More on hiding exposed liner

[Priscilla]

Okay, one more experiment. I have tried it all, floating plants, Sissy's sock method and a couple of others. All had some success but none that was amazing. Although the plants would be if the fish didn't eat them.

Here is my latest try. Maybe I need to adjust my materials, but the basic idea is easy, quick and cheap!

I had some waterfall foam, safe for fish and plants, some left over liner to experiment with. I used three techniques.

1. I sprayed the waterfall foam (WF) on the liner, then used a stick to smooth it down like icing a cake, then I rubbed dirt on top. I think this was most successful.

2. I just sprayed the WF on a small section, without flattening the foam, I added dirt on top, this gave some 'height' to my experiment and was fairly successfully.

3. I sprayed a bunch of WF and then added dirt on top - this didn't work, too much foam.

So my tip would be to work in small sections and use sparingly.

Yes, there are small bits of all kinds of 'stuff' this is an experiment done under the shade of a tree, if I do this in the pond I will be sure there is no organic matter. In the picture you can see the cake icing method is on the left and the spray a bunch and see what happens is on the right.

Am I crazy here or could I do this to the exposed liner in the pond? I was thinking of dropping the water level, getting in and going for it. Working in small sections and saying goodbye to my back and ever standing up again. Yes, I would probably mess up the water a bit, but I'm sure it would clear - wouldn't be the first time my pond got dirt in it. I suppose I could use methods to help prevent too much soil getting in the pond.

Would this look like the side of a 'natural' pond? Over time I'm sure it would blend in ....... I don't have too big of areas to do. Surely it would look better than black liner ....?

Thoughts please.

 

[sissy]

people have made floating planters that way with pvc pipe and elbows and screening and then spray foamed around the pvc so it floats better .I had one but aggie dumped it over and what a mess she made

 

[Mmathis]

Wow, Priscilla, I thought I was the only person who goes through this much detail during the experimentation phase [most people would call that being "anal," but, whatever.....]! I like your approaches! In theory, it seems like it could work. I would go ahead and place my "samples" in the water somewhere, and see what happens to them over time. If it was me, I would also take a couple more spare pieces of liner, put them in the pond so they get nice and covered with pond slime, then experiment with how much you'd have to clean [or not clean] the liner prior to applying your prefered method with the WF. I don't know how well the WF adheres as I've never used it, so have no idea how clean the liner would have to be. Good work! Keep us posted on the results! This may be something I'll do.

 

[Priscilla]

I'm going to use a mix of this and the rock on a roll. I'm going for it as soon as I can work up the courage to say good bye to my back for a week or so .......

 

[Priscilla]

Wow, Priscilla, I thought I was the only person who goes through this much detail during the experimentation phase [most people would call that being "anal," but, whatever.....]! I like your approaches! In theory, it seems like it could work. I would go ahead and place my "samples" in the water somewhere, and see what happens to them over time. If it was me, I would also take a couple more spare pieces of liner, put them in the pond so they get nice and covered with pond slime, then experiment with how much you'd have to clean [or not clean] the liner prior to applying your prefered method with the WF. I don't know how well the WF adheres as I've never used it, so have no idea how clean the liner would have to be. Good work! Keep us posted on the results! This may be something I'll do.

I like your thinking! I'm only going to go slightly lower then the water level, so the majority will be pond slime free. Anyone have any ideas how to clean the liner?

Maybe I don't have to clean the liner, maybe if I just let it dry off really good in the sun, that will be enough.

The good news is, even if it fails, it only cost me a can of waterfall foam I wasn't using anyways.

How do you think it would look???

The last thing I want to do is blow my back out doing this and it not look good.

 

[Mmathis]

I like your thinking! I'm only going to go slightly lower then the water level, so the majority will be pond slime free. Anyone have any ideas how to clean the liner?

Maybe I don't have to clean the liner, maybe if I just let it dry off really good in the sun, that will be enough.

EXPERIMENT! Get those liner samples dirty.....put some in the sun to dry....see what's easier to clean off, the wet samples or the dry samples....see what the effects are for both with the WF.....

