pond liners 07-14-10

firestone liners

In essence, butyl is a good middle-of-the-road choice. While other types of pond liners may fit your requirements more closely, it’s hard to go wrong with butyl, no matter what the climate, pond size or shape, or type of ground. You will, of course, have to pay more for this security than you will with PVC, but the trade-off you receive in longevity and reliability can be worth it.


Another type of rubber pond liner is EPDM, which uses a synthetic rubber instead of butyl. EPDM is slightly cheaper, and is stretchier and offers even more flexibility. Be aware, though, that a low-quality EPDM pond liner can poison the fish who live in the pond. This will not be a concern if you go with butyl.


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Rubber liners no matter how good they claim to be suck. And cement isnt harmful to your fish. Cement just gives it a higher PH and most fish will adapt. If your worried about that, they sell special sealers for ponds. Cement is the best way to go though if you want something permanet and lasts longer. You want to have some help, it only works if you can pour the concrete all at the same time so you get one solid piece. Make it atleast 4 inches thick. Be sure to put chicken wire or something to make it strong. Pour the bottom first, when your done smoothing that out, work your way up. make sure the cement isnt too wet so you can get it to stick on the way up. the more of a slope you have the easier it will be to form the walls. The next day when the concrete is starting to cure, wet it, this will help it cure. Keep wetting daily. It should cure in about 2 weeks to a month depending on the temperature outside. dont fill it with water until it is fully cured. If you want you can seal it to prevent the cement from changing the ph in your pond, Sherman williams sells a sealer for potable water tanks, thats what you will need to seal it with. If it ever cracks, you can seal the cracks with a caulk made for aqariums, usually sold at aquarium stores. Good look, and dont be scared of all the hard work, it really pays off. I hate having to change rubber liners all the time just cuz of roots messing them up, or the sun making them brittle. And those sub-liners dont make much of a difference.


3 years ago

Go buy a good piece of EPDM roof rubber for a liner. To get technical you can not make a pond from cement. You can use concrete, which is a mixture of cement, sand and aggregate. But you would also need to use steel reinforcement. And if your in a cold climate you half to allow for freeze-thaw, and expansion and contraction. I think in the long run you would be wasting money, I have EPDM roof rubber in my pond and its been in for over 4 years with 10 tons of river rock placed on top of it. Or you could talk to a swimming pool contractor. They use Gunite, which is a concrete that is sprayed onto steel reinforcement. There are only three things for sure with concrete #1 It comes in a truck, #2 It gets hard you hope, #3 It cracks

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