The material
Loose gravel looks right and behaves badly. It migrates into planting, collects in door thresholds, ruts under a wheel and has to be raked back every few months. Stone carpet is the same stone held still.
Graded natural aggregate is mixed with a cold-applied polyurethane resin, spread with a squeegee and trowelled flat. Every stone is coated and locked to its neighbours, and the voids between them stay open. The finished surface is seamless, and it drains through itself — which is why it satisfies SuDS requirements where an impermeable surface would need a drainage strategy bolted on beside it.
There is no single product. The resin changes with the duty: a UV-stable clear binder where the colour must hold, a pigmented one where the aggregate is doing something else, a recycled-content version, one bound with rubber crumb for a softer fall. That is the part worth getting right at specification stage, because they do not behave the same way over ten years.
The British Board of Agrément has certified Addaset and Addaset ECO as a resin bound surfacing for driveways, patios, pedestrian areas, lightly trafficked car parks and low speed access roads. Certification is conditional on the system being installed and maintained as the certificate sets out — which is the part that makes the applicator matter.
View evidence — BBA Agrément certificate (PDF, 1.3 MB)Measured at 4.46 to 7.67 litres per second per square metre with 3 mm aggregate at 12 mm depth, and 7.39 to 20 with 6 mm at 18 mm, to BS EN 12697-40. Water passes through the surface into the base rather than running off it.
View evidence — Addaset technical data sheet (PDF, 1.0 MB)Tested to TRL 176: pendulum slider 96 above 55 for pedestrian areas, slider 57 above 60 for vehicle areas. Fine glass grit or aluminium oxide can be broadcast at around 50 g per square metre where a higher figure is required.
View evidence — Addaset technical data sheet (PDF, 1.0 MB)Addagrip guarantee their BBA-accredited resin bound products for 25 years on pedestrian footpaths, 20 on domestic driveways and heavy pedestrian areas, and 15 on car parks and regularly trafficked areas. The guarantee is conditional on correct application and a certificate of project completion.
View evidence — 25 year product guarantee (PDF, 2.5 MB)Addaset ECO binds natural aggregate together with recycled aggregate and recycled glass. Addaflex R uses recycled rubber tyre chippings for a surface with more give underfoot. Both are specified from the same range and laid by the same method.
View evidence — Addaset ECO technical data sheet (PDF, 1.0 MB)Addagrip Terraco hold ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification. It is the reason the base build-up details, the operation and maintenance manuals and the safety data sheets all exist as controlled documents rather than as advice over the phone.
View evidence — ISO 9001 certificate (PDF, 1.2 MB)The binders
One method, several resins. The binder decides how the surface ages, what it can carry and whether the colour holds — pick it before the aggregate.
Aggregate blends
A sample of the range. Blends are selected against an approved sample panel laid on site, because aggregate reads differently wet, dry and under Gulf sun than it does in a 300 mm square.
Stone carpet in place
Lusail Boulevard in Qatar is the clearest reference for this material at scale — Addaset resin bound aggregate run the length of the promenade, through the edge details and around the planting. Supplied and laid by our own crews. Photography: Conmarble.
Where it is specified
Specify it
Stone carpet: Addagrip [Addaset / Addaset ECO / Stonebound UV / Terrabase / Addaflex R / Addacolor] resin bound surfacing, laid at [12 mm with 3 mm aggregate / 18 mm with 6 mm aggregate] in aggregate blend [ref] to the approved sample panel, over the base build-up published for the duty. Substrate to be clean, dry and free of laitance and loose material; movement joints in the base to be carried through the surface; edging detail in [brick / stone / concrete / steel]. Applied between +5 °C and 30 °C with the surface not less than 3 °C above dew point. Skid resistance to TRL 176 and permeability to BS EN 12697-40 as the manufacturer's data sheet. Supply and installation by Earth Layers by Conmarble.
Square brackets mark the choices that belong to the project. Send us the finishes schedule and we will return the clause completed, with the sample and mock-up programme against it.
Questions specifiers ask
Short answers, restating what this page already sets out. The specification pages carry the data behind each one.
Is resin bound stone carpet permeable and does it meet SuDS requirements?
Yes. Every stone is coated and locked to its neighbours while the voids between them stay open, so the finished surface is seamless and drains through itself, which is why it satisfies SuDS requirements. Permeability is measured at 4.46 to 7.67 litres per second per square metre with 3 mm aggregate at 12 mm depth, and 7.39 to 20 with 6 mm at 18 mm, to BS EN 12697-40.
How thick should resin bound stone carpet be laid?
The system is laid at 12 mm with 3 mm aggregate, or at 18 mm with 6 mm aggregate, over a concrete or asphalt substrate that is clean, dry and free of laitance, oil and loose material. Movement joints in the concrete base must be carried through the surface, and a brick, stone, concrete or steel edging detail is required.
Where can resin bound stone carpet be used?
It is specified for driveways and forecourts, promenades, plazas and urban pathways, rural and park pathways including no-dig build-ups over roots, roof terraces and podium decks over the specified deck build-up, tree pits and planting surrounds, and pool surrounds and garden terraces. The British Board of Agrément has certified Addaset and Addaset ECO for driveways, patios, pedestrian areas, lightly trafficked car parks and low speed access roads.
How long does a resin bound surface last?
Addagrip guarantee their BBA-accredited resin bound products for 25 years on pedestrian footpaths, 20 years on domestic driveways and heavy pedestrian areas, and 15 years on car parks and regularly trafficked areas. The guarantee is conditional on correct application and a certificate of project completion, which is why the applicator matters as much as the product.
How is resin bound stone carpet applied?
Graded natural aggregate is mixed with a cold-applied polyurethane resin, spread with a squeegee and trowelled flat, locking each stone to its neighbours with the voids left open. Application conditions are +5 °C to 30 °C at maximum 80% relative humidity, with the surface at least 3 °C above dew point. Initial cure varies with accelerator dose and full chemical cure is reached at 7 days.
Technical support for the design team
We supply the material and we apply it, so the specification and the workmanship sit with one party. Send a finishes schedule, an elevation or a mood board and we will come back with the system, the build-up, the sample programme and a completed clause.