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#1
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future Googlers: seaming liners
I'm reposting this w/o a binary attached so it stays in Google's archives:
I recently finished expanding my pond by partially draining it, digging a new hole, lifting the liner partially out and seaming a new piece of liner to the old one. I made many mistakes, but finally did it right. I only needed to seam a 4' section, so I didn't buy a whole kit (which would have, perhaps, had complete instructions, though I did research what to do. But not well enough. So, for any future ponder wanting to do the same, and Googling rec.ponds "seaming liner" or whatever (as I did), here are my tips, beyond what I found elsewhere on the web (note, I'm doing this b/c the first try at seaming them together did not work!): 1) Clean the liners thoroughly. I found do use unleaded gasoline, don't use unleaded gasoline, use seam prep, don't use seam prep. I did this: I got all the gunk off the old one and the powder off the new one with soap and water. Then I cleaned them with mineral spirits over and over until they were clean. Then, not sure if there would be any residue, cleaned with soap again, then plain water. 2) Let the seam prep dry absolutely thoroughly. The can said 10-15 minutes, but in 80F weather with little humidity, mine took 20 minutes. And, when I had to redo it at 9:30 at night because the stupid first seaming leaked, it took 45 minutes to dry, with a fan blowing on it. Rrr. 3) Seam prep weakens lap sealant. The residue of the s.p. should not touch the l.s., and when you add the s.p. for the 2nd, single-sided 6" tape, do not let it touch the l.s! When they did, even after 48 hours of curing, the lap sealant just pulled apart. 4) This should have gone earlier, but make sure you're seaming the correct sides together! My first attempt failed for who knows what multiple reasons, but I did it upside down anyway, so the new, connected liners were curved in a big "U". 5) Make sure that you roll each of the tape applications really, really well on a flat surface. I actually did this by pulling up the liner and placing the area to be seamed on a huge board, while the rest of the original liner remained in place. 6) Do not add the final lap sealant around the 6" single-sided tape for 4 hours after it was laid down. I read this on the label of the l.s. after I'd already done it (the first time). I'm guessing that the reason has something to do with allowing the seam prep to evaporate first. 7) Be careful with the lap sealant (which is like a caulk). Get a good, thin bead, and don't feather it like I did the first time, and don't add thick globs, which take forever to dry. It actually says not to feather it (oops, read that tube afterwards again). 8) The company I purchased from said to let it cure for 48 hours. My l.s. was not dry then (80F degrees, moderate humidity, but in full sun). It dried in 72 hours. 9) Finally, the seam is not as flexible as the liner, which makes sense, but I didn't expect. If it ends up it a stress point, where you want it to stretch to mold to a shape (say, over a ledge), it won't do that very well and may stress the seam. Good luck, future pond expanders; my work is done! |
#2
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Mike Miller wrote: I'm reposting this w/o a binary attached so it stays in Google's archives: It was already there because I responded to your original post and snipped the binary for you. Did you even check Google? Cam |
#3
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Oh, you're right. I just assumed it had been trashed since I didn't see it
on the newsgroup, forgetting it wasn't a binary group. Thanks! "Cam" wrote in message ... Mike Miller wrote: I'm reposting this w/o a binary attached so it stays in Google's archives: It was already there because I responded to your original post and snipped the binary for you. Did you even check Google? Cam |
#4
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On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 00:55:08 GMT, "Mike Miller" wrote:
I'm reposting this w/o a binary attached so it stays in Google's archives: I recently finished expanding my pond by partially draining it, digging a new hole, lifting the liner partially out and seaming a new piece of liner to the old one. I made many mistakes, but finally did it right. I only needed to seam a 4' section, so I didn't buy a whole kit (which would have, perhaps, had complete instructions, though I did research what to do. But not well enough. So, for any future ponder wanting to do the same, and Googling rec.ponds "seaming liner" or whatever (as I did), here are my ips, beyond what I found elsewhere on the web (note, I'm doing this b/c the first try at seaming them together did not work!): 1) Clean the liners thoroughly. I found do use unleaded gasoline, don't use unleaded gasoline, use seam prep, don't use seam prep. I did this: I got all the gunk off the old one and the powder off the new one with soap and water. Then I cleaned them with mineral spirits over and over until they were clean. Then, not sure if there would be any residue, cleaned with soap again, then plain water. 2) Let the seam prep dry absolutely thoroughly. The can said 10-15 minutes, but in 80F weather with little humidity, mine took 20 minutes. And, when I had to redo it at 9:30 at night because the stupid first seaming leaked, it took 45 minutes to dry, with a fan blowing on it. Rrr. 3) Seam prep weakens lap sealant. The residue of the s.p. should not touch the l.s., and when you add the s.p. for the 2nd, single-sided 6" tape, do not let it touch the l.s! When they did, even after 48 hours of curing, the lap sealant just pulled apart. 4) This should have gone earlier, but make sure you're seaming the correct sides together! My first attempt failed for who knows what multiple reasons, but I did it upside down anyway, so the new, connected liners were curved in a big "U". 5) Make sure that you roll each of the tape applications really, really well on a flat surface. I actually did this by pulling up the liner and placing the area to be seamed on a huge board, while the rest of the original liner remained in place. 6) Do not add the final lap sealant around the 6" single-sided tape for 4 hours after it was laid down. I read this on the label of the l.s. after I'd already done it (the first time). I'm guessing that the reason has something to do with allowing the seam prep to evaporate first. 7) Be careful with the lap sealant (which is like a caulk). Get a good, thin bead, and don't feather it like I did the first time, and don't add thick globs, which take forever to dry. It actually says not to feather it (oops, read that tube afterwards again). 8) The company I purchased from said to let it cure for 48 hours. My l.s. was not dry then (80F degrees, moderate humidity, but in full sun). It dried in 72 hours. 9) Finally, the seam is not as flexible as the liner, which makes sense, but I didn't expect. If it ends up it a stress point, where you want it to stretch to mold to a shape (say, over a ledge), it won't do that very well and may stress the seam. Good luck, future pond expanders; my work is done! |
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