Has anyone here used rubber roofing for pond liner?  I bought some pond liner for my upper pond but it only lasted about 2 years before cracking.  I had to shut down my waterfall due to the leak as it was draining my lower pond. Would be curious to see how many have tried it and what results you had, and any hints or tid bits you can offer.  Does the life span justify the costs?
Dewing my thyme in southwest Indiana

Dewey, 

I do not have personal experience with it, but have heard of it being used for ponds. Worked well was the feedback. You must remember that it is thicker than pond liner, and will last longer. Also, a bit more difficult to work with. You may be able to pick up a remnant piece from a roofing supply company or a roofer for  less $$$.

 

I must ask you, how did you lay yours out? When I did mine, the directions stated to lay down a layer of carpet padding (foam), or a thick layer of news paper. I went with the padding, thinking long term of course. This was to protect it from any abrasive surfaces under the liner. Mine has been in place for about ten years with out any liner problems. Imagine that, from a kit I bought in Wal-Mart. I even walk in it about three, four times a year when I drain it out to clean out the algae and debris.

Maybe yours cracked due to rocks, roots, etc. pushing up from under it.

"I'll try almost anything at least once.
Mid-Hudson Valley Region, NY

I used a fine sand for a base, but never added any foam or newspaper.  It cracked on the sidewall and bottom corner.  I've used the roofing in the river that feeds the water back to the lower pond for 2 years, but it doesn't have the constant weight or pressure the pond would put on it.  I got that roofing from a friend so I'm not sure what the costs would be like.  My upper pond is kidney shaped, about 5' X 3' by 15" deep.

Dewing my thyme in southwest Indiana

Hi Dewey

At my old house we built a pond by closing up a small valley, not big only about 12 x 14 feet.
Used an old swimming pool liner for it originally, which eventually caused a few problems.

We drained the pond, cleaned it real well and applied a coat of liquid EPDM.  A few years later, due to some settling of the stonework, we needed to lower the overflow pipe and my son managed to break it off in the process. 
I took the easy way out and just drilled down to the 2 inch pipe and stuck a new 1 inch into it.  Used the EPDM as a sealant around the new pipe and pool liner.  I lived there 15 more years and it never leaked once since.

I haven't looked into it years now, so I imagine the cost would be up around 30 bucks a gallon or more now.  When we used it, a 5 gallon bucket of non-catalyst type was only 60 bucks.  I'm pretty sure it's over 175 bucks now if not higher.

But it goes on over virtually anything and remains stretchy up to a point, hi hi......

That way you could just RECOAT your existing liner like I did and be done with it for a decade or more!

TTUL
Gary


aka Kellemora (from the old boards) - Lifetime Club Member Since July 17, 1997

Dewey;

ClickHere If any of these stores are near you, you may be able to pick up a remnant from them. When the rubber rolls get to small, contractors tend not to want whats left on that roll. Thus, the supplier may wind up getting stuck with it, and would probably be happy to unload that last piece at a fraction of the cost. At least the one I worked at did.

For a 5'x3'x15" pond, you would probably only need a 8'x6' piece of rubber.

The layer of fine sand may be enough for the bottom, but does it extend up the sides? The carpet foam I installed lays across the bottom and up the sides, creating a soft cushion all around under the liner.

Hope this helps you.

 

 

"I'll try almost anything at least once.
Mid-Hudson Valley Region, NY

Thanks I'lltry, the nearest would be Bloomington, which would be about 70 miles away.  I just heard of a place called Allied Roofing in Evansville, which would be about 15 mi., so I'll give them a try first.  Thanks for the help, and I'll see if I can't find some old carpet for the sides.
Dewing my thyme in southwest Indiana

Dewey,
a friend of mine uses that material.
He had no problems so far.
The pond people, wanting you to buy their more expensive stuff, claim that there is chemicals in roofing material that is detrimental to fish.
I don't believe that.

Personally I bought a kit for mine that came with a "liner" of heavy felt-like material.
Under my stream bed there is no liner as that was an additional piece.

Sunlight may eventually crack unprotected rubber, so the key here is to cover all exposed rubber with rocks, plants or anything you can to keep the sunlight and UV rays from it.

My pond web page is here.



Cordially,
Gerry

Gerry, I'm sure the sunlight was a contributing factor, we had just planted some creeping juniper in a walled in garden beside the pond when we originally put the pond in.  It took a couple years for the juniper to cast a shadow on the pond.  We did plant some other bushes at the same time, but again slow growth didn't help.  I miss hearing my waterfall and seeing the ponds lit up from under water in the evenings when it's cool enough to sit out there.
Anything worth dewing is worth dewing well! Dewing my time in southwest IN.

