Vinyl as a liner

[Ralph Parker]

Hello all!
I am currently looking into potentially building another, larger, pond (about 20'x15' and 3'+ deep) but don't really have much $$$ to work with.
I noticed building my first one that the liner is what makes up a large portion of the cost, so I started looking for cheap liners and found this eBay product. This lead me to doing research and I found the provider at https://billboardtarps.com/.
Looking into their 55+oz section I found gray 10'x25' 50mil liners for only $88. Browsing around I found other good sizes and deals. Many, however, were only 22mil.
I was wondering if anyone had any experience with these liners or recommendations for other cheap options. I have heard several good testimonials about them on other forums.
Thank you all in advance!

 

[Tara]

Hello. Just finished my pond and when looking around at liners the best price I saw was 45 mil EPDM liner by aqua tough. If you read the fine print with billboard liners it does not guarantee no leaks. I do know the prices went up some when I was looking at liners due to it been a popular time of year for pond building.

 

[Ralph Parker]

Hello. Just finished my pond and when looking around at liners the best price I saw was 45 mil EPDM liner by aqua tough. If you read the fine print with billboard liners it does not guarantee no leaks. I do know the prices went up some when I was looking at liners due to it been a popular time of year for pond building.

Thanks for the suggestion @Tara , the prices for aquatough are pretty low indeed relative to the current market, but I think that I will keep looking into the other material. Thanks for the heads up about the guarantee!

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

Hello Ralph, I do not have any experience with the particular products you mentioned. I do have a small pond of around 270 gallons which I built with a reinforced PVC liner (22 mil I believe). That pond is only 5 months old, and while it is currently doing fine, I can't possibly speculate on the durability of it. However, we are currently building a 2,000 gallon pond, and because of it's size, and the effort we're putting into it, I did not hesitate to spend the extra money on the 45 mil rubber liner and the appropriate underlayment. For us, it is totally worth the money to have a quality liner that we don't have to worry about. Vs. an inexpensive liner that may fail, whether its months, or even a couple years from now. I could just imagine the mess a failed liner could make, and the even BIGGER expense and effort that would be involved in cleaning up the mess and rebuilding it with a proper liner. IMHO, a quality liner is a worthwhile investment.

 

[mrsclem]

The liner is the only item you shouldn't go cheap on. A 20 miles liner may last 5 years under ideal conditions. The size pond you are planning will need a 25x30 liner. While it is a huge expense, do you want to have it fail in a few years, lose your fish and have to redo everything? Shop for best price but stick to good quality. Check Webbs Water Gardens, they usually have great prices.

 

[Lisak1]

The first thing you put into your pond is the last thing you want to skimp on. Buy a cheap pump if you must, but never, ever skimp on liner. Bargain shop, wait for deals, look for coupons, check Craigslist and eBay - but go with a good liner.

 

[Mmathis]

Even if it means waiting a little longer to build your pond — do not skimp on your liner! Yes, people use this material, but I wouldn’t trust it long term. I do recall a member a few years ago (don’t recall the name, though) who used a billboard tarp. She came back a year or 2 later and admitted her mistake and had to completely redo her pond! You don’t want this kind of experience to happen to you!

 

[sissy]

one thing you do not want to cheap out on is the liner unless you plan on replacing the liner in a couple of years .It is better to save on building your own filter .The reason those liners are light weight is because they are thin .I have pvc liner for my waterfall over liner to protect the epdm liner where my stock tank sits and it is degrading fast .Very brittle

 

[Nevermore44]

Never though of sourcing one for a pond. Looking around... it does look like some people are using them with success.... though I would be leery on a big build to use one. Also since you are up in the north.... I would also make sure you find out about the material in the winter and it becoming more brittle and then if your pond will ice over... what the ice pressure will do.

Have you looked into sourcing roofing rubber? It's made by the same manufacturers as the pond liners, you can get different thicknesses and it's much less expensive.

 

[sissy]

goodyear plant is here and a friend who works there said the only difference is that roofing liner is coated with a non fish safe coating to keep it from sticking together and pond liner they use baking soda .You just need to rinse the liner and most roofing material only comes 10 foot wide pieces to be seamed by the roofer

 

[Nevermore44]

Well that's good to finally know the difference! The people I know that used roofing rubber all say they just wash the white powder off before use and haven't had any issues. All assumed it was an anti algae coating. And yes to having to do the seaming yourself.

 

[sissy]

Rubber roofing these days is not much cheaper than a pond liner and seaming is risky at best .

 

[Ralph Parker]

Alright everyone, thanks. I am convinced! Will hold out for a little while till I have the funds to get the good stuff. Thanks to all who advised!