- Driveway (1)
- Patio & Pathway Geotextile (1)
- Pond Liners (11)
- 02/03/2010: Wondering if our Greenseal Rubber Lake Liners are right for you?
- 02/03/2010: Use Greenseal EPDM to create the pond of your dreams
- 18/01/2010: Greenseal Pond Liner
- 07/06/2009: Box Weld & Tailored Liners
- 06/06/2009: Polyfelt Pond Liner Protective Underlay
- 06/06/2009: FLP Erocell Ground & Slope Reinforcement & Erosion Control
- 06/06/2009: The Big Pond Dip 2009
- 13/03/2009: Fixing Staples,pegs & anchor pins
- 13/03/2009: FLP Builder Pack
- 15/06/2007: Pond Liner Installation Guideline - Basic Tips
Pond Liner Selection - Confused ?
There are a multitude of pond lining materials currently available on the UK market which include Butyl Rubber, Firestone Pond Liner, PVC, Greenseal Rubber, EPDM,PVC,LDPE AND HDPE. Each offering it’s own unique composition and in some cases, restrictive or limited use dependent upon the type of application required.The correct choice of material and quality is therefore extremely important from the outset,as the wrong product or inferior quality could prove to be only a short-term,uneconomical and costly solution should a problem arise.
These days,as with most manufactured products, a material is often “renamed or rebranded” by a distributor or retailer to either promote their own logo / brand or protect the manufacturing source. i.e Firestone Pond Liner is manufactured by Firestone Building Products USA,it is also marketed and distributed throughout the UK under the Aqualast and Aquacare Rubber brand names amongst others.
WARNING: To the layman, this can sometimes be a little confusing when seeking a suitable pond liner. Unfortunately there are certain retailers throughout the UK that deem in necessary to misrepresent or mislead the general public as to the actual type of material on offer, at the expense of the customer i.e
Aqualast Butyl Rubber - No such material
Firestone Butyl Rubber - No such material
Firestone Aqualast Butyl - No such material
These are 2 completely different material compositions (butyl and EPDM) misrepresented. An EPDM (synthetic rubber) being sold a a Butyl.
Authentic Butyl Rubber is also known as Swedish Butyl Rubber or Varnamo Trelleborg Butyl Rubber - the appearance of the material has a slightly “embossed” or “textured” surface. If you have recently purchased a Swedish Butyl Rubber material which is “smooth” in appearance - note this IS NOT Butyl Rubber !
Aqualast Rubber / Aquacare Rubber or Firestone Pond Liner - this product has a totally smooth surface appearance also the material composition is an EPDM (synthetic rubber NOT butyl). Firestone Rubber Pond Liner is a truely exceptional high quality material - but do not be misled that you are purchasing Butyl Rubber but are actually purchasing a (synthetic rubber) EPDM material.
What clouds the selection process further, are products that are promoted using a similar sounding brand name to Butyl Rubber which IS NOT a Butyl Rubber but an EPDM - to the layman this could be confusing since the material name makes a reference to butyl in it’s name, which is clever marketing ploy - but at the end of the day is still not Swedish Butyl Rubber which the customer ends up thinking they have purchased.
There are new types of EPDM materials entering the UK market which look and feel exactly like Butyl Rubber i.e has a slightly “embossed” or “textured” surface. As a general rule of thumb EPDM displays a more “elastic”characteristic than Swedish Butyl Rubber.When purchasing Butyl Rubber ensure that it is proper Swedish Butyl Rubber manufactured by Varnamo / Trelleborg Sweden.
There are also numerous brands of PVC liners offered, varying in both grade and quality. If possible, it is always best to examine the material prior to purchase as you could end up with a product no better than a dustbin liner or a very shiney material that is both cosmetically displeasing and not easy to work with.
Tips: In order to safeguard against the possibility of being sold inferior quality or misrepresented materials we reccomend;
If not pressed for time - request product samples from a few retailers to compare both the quality and inspect any deviation between the appearance and characteristics of the material on offer.
If buying direct, request the retailer confirms the exact type of material purchased and if possible the name of the manufacturer.This should be recorded on your receipt.
Ponds are both time consuming and costly to construct and can prove to be very expensive if the initial material selected was inferior or not designed for the application intended.
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