Pond Liners

The first thing you need to do before you start constructing your pond is too pick out a pond liner. You want to purchase the best liner you can afford. The better quality of pond liner you have the less likely you are to have problems concerning the liner.

It is also better to have too much liner than too little, be generous when figuring out what size of liner you will need!! When you are sizing your liner you will need to figure in a 2 foot overlap around the whole pond. This will assure you have enough liner to have an overlap and will give you a little wiggle room in case things shift a bit when filling your pond.

Too figure the actual size of pond liner you will need.

Length, take the length of your pond and add double the depth and 4 foot to it (the overlap).

Width, take the width of your pond and add double the depth and 4 foot to it (the overlap).

Be sure and take into consideration your climate and whether or not you want fish or not when deciding how deep you want your pond. If you are going to keep fish or even plants in it year round you may need to dig a little deeper.

Choosing a brand or type of liner.

Take your time look at your options and needs. A little homework in this part of your pond planning can save you a lot of time, money, and frustration later!! There is a large variety of liner types available from 45 mil EPDM, to polyethylene pond liners, to PVC pond liners.

Some brands to include in your research are Firestone PondGard EPDM, Butyl Rubber Liners, Royal Liners, GeoCHEM liners, and RTC PondGrade EPDM. Be sure NOT to use roofing EPDM, there are chemicals in it that can and will kill your fish and plants.

Pond Liner Underlay

Okay, you have just picked out the best liner you feel you can afford and now you want to assure yourself that it lasts as long as possible. To do that you need to put down an underlayment to place your liner on. This will make it more puncture resistant and it will also stabilize the liner and keep it from stretching too much. You can, and a lot of people do, use sand, old carpet, or newspaper for this. But these underlayments can settle, and a lot of pond underlay is cheaper than sand and has the added benefit that it will not slowly rot the liner.

Choosing a brand or type of underlay.

Again do your research and ask around. Find out what people are using and if they are having or have had any problems. Some brands to consider in your research would be Firestone, Geo-Pad, Blagdon, Aquashield, and Aquatex.