Hi Dewey, I love ponds also.

Have put in 4 at different places I lived.

There was a site on rec.ponds.net years ago that had daily chats about ponds but I think the internet may not have that anymore.

Last I bought for a liner (and haven't put it in) was for a 4'X8'X16" pond.

EPDM was about .094" thick.

Guaranteed for 20 yrs.

You can glue it with the right stuff.

The talk at the time was always line the hole with used carpet (make sure no tacks are in it) .

Roofing rubber was also talked about and there might be some leaching of toxic stuff to kill the fish. Others claimed there was no problem if you treated liner with something. As I recall roofing stuff worked very well if done right.

A friend made 20'X40'X 2' pond out of black plastic.

He was always adding water as that stuff is not very good.

Also, as someone said, the liner has to be strong enough for you to walk in.

To re-arange plants, fix pumps and filters, and I liked to lay in mine on hot days LOL. My fish liked me too.

One pond I had was under a large oak tree.

With a light on bottom shining up I could see the shadows of the fish on the undersides of the leaves at night. Very nice with tea lights floating in small clear containers in the moving water.

I was vacationing on Maui once and they had some plants seemed to be floating in a pond. I stuck my head and upper body in to see how that was done.

A security guard came to tell me not to do that but not until I found clear plexiglass holding them up. Not seen from above the water made a neat effect.

Gosh, I wish I was more help.

Randy

Aloha Oregon 97007

 

Try and keep all body parts attached.

Thanks for the info Randy, that was a good read.
Anything worth dewing is worth dewing well! Dewing my time in southwest IN.

Dewey, 

I have had a rubber roof  in the bottom of my 14' x 20' pond for three years now.  I have not had a deteriation problem with the rubber roof at all

I also have two water falls  going into it.  I am using two pumps; one is a small pump for the  small water fall and he other is a sump pump.  The sump pump drives my electricity usage up rather high so i am investing in a smaller pump designed for  yard ponds and costs around $150.

I don't use a filter on the smaller pump, but I do on the bigger one.  it is comprised of a burlap bag filled with lava rock and small balls that i purchased at Lowe's,  I also wihin the  burlap bag have place two sheets of filter material that surrounds the lava rock and the  balls.  this filter is at the end of black pvc , 2 inch pipe coming from the sump pump in the pond into a small plastic pond, 3' x 4',  i installed at a tilt to work as a water fall into the pond.  I wash  this out with a hose twice during the summer.

One big reason for this all was the algae  in the pond, which i illiminated by putting pond plants in.  i am still learnng..

Terry

Terry E. Nitz

Dewey,

we also used carpet  for under of  our rubber roof.

Terry E. Nitz

Terry E. Nitz

   RUBBER ROOFING IS FOR ROOFS NOT PONDS.............

Could be an EPA issue...............................

Dug my small pond in clay.

Fired clay with a weed torch.

 Lined the hole with disposal (paper) moving blanks.

 Installed POND LINER over that.

 Now 12 years later the liner has holes & cracks that the fish swim in and out of.

 NO LEAKS

 In the winter I have a 100 watt floating heater that keeps it open and the waterfall running.

Stop The Cry'n and Do Some Try'n Geneva IL. Member Since 1998

My son in law is a roofer. They do a lot of commercial flat roofs and use the rubber roofing. There is material that can have chemicals in it but is a special order type. Typically, the rubber roofing comes in different thicknesses and the only difference is that the thicker it is, the harder it is to handle and the less likely to be punctured. Puncturing is not a big problem. Remember, this material lays on top of a roof in the sun for years and doesn't crack. Yes, use an underlayment of some sort. I used old wool blankets, old carpet, and I have heard of using layers of paper but it seems like that would decay and break down too fast and too much. My pond was installed in 2001 and still going strong. Yes, I have a leak but from testing, it seems to be in the waterfall which is common.

Thanks for all the tips guys, much appreciated.
Anything worth dewing is worth dewing well! Dewing my time in southwest IN.

I used an old waterbed mattress six years ago, and the only leaks I have incurred is when the raccoons got in it and stole all my fish.  The shotgun's closer to the door now!  I just used some beach sand, and made sure the rocks were out of the area completely.  I read all about the carpet pad and newspapers, but figured it was small enough that if I had to do it over it wouldn't be a big deal.

I used EDPM rubber for the liner of my first pond and constantly had problems keeping the water level up. In fact, I drained the first pond and added a second layer of rubber to eliminate leaking. Wanting something better for this edition of the pond, I found a local company, BTL, that sells a pond liner that requires no underlayment, is super durable and is cheaper than EDPM, even with the shipping costs. The company cut it to the size I needed and shipped it to me.

this is from an article on the Handy site[