Pond liners, which to choose or avoid?

Joined
Apr 11, 2021
Messages
102
Reaction score
28
Hardiness Zone
8
Country
United Kingdom
Last item on my shopping list agenda is the choice of pond liner material I should be thinking of. Any thoughts from the combined wisdom here about the current thinking on material and thickness?

It has been suggested that I use old carpet and I have plenty of that, as an underlay. just that I have no idea whatsoever about what to keep the pond water in. Any thoughts are as ever most gratefully received. :)
 
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
3,990
Reaction score
2,696
Location
Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
Hardiness Zone
6a
Totally agree.
Just as a note: if you use HDRPE, make sure it has the "R" for reinforced, not the plain HDPE.

Also, I have to say it...stay far away from a PVC liner. It will fail within months. I know this from experience as a newbie. I admit I was attracted to the lower price.
 
Joined
Apr 11, 2021
Messages
102
Reaction score
28
Hardiness Zone
8
Country
United Kingdom
Thanks Joe, I'm a big fan of the axiom, "do it right or do it again"

I remember reading a post on here, (might have been yours?) About the significance of the R in HDRPE..
 
Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Messages
4,684
Reaction score
3,764
Hardiness Zone
5b
Country
United States
I used the hdrpe for the first 9 years, and again when I expanded, getting one larger liner. The old one was in great condition and I used it for re-lining my bog v1 and mini stream.. For most applications, you don't need the underlay. If you have sharp edges anywhere or roots you're worried about, then use the underlay but if you go to the hdrpe site, they'll state exactly as I have above. Most peeps go for the EPDM as it's more an industry standard but I like the much better cost and since it's lighter, better shipping rate + easier to move by myself. A negative re hdrpe is that you'll have more issue with folds and how to hide them than with EPDM. But with EPDM, you DO need the underlay. If you research, you'll see HDRPE is harder to puncture/tear, so it's a worthy alternate to EPDM.
 
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
3,990
Reaction score
2,696
Location
Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
Hardiness Zone
6a
I used the hdrpe for the first 9 years, and again when I expanded, getting one larger liner. The old one was in great condition and I used it for re-lining my bog v1 and mini stream.. For most applications, you don't need the underlay. If you have sharp edges anywhere or roots you're worried about, then use the underlay but if you go to the hdrpe site, they'll state exactly as I have above. Most peeps go for the EPDM as it's more an industry standard but I like the much better cost and since it's lighter, better shipping rate + easier to move by myself. A negative re hdrpe is that you'll have more issue with folds and how to hide them than with EPDM. But with EPDM, you DO need the underlay. If you research, you'll see HDRPE is harder to puncture/tear, so it's a worthy alternate to EPDM.
Spot on!
Folding the corners is really not that bad with HDRPE. It's just like gift wrapping!
 

addy1

water gardener / gold fish and shubunkins
Moderator
Joined
Jun 23, 2010
Messages
44,828
Reaction score
29,767
Location
Frederick, Maryland
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
6b
Country
United States
I used HDRPE for my pond the folds just disappear after time, the algae, dirt, blends them in. I got mine from bend tarp and liner, at the time called ppl36. Deer have done their best to tear the liner, still have not. Twice now I have had deer digging with those sharp little hooves to get out and no damage to the liner.

The wrinkles, folds look like rock ridges after time. This is a few years back.
f4.JPG
f9.JPG
 
Joined
Apr 11, 2021
Messages
102
Reaction score
28
Hardiness Zone
8
Country
United Kingdom
I seem to be having difficulty in finding HDRPE 45 mil in the UK, most searches divert to HDPE.. with or without the R. I found a 40 year guarantee liner, but that looks to be a vinyl / EDPM / vinyl laminate.

anyone know of a UK based seller of HDRPE?
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2017
Messages
442
Reaction score
427
Hardiness Zone
7a/7b depending on the map
Country
United States
I don't think the EPDM would be a problem, just need an underlayment of some sort. Old carpet works a treat.
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2020
Messages
3,211
Reaction score
3,468
Location
Pacific NW
Hardiness Zone
8b
Country
United States
@kelpie: It may be tough to find hdrpe in the UK at any weight, but I believe it is typically sold in 30 mil thickness.

Whatever you do, I would heed the advice of members here, verify the material you are purchasing (EPDM or HDRPE) and its thickness, and disregard warranties as they are mostly marketing (at least in The US) and few, if any, material warranties will cover the labor to uninstall/reinstall which is most of the time/cost of the work.

When I was much younger, I bought some deck stain that came with a 10 year warranty. Sanded my deck for days to prep it and applied exactly as instructed. Stain failed 1 year later. When I called about the warranty, they apologized and were happy to send me a few new cans of stain. The rep kind of laughed at me when I asked, "What about the 2 weekends worth of sanding I have to do again?"

That was a hard lesson to learn. Can you imagine rocking your whole pond in and then needing to replace the liner after a few years?
 
Joined
Apr 11, 2021
Messages
102
Reaction score
28
Hardiness Zone
8
Country
United Kingdom
@kelpie: It may be tough to find hdrpe in the UK at any weight, but I believe it is typically sold in 30 mil thickness.

Whatever you do, I would heed the advice of members here, verify the material you are purchasing (EPDM or HDRPE) and its thickness, and disregard warranties as they are mostly marketing (at least in The US) and few, if any, material warranties will cover the labor to uninstall/reinstall which is most of the time/cost of the work.

When I was much younger, I bought some deck stain that came with a 10 year warranty. Sanded my deck for days to prep it and applied exactly as instructed. Stain failed 1 year later. When I called about the warranty, they apologized and were happy to send me a few new cans of stain. The rep kind of laughed at me when I asked, "What about the 2 weekends worth of sanding I have to do again?"

That was a hard lesson to learn. Can you imagine rocking your whole pond in and then needing to replace the liner after a few years?


Thats a pretty basic caveat emptor to check the bona fides of the product, service or whatever it is you are purchasing both technically and anecdotally. If it sounds too good to be true then it probably isn't true and without any documentary, verifiable factual evidence to support the asseveration, its just an unsolicited and unverified claim.

The lack of the "R" has channelled me towards EDPM from a reputable and widely known manufacturer with a lot of acclaim from a large audience.

It's one of the benefits of forums in general, where there is a wide body of experience available to peruse, assuming you can separate the facts from opinions and regurgitated urban myth from recollection.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
31,452
Messages
517,127
Members
13,662
Latest member
socialmeteorperth

Latest Threads

Top