 

[Priscilla]

UPDATE: After 30mins - all method are looking pretty darn good! Especially the middle section.

 

[Big Lou]

I like your sample.

 

[milhousebarks]

The only thing that worries me is how well the foam would adhere to the liner over time, especially since the liner isn't brand new and it probably has some algae, dirt, etc. on it that may be hard to get off.

Would another possible alternative be to drop the water, tuck a "skirt" of landscaping cloth under the rocks at the top edge where the liner goes in and let it drape down into the pond, then use the landscape cloth as your palette for your foam and dirt creation? Because it is fabric I'd imagine the foam would adhere really well and if you did it in sections it would be much easier to pull some out and redo it if you didn't like a particular section. I don't have a good image of your pond in my head, so I don't know how feasible it would be to get the landscape fabric in place.

Keep us updated.

 

[Priscilla]

The only thing that worries me is how well the foam would adhere to the liner over time, especially since the liner isn't brand new and it probably has some algae, dirt, etc. on it that may be hard to get off.

Would another possible alternative be to drop the water, tuck a "skirt" of landscaping cloth under the rocks at the top edge where the liner goes in and let it drape down into the pond, then use the landscape cloth as your palette for your foam and dirt creation? Because it is fabric I'd imagine the foam would adhere really well and if you did it in sections it would be much easier to pull some out and redo it if you didn't like a particular section. I don't have a good image of your pond in my head, so I don't know how feasible it would be to get the landscape fabric in place.

Keep us updated.

I was actually just looking at some screen I had laying around and thinking about doing it on the screen and avoiding dropping dirt in the pond altogether.

 

[milhousebarks]

Screen may be just the ticket. I think the only thing that might be easier with the landscape cloth is that it will more easily drape/conform to the existing shape of the sides of your pond. Definitely post some pics of your upcoming masterpiece. I've got some ugly liner I'd like to hide so I'll be watching for your results.

 

[Priscilla]

Screen may be just the ticket. I think the only thing that might be easier with the landscape cloth is that it will more easily drape/conform to the existing shape of the sides of your pond. Definitely post some pics of your upcoming masterpiece. I've got some ugly liner I'd like to hide so I'll be watching for your results.

After checking my trial masterpiece, I've realized it its not bendable. So if I do it on screen, its just going to be straight, no curve. So it might stick out weird. Not sure if I am explaining this right. Once it hardens, its hard. No shaping. So maybe going with the original plan of using the actual liner might be the best option.

I was able to wash my test piece and get rid of loose gravel and soil and there was quite a lot. If I do right on the liner, I won't be able to do that.

Considering shaping some screen into 'rock' shapes (kind of rounded). I don't know. Brainstorming with my pond peeps is fun! Please keep your thoughts and ideas coming. I really want to stop seeing my mistakes in this pond! LOL!

I'm making soap tomorrow morning, so my rock making will have to be on pause.

 

[Lisak1]

Not to be a wet blanket, but I'm not sure pond foam is the answer. I've found that the foam tends to disintegrate over time, especially if it's exposed to sunlight. Now we may be talking years here, so you may not care. But I occasionally find a chunk of pond foam floating in my pond which has obviously let loose from somewhere, so I would worry about that.

What about using a lightweight hypertufa to create a rock that would fit your shape perfectly? Almost like a rock that you could hang over the edge?

Something like this? (Not my photo - lifted from an internet search of "hypertufa pond edge".)

 

[milhousebarks]

I like the idea of the hypertufa frocks (fake rocks) formed to be a lip around the pond, but do you need to worry about possible pH impacts from hypertufa like you can have from raw concrete? I think the impact would be minor if at all, but you might want to keep the ph test kit handy just to make sure your ph doesn't rise in the short term after they're installed.

 

[Priscilla]

I think I have looked at this before. I don't have the time right now to get this involved. I need something quick and dirty. If it breaks off in a few years, I'll just top it up again. Maybe in a few years, I'll have sold this house and it'll be someone else's problem. LOL

It doesn't have to be pond foam, I could use any type of glue. I just chose that because I had it laying around.