Resin Bound Installation Guide
Below are details of how an installtion of a resin driveway should take place. We remind you that the exact speciffication may change depending on the manufactures advice however the below is what you should hope to see then the installation of your driveway takes place.
Step 1 - Preparation of your existing surface
Whether you’re installing a new sub-base or surfacing over the top of an excising surface, the preparation work is key to a long lasting beautiful resin bound surface.
If a new sub-base is being installed we recommend that your edgings are fixed in position using sharp sand and cement, this will give a good solid mix and help frame the area, the edging must be proud of your finished sub-base by 15-20mm to allow for the resin bound mixture.
The sub-base itself would ideally be made up from 150mm of MOT type1, this would then be rolled down with a vibrating roller until the stone has bound together and you have a good solid surface.
On the top of the MOT type1 you then have two choices, concrete or tarmac, they both have their positives and negatives, concrete gives you the ultimate strength while open textured base coat tarmac gives you the permeability, we would recommend a minimum of 125mm depth for concrete and 75mm for base coat tarmac.
If you are laying on the top of an existing surface, you must make sure that all cracks are widened into a “v” shape with a stone saw, the surface must be dry, weed and algae free.
Step 2 - Time to order your materials
Ordering your materials for your resin bound project is very straight forward if you follow the basic formula.
The first thing you need to decide on is your colour; you can choose this by looking on www.theresinmill.co.uk website on the resin bound mixtures page or by ordering colour samples from the website. Once the colour has been chosen you have two resin choices, these are standard resin or a UV stable resin.
The difference between the two resins is the standard resin will suffer from colour fade due to the UV sunlight; this is not an overnight change but it will gradually change over time.
The UV stable resin will ensure that the finished mixture colour will stay that colour, so for instance if you are installing a patio area and flower pots will be moved around, there will be no colour change under the pots, the overall colour will stay uniformed.
Certain colours such as Silver, beige and black should only be laid with UV stable resin to stop yellowing of the aggregate.
So next simply give the resin mill a call with the square meters, colour and delivery address and we will work out what material you need, give you the price and deliver next day to your desired address.
Step 3 - Tools to install the resin bound surface
So you’re on site, your materials have landed, what tools do you need? Well the main piece of equipment is a forced action mixer.
The forced action mixer should hold a minimum of 100kg of aggregates, we recommend the Barron M110. The other main equipment is a plasterers paddle and drill for mixing the resin and hardener together, a bucket, white spirit, wheelbarrow, gloves and a plasterers float.
Step 4 - Setting up
The first thing to do is to organise your aggregates. For every resin kit you would mix 4 x 25kg bags of aggregate, this would be generally made up of 3 x 25kg of 2-5mm stone and 1 x 1-3mm stone, so a good idea is to pile the aggregates up in four bag stacks to save any mistakes.
Step 5 - Mixing the materials
For the Standard resin open the part A resin and the Part B and simply pour the Part B into the Part A bucket and whisk for approximately 30 seconds until the resin goes creamy.
In the mean time put the aggregate in the mixer and let it mix dry for 20 seconds to remove any dust, then add the resin into the mixer and let the resin mix with the aggregates for approximately 90seconds until all the stones are covered in the resin.
Into the mixture it is advisable to put 2 kg of kiln dried sand, this helps to give an extremely strong mix. The sand can go in the mix about 30 seconds after the resin.
If you were using the UV stable resin the only difference is that before you mix the part A and B together you would add into the part A one cap full of the catalyst which comes with the kit and whisk that for 15 seconds before adding the part B, otherwise it is the same process.
Make sure you mix each mix for the same length of time to avoid colour change(Aprox 2 minutes)
After the mixture is mixed, open the mixer hatch and pour directly into a wheelbarrow, this can then be poured onto the surface you are covering.
Step 6 - Laying the material
With a spazzel or rake spread the material out so it is easier to trowel, it is better to start at one end and work your way towards the exit. You will find that each mix at 15mm deep covers around 4SQM.
Wipe your trowel with white spirit to stop any sticking and trowel the mixture down until you get a nice flat surface; keep applying the white spirit to your trowel every so often, this makes laying much easier.
Leave the loose end of the material fluffed up, then when the next mix comes along this can be slightly overlapped into the last mix elevating dry edges.
Once you have got in a routine and the mixers are coming at regular intervals the material starts to cure quite rapidly. Depending on the outside temperature you have on average 20-30 minutes to work each mix, in the height of summer the timings can come down to 10 minutes. With-in 4 hours the surface can have cured enough to walk on.
After every 2 mixers have been trowelled down you need to cast a on a very small amount of glass bead onto the surface to create an anti-slip surface.
This is simply done by getting a small handful of the glass bead and throwing it in the air so it lands naturally on the resin bound surface.
The finished project will be ok for foot traffic after around 4hrs and vehicular traffic after 24hrs.
To clean your mixer, put a half bag of the dry aggregate in the mixer with a little white spirit and let the mixer spin for a minute, then empty the material out.
Get a wire brush and white spirit and scrub the inside of the drum, this should leave the mixer nice and clean for your next installation.
With your hand tools again white spirit and a wire brush should clean sufficiently.