Pond liner

[throwingcopper81]

Good Evening Everyone,
I am a newbie and unfortunately I will need to re-dig and expand my relatively new pond in the coming weeks (I understand now that this a common mistake . Can you guys make any liner recommendations? It seems as though EPDM is the preferred liner, this seems quite expensive though. Is there an inexpensive place to order it? I need 20ft by 20ft piece which seems to be around the $250 mark. Just wanted to check on here to see if anyone had any further advice before ordering. Thanks!

 

[sissy]

Have you checked rubber roofing ,same stuff .Some use billboard sign liners also .My neighbor has the pond liner from lowes for 7 years now and no problems with it yet .She got it on an end of year sale .It is pvc but for the price she can't complain it was a 20x30 liner for 91 dollars .Was 159 before it went on sale .

 

[fishin4cars]

FYI, to add to Sissy's post. IF the EDPM liner/roofing material is made by firestone they are the exact same product. the only difference between the two is roofing EDPM has a fine powder that helps keep the EDPM from sticking together for roofing applications. This fine powder is best rinsed off but I have never heard of anyone having a problem that can be directly related back to this powder. I contacted firestone several years back and they told me that the powder was used for the roofing industry so that the installers could roll the roofing material out easier. Pond liner did not use this as they didn't want to add anything that might be harmful to fish. I have used both and never had a issue. Although they leave the manufacturer at about the same cost, there are more mark-ups between distributors for pond liner than roofing material, simply because roofing companies buy direct in much larger bulk than pond companies do.

 

[dieselplower]

I found Amazon had some decent prices. I did not have much disposeable income when I built my pond and I wanted to build it all at once so I went with a thinner liner and boy do i regret it now. My biggest regret was going cheap to start out because I have replaced pretty much every single thing I started with so it has cost me much more than if I would have saved a bit longer and done it right the first time.

 

[fishin4cars]

I've used a lot of different liners over the years, Not much I haven't tried that I could get my hands on. By far I have been happiest and gotten the best liner for the buck using 45mil EDPM Firestone liners, I also recommend using a good gyotech backing. there are all kinds of things used for backing materials. Ever have to pull up a liner with geoteck backing and the two usually still look brand new and ready to re-use. never had a crack, tear, or root damage when using the two combined. Knock knock knock on wood. Murphy's law, Go ahead and brag and Murhy will show you a tear! LOL Word of Caution, If you decide to use a 20 mil liner, Do not leave any part exposed to sun light, It can crack in less than two years! believe me, I know! Also, Mice and chipmunks have a thing about nibbling PVC liners for some odd reason?

 

[sissy]

I know here builders discount center sells rubber roofing and you can google your area for roofers and maybe make a deal with them since they get it at a discounted price and they may help you these days for just a little extra pocket money to hold them over until there next job .I got mine from a roofer who retired and had it on his property that he sold and dumb buyers did not want it left behind .

 

[Waterbug]

$250 for 20x20 is a really good retail price imo. The last time (3 years ago I think) I bought 45 mil EPDM roofing membrane I think I paid 50 cents / sq ft, so $200 for 20x20, and that was with a contractor discount. The price difference between Firestone Pond Guard and roofing membrane has really narrowed in the past 10 years. Now I mainly care about which ever one is easier to get to the site.

 

[throwingcopper81]

Thanks everyone! I ended up going with 45mil EPDM. I was able to get a pretty good deal on Amazon, $286. Thanks again, I appreciate having this forum to help to prevent some mistakes. The digging began today!