or hardcore?
2) Can you lay resin bound over block paving?
3) Can you lay resin bound over concrete?
4) Can you lay resin bound over Tarmac?

1) Can You Lay Resin Bound On to No Sub Base or Hardcore?

Standard resin bound systems cannot be laid on to a base of hardcore, they require a solid base.

However, we have developed a special type of resin bound screed containing recycled rubber which can be laid directly on to a well compacted Type 1 or Type 3 base. That product is called Resipath, and you can view this resin bound aggregate and rubber screed by clicking this link.

You can see our video for this product here:

For standard resin bound screeds, by far the cheapest and easiest way of creating a base for your resin bound screed is to use our VubaGrid Cellular Base for resin bound screeds.

This grid is 40mm thick with spikes. This is interlocked over well compacted Type 1 or Type 3, filled with loose stones and you can then overlay using our resin bound screeds. The cellular grids can be supplied with your resin bound kits, and it is not a messy installation. All you need is to have a base prepared, and away you go! Even more importantly for contractors is that it can be done in 1 day – no need to wait for concrete to cure or Tarmac to oxidise.

Of course there is still the option of installing a solid base for resin bound using Concrete or Tarmac. There are some occasions where we would recommend these as a base for a resin bound screed instead of a cellular grid. A good example is where there is concrete currently.

Many driveways have some existing concrete that people would like to extend. We would recommend you in fill these areas using concrete, to prevent differences in movement (and ultimately cracking) with changes in temperature and traffic if for example you had a cellular grid butting up to concrete. When laying concrete next to existing concrete, we would recommend you dowel the new slab into the existing, again to help prevent movement causing cracking.

In conclusion, yes you require a sub base for the standard resin bound system. But that can be created easily using a cellular grid if there is not one currently. Most of the time you can simply overlay any existing solid bases. However, we do have a resin and rubber bound product which can be laid directly on to a hardcore base but only for foot traffic.

2) Can You Lay Resin Bound Over Block Paving?

This is a controversial topic, and the answer is yes so long as you carry out the correct preparatory processes. You cannot lay resin bound surfacing directly over block paving with no preparation and not expect to some signs of cracking over time. However, if you consolidate and strengthen the block paving prior, yes it can be utilised as a base for resin bound screeds.

Basefix is a polymer modified screed with incredible compressive, flexural and tensile strength, capable of application at thin sections. Basefix is used as a minimum 10mm ‘scratch coat’ over existing paving surfaces such as block paving sealer , to strengthen them ready to receive a resin bound finish. The block paving must be primed first using Polyprime.

Basefix is comprised of specially graded cements mixed with a styrene butadiene (SBR) polymer additive. Basefix still relies on the base having sufficient strength to not dip and subside, so care should be taken prior to use to ensure the integrity of the base.

With treatment using Basefix, yes you can overlay block paving using resin bound screeds.

3) Can You Lay Resin Bound Over Concrete?

Yes! But we recommend you prime the concrete surface first prior to application of resin bound. Our resin bound primer for concrete is called Polyprime.

Resin bound surfacing does bond well to concrete surfaces. Concrete is capable of absorbing moisture but it is not permeable. And therefore care should be taken to install sufficient ‘falls’ and drainage when installing a concrete base, or laying over an existing concrete.

A 1 in 100 fall towards a drainage point would usually be sufficient to prevent ponding of water on a driveway. And you should note that resin bound is still permeable, so the drainage should be set at the height of the concrete and not the top of the resin bound screed.

4) Can You Lay Resin Bound Over Tarmac?

Yes! Tarmac is the most popular base for the application of resin bound surfacing. An open grade asphalt surface is perfect for resin bound because it has flexural strength and is permeable. In addition, you can see from the snap shot below that the resin bound screed knits in between the aggregate of the Tarmac creating a physical bond as well as a chemical bond of the resin reaction.

Our resin bound tutorial video shows application on to Tarmac surfaces:

We hope that answers the question of ‘What can you lay resin bound on to?’ and if you have any more questions, feel free to contact our technical department:

01482 778897
resin@vubagroup.com

Thank you for reading this blog post, and I’ll be back soon writing about more of the questions we’re asked on a daily basis!

Sean Scott
Managing Director
Vuba Building Products Limited