Inexpensive Pond Liner

[troutsqueezer]

I know it's not the most exciting of topics but I'm leveraging the power of TBN to solve a minor issue I'm having regarding a small pond that I just finished digging. It was another chore for the B21 in digging the pond followed by a lot of hand shoveling and rock manipulating to get it ready for lining. When I started, I figured it couldn't cost that much for a 20' x 30' rubber liner but boy, was I wrong. A 20' x 30' 45 mil rubber liner is $530 down at the local nursery supply store. It is a little cheaper on the Internet but that size weighs over a hundred pounds so there are shipping cost penalties.

Anyone find something much cheaper that will do the job? I've heard of people using black plastic maybe 6 mil but I doubt it will last long. Concrete is out of the question.

I need to have a place to store trout for when I need them. :thumbsup: Actually, my wife wants to have a frog pond and I'd like to stick my game cam up there to see what animals come for a drink.

 

[JRobyn]

Couple of bags of bentonite?

- Jay

 

[MossRoad]

We get 24' round swimming pool liners for a hundred bucks. They make oval sizes, too. But they can get holes poked through them very easily. How about some rubber roofing material at a local supply store. You'd probably have to weld the seams, though. Thinking about it, that's a pretty good size hole to do in one pieces. A pond liner is made for lining ponds and is probably the best choice. $530 doesn't seem that bad when you think about it.

 

[deerseeker001]

i bought mine at fleet farm its like a farm supply/sporting goods/clothing.i had a 15x12 garden pond i know i didn't pay more than 100.00.i had fish in mine.i would stay away from those pond stores they are way over priced. Ron

 

[newbury]

I've read of people reusing billboard material.

Used and Recycled Tarps from Billboard Vinyl | repurposedMATERIALS- Repurposed Materials

About $70 for a 10'x36' but shipping will probably be a killer.

but many of them were able to get it from a local billboard company sometimes for free.

 

[teejk]

I'll be watching this one! I want to see if I can raise domestic ducks for personal consumption but I think I need to have a pond for them. Our soil is such that 10 inches of rain would not be noticed after an hour or two! Yeah it's sandy and full of gravel because the property is on the very edge of the last glacier movement but that has some benefits...my SWMBO got us a high end rock tumbler for Christmas so I can see what is hidden inside all these pretty rocks we find here (reds, blues, greens, etc.) I would not be surprised to find gold or silver here in which case my assistant will be posting comments here.

On the down side, my wife had a koi pond in our previous house (read money pit, especially when the koi had to go the koi vet). Around here I think I have convinced that koi won't work because of eagles and bears.

 

[LJH]

Cheap to free method:

sealing earth dams in volcanic soils [Archive] - Permaculture Forums from the Permaculture Research Institute

 

[troutsqueezer]

Bentonite, I've never heard of it so I googled it. Interesting, would definitely be an experiment. It doesn't look like the bags are cheap though.

I checked out the swimming pool liners and they are a couple hundred bucks, at least. That might be risky since my pond was dug out from a very rocky area. It is not a sandy area, that's for sure. $530 is more than I planned, I could do it but the wife will remind me that I told her it wouldn't cost much. unch:

I think the shipping on the re-purposed billboard material would be cost-prohibitive although I like the idea.

I don't think I can put koi or any fish in the pond because this area is rife with herons and I see them all the time sitting on the neighbor's ponds. I'd be happy with some big bullfrogs.

LJH, thanks for the link. It's interesting stuff. I like the idea about stocking the pond with ducks to seal the bottom. Now, if I could just get them to stick around.

I might have to bite the bullet. $530 bucks could buy me a new Playstation 4 and a game or two. On the other hand, I'd like to spend as much of my money as I can before I buy the farm. I just wish I knew when that was....

 

[Gunny]

Have you checked with any flat roof installation companies in your area? It's been years since I did our last garden pond so I can't remember how much it cost, but I do remember that it was about 1/2 what Lowes wanted for theirs. The EPDM that I bought was in 12 foot widths, so I had to glue two edges together to get it wide enough for my pond (10' wide with 3' deep sides, so I had lots of overlap)

 

[ultrarunner]

I bought a 6' x 25' pond liner for $65 at one of the local fish pond places.

I will call to get a price for you Thursday... 20 x 30'

It might be worth it if you ever get down to Castro Valley... that's were I bought mine.