Resin Paths: How a Resin Bound Garden Path Is Built

Resin bound makes one of the most practical garden and front paths you can lay: stone and resin trowelled about 15mm thick over a firm base, giving a smooth, level, jointless walkway that drains through and has no joints for weeds. Because a path only carries feet, wheelbarrows and bikes, its base can be lighter than a driveway's, but it still has to be solid, edged and properly drained or the resin will crack along its length.

Why choose resin for a garden or front path?

Three reasons come up again and again. Paths are where loose gravel annoys people most (it gets kicked onto the lawn and carried indoors), where slab joints trip people up, and where puddles form in the one low spot by the door. A resin bound path fixes all three: the stones are locked in, the surface has no joints, and on a permeable base water drains down rather than sitting on top.

It is the same system as our resin driveways in Wolverhampton, and it is kind to wheels. Wheelie bins, buggies, mobility scooters and wheelbarrows roll easily on resin, which is why people often ask for the bin path to be done at the same time as the drive.

How thick is a resin path, and what goes underneath?

Specifications for resin bound typically give 15mm for footpaths and patios and 18mm for driveways, with a minimum of 12mm for any resin bound layer. The extra few millimetres on a drive deal with turning tyres; a path does not need them.

The base is the part that varies. For a new path we would usually:

1. Mark out the line and width, and dig out to allow for the sub-base, any binder layer and the resin.

2. Fix the edging first (block, brick, kerb or aluminium strip), set to the finished height, because resin has to be trowelled up to a fixed edge.

3. Lay and compact an open-graded stone sub-base so water can drain into it. The government's front-garden guidance describes this type of material (4/20 or Type 3, larger stone with gaps between) for permeable surfaces.

4. Lay an open-grade (porous) tarmac binder course where the path needs one, or prepare an existing sound concrete path by cleaning and priming it.

5. Mix the resin and stone in a forced action mixer and trowel it out to an even depth against the edges.

An existing concrete path can often be overlaid if it is sound, level and not cracked. It will not drain through, because the concrete beneath does not, so it needs to keep a fall to one side. Old slab paths are a different story: individual slabs move independently, and pavingexpert warns that elemental paving such as flags and blocks usually is not suitable under resin because the joints reflect through as cracks.

How wide should a resin path be?

Wide enough for how you use it. A garden path to a shed can be narrow; a front path that is your main way in should take a person with shopping, a pushchair or a wheelchair. Building Regulations guidance for new homes (Approved Document M) asks for an approach route at least 900mm wide with a cross fall no steeper than 1 in 40, which is a sensible benchmark even when you are not building a new house. Wider still if bins travel along it.

Keep the width consistent. Resin shows every wobble in an edge line, so set the edging with string lines and let the curves be deliberate.

Laying a resin path around trees, manholes and steps

Trees: resin bound can be laid close to trees, and permeable versions are used around tree pits because water and air still reach the roots. Big surface roots are another matter: they lift whatever is on top, so the path line may need to move.

Manholes and inspection chambers: the neat answer is a recessed tray cover, which is a manhole lid with a shallow tray that is filled with the same resin mix. The cover stays removable and the path reads as one surface.

Steps and level changes: a path that meets a step needs a nosing or edge detail to hold the resin. Steps are a job of their own and need more thought than a flat run.

Thresholds: where a path meets the house, the finished surface should sit below the damp proof course and fall away from the wall.

Matching a resin path to a resin driveway

The simplest way to make a front garden look planned is to lay the drive and path in the same blend, or deliberately in a contrasting one. Our resin bound driveway and path in Warstones was laid in Daltex White Flint with black granite block borders, a light flint finish that brightens the frontage. If you want the path to stand apart, a darker blend or a border band does it. Our post on resin driveway colours explains how the stone decides the colour and how it looks once wet.

Doing both at once also saves cost, because the mixing setup, edging work and team time are shared. We use UV-stable resin throughout, so the two stay the same colour.

Can you lay a resin path yourself?

Resin path kits exist, and a short, straight path on an existing sound concrete base is the most forgiving place to try. But the resin starts to cure once mixed, so each batch has to be spread and finished within a limited working time, in dry conditions, on a dry base. Trowel marks, thin spots and patchy colour between batches are the usual results of a first attempt, and the base work (dig, sub-base, edging) is the hard part anyway. If the path is long, curved or meets a drive, it is a job for a team that mixes resin every week.

Resin path questions, answered

Will a resin path get slippery?

Resin bound has an open, textured stone surface and is not generally slippery. Moss and algae in a shaded spot will be, so sweep it and treat any green growth early. Our post asking are resin driveways any good covers grip and wear in more depth.

How soon can you walk on a new resin path?

A resin bound surface can usually take foot traffic after roughly six hours in decent weather. Cold or damp conditions slow the cure, so keep people off longer if the installer advises it.

Do weeds grow through resin paths?

Weeds cannot root through the resin layer from below. Seeds can land in debris left on the surface, so an occasional sweep keeps it clean.

Pete and the team lay resin bound paths alongside driveways across Wolverhampton, Telford and south Staffordshire. If you would rather have a harder, concrete-based finish, exposed aggregate driveways are the other option worth seeing in person at a free site visit.