The vision
In August 2020 SureSet was contacted with a unique request to achieve the clients concept of a tropical themed outdoor dining area. Whereby using SureSet resin bound paving materials to create a bespoke and striking beach effect paving feature.
Preparation
The idea was to surround and already striking custom tiki hut with a beach. The wooden Polynesian inspired garden hut was the centre of the dining area that had all the outdoor cooking essentials needed to entertain whilst grilling for guests.
The resin bound paving materials had to create the appearance of a bespoke desert island, a spectacular ‘resin desert island’, which was extremely exciting to install!
SureSet Resin Systems have plenty of experience when installing personalised and imaginative paving, and beach projects are amongst many of our online case studies…
Beach inspired theme park paving
Our colour samples, technical advice and brochure was posted to the client before arranging a location visit to discuss the complexity of the beach design, checking the existing base condition, and plan the method of installation before measuring the areas needed for resin bound. After our visit we supplied a full quotation and specification data needed for the base preparations.
The installation
The bespoke beach effect garden was installed late Spring this year. We had an existing surface of concrete to install the resin bound materials over, and to ensure strength and durability from the ground up a primer was applied to the concrete and a 44m² CRM (crack reduction membrane) was rolled on top. By adding the CRM to the concrete base will offer extra resistance to potential concrete cracking that could affect the resin bound paving.
A concrete base should be laid level and whilst the top resin bound surface will accommodate any minor irregularities, there shouldn’t be any significant ‘cracks or undulations’. New concrete bases need to have cured for a minimum of 14 days with a PVA primer applied prior to resin bound being applied. If expansion joints are needed in the concrete then they too will also need to be reflected into the resin bound surface.
Key Features
- Application: Bespoke resin bound colour grading
- Base: Concrete
- Area: 44m²
- Colour: 3mm Butterscotch, Winter Frost, Aqua and Sky Blue
- Depth: 16mm resin bound
- Edges: Straight and flexible aluminium
- Installed: SureSet Resin Systems
The colours used to produce the beach effect paving were differing percentages of 3mm Butterscotch from our Natural Aggregate range and Winter Frost from our luxury crushed marbles to give the appearance of sand and the water bubbles that splash against a shoreline.
Chosen from our Spectrum range was a 3mm recycled glass in colours Aqua and Sky Blue, they were used to create the blue wave depths against the golden sand in an natural ripple pattern.
Colour grading like this is very popular for unique projects and design ideas and SureSet would always install this style of project using a hand float to ensure the level of intricacy is maintained throughout the installation process. The resin bound colours were evenly spread with a spazzle and hand floated to a compact and uniform level, a part from the wave effect areas, we did our upmost to make the water flow look as natural as possible.
A good quality resin bound system, like SureSet, will be suitable for use after 4-6 hours for foot traffic and 12-16 hours for vehicular traffic. Where possible, we feel 24 hours is the ideal time to wait especially for a surface that will be heavily used – just to ensure that it is fully cured.
After our installation we barricade the freshly laid areas to avoid any traffic type from stepping through it.
To complete the surrounding edges of the beach, a 12mm linear edge was installed to continue the natural stone colour from the beach down the side of the garden wall. The existing edging stones in place were masked to protect them from any resin staining.
The result
A stunning resin bound beach effect garden!
This beautiful and hard wearing patio surface will the property owners many years of use and on the plus side will require virtually no maintenance.
All SureSet resin systems are UV stable and strong to be able to protect itself from frost damage during colder months. The reliability of a SureSet resin bound surfacing system means the stones remain intact, preventing stones from becoming loose offering longevity as well as no weeds growing through.
All installations by SureSet or an Approved Installer will be covered by a 21 Year Guarantee.
