Joining 2 liners together?

[leet13]

Hi all!

Long time no type...

I have a lot of extra liner downstairs in my basement (I put in a 15x20' into a 4x6x3' indoor pond made of wood-- theres tons of overlap)... I want to dig my outdoor pond deeper about a foot or foot and a half (it is 2ft 9ish right now)... how can I join 2 pieces of 45mil firestone EPDM liner without leaks? Is there a way to do this permanently? If I can do this, I will definitely dig my pond DEEP when the weather warms up and then not have to worry about moving the fish back and forth.

I know its not as good as ONE piece of liner... but my husband is definitely not going to want to buy another liner for my pond.

 

[sissy]

Better to get another liner because you may be alright joining them but if it leaks well then you would have to take it apart again .They have tape you can buy or some use pl roofing goop .the you never really know .

 

[Waterbug]

Here is a PDF that describes the process. This if for their roofing system but the seaming is the same. Firestone seaming for roofs. Note the cure time is 7-28 days. Pond liners are under a lot more stress so I'd give it the full 28 days, that's left out, not folded back up.

Here are videos on their pond product, same seaming product. Not as much info as the PDF. Firestone videos on the process. Note the flat surface, really important. You can't lay it over a joint in the concrete driveway because you need something underneath to be able to push against. The liner has to be very clean.A used liner needs very aggressive cleaning even before the primer. Aggressive meaning scrubber pads and elbow grease, not soap and chemicals so much. A layer of any soap or chemical left on the liner can doom the seam.

Another option is to sell the current liners on Craig's List. You should be able to get maybe 1/2 the retail. That money, if it can be had, plus the cost seaming materials and tools would cost could mean buying a new liner isn't really much more, could even be less. Worth checking.

Another option is build two ponds.

Please do yourself a favor and stay away from roof goops, duct tape, etc. They're for Uncle Ernie.

 

[leet13]

*screams* Ugh. Im frustrated now. I know that if I am doing this, its probably going to leak... i mean... it probably will sooner or later. I better just get a larger liner. My husband said it (he's the one paying for it) so I will just take everything apart as early this spring as I can and get in there and throw in a new liner/underlayment.
Thank you for the links, Waterbug! It doesnt seem like something I want to "try" because we probably will ruin the whole pond. lol
Sissy- yes you are right. i will just take the extra time to take everything apart and put a nice new liner in... I may as well dig it ALL about 8 to 10 inches deeper .

 

[sissy]

I made mine just over 4 feet and left extra liner on top folded over and have friend John who has a pond in Edison NJ and he went 5 feet deep so he would not have to worry about winters and heat of summer and he left 2 feet of extra liner all around in case he wanted to build the sides higher bout he lost 6 inches of that after the pond liner and dirt under it settled down .He put his pond in 4 years ago after seeing my pond .You could always use extra liner around your filter tanks so if they leak it runs back into the pond .You could also use it for keeping plants to help filter your water .I am changing out my filter for an oval tank to hold more plants and my stream is going to be turned into a area to hold plants also .

 

[sissy]

A good liner done right will last a long time .i used rubber roofing material and just cleaned it real good and it was cheaper ,just really heavy and swear after putting it out in the sun for an hour to soften up it got heavier .I have a leak where I over lapped 2 liners in the stream and figure well it is 3 feet of overlap and sealed really good and stream is higher than pond and it still leaked .