Pond Liner Defect: Anyone see this before?

[Brian Knight]

Greetings Garden Ponders,

I have built several small ponds for my personal and spec homes. I am recommissioning an old pond that has been out of use for 10 years. We bought a new, 60 Mil 20x25 Firestone Liner online. After spending two laborious days of installation and stone work we discovered the liner had six holes.

They are a uniform ~1/16th" in size and mostly occur along a line. We found one outlying hole that did not appear to go all the way through, but was close. We patched everything yet the pond level is not holding. It drops too slow to find the leak with colored water so we probably have to remove everything which is kind of devastating considering our backbreaking work.

The vendor said the manufacturer will not replace and said that it appears they holes were from transport or install. The holes do not look like punctures but rather burn holes. Has anyone seen this pond liner defect or damage before?

 

[j.w]

@Brian Knight That is such a shame and shame on the company for not standing behind their product. I would contact the manufacturer myself instead of going through the vendor. I've never seen or heard of anything like that before.

 

[Waterbug]

I have not seen that exact type of hole but have seen holes caused by dragging a folded EPDM liner on concrete (I assume). They were along the fold and clearly caused by rough abrasion so I don't think they were not caused inside the shipping box. There were also boot prints on the liner. In my case the holes were caused by the vender and not the manufacturer. Manufacturers produce large rolls, venders do the cutting. In my case the vender was obviously dragging the liner off the roll and onto a concrete surface and walking on it and dragging it around. I stopped using the vender.

In your case, I can't tell for certain, but melted holes in a line sound like a manufacturing issue. I doubt seriously there is a manufacturer out there that wouldn't want to replace that material. Firestone would...if it was actually made by Firestone. I'm guessing the vender just doesn't want to deal with contacting the manufacturer or doesn't know who the manufacturer is because they got the material from some 3rd party or they knew the material was disclosed to be substandard. Whatever it was a vender that doesn't want to get to the cause of the problem is dishonest. Even if the damage was caused by shipping, that's on the vender. They're suppose to be experts on how to package their products so there is no damage in shipping. That they give the canned excuse "must be due to install or shipping" tells me they're criminal.

I chalk it up to experience and try to find a better vender. You could contact Firestone but you have to have some documentation to show it is a Firestone liner. One thing that might get the vender's attention is asking for that documentation so you can contact Firestone. If the vender is advertising they're selling a Firestone product but it is actually not, the vender is going to be dealing with Firestone's legal department. That could get the vender to replace the liner. Threatening to sue the vender, report them, etc... by customers is something they likely hear all day everyday. Hearing it from Firestone is another matter.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

You could patch the holes esp if dry and not installed. But you should not need to with a new liner.

 

[Lisak1]

I agree with contacting Firestone directly. Tell them the situation and what the vendor said. I'm sorry - what a bummer! It's hard to make money when you have to do your work twice. And undo it in the middle. Like @Waterbug suggested - I would find a new vendor.

 

[Ronfire]

Also you could post the venders name so we all know who to avoid.