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#1
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Sealing two types of pond liner
I have a waterfall, which flows into a small stream constructed with
rubber liner, that then flows into a small pond. The pond liner is (I think) some kind of cheaper plastic looking liner. I believe water is leaking where the stream liner overlaps the pond liner, ie water is creeping back up between the two liners. I was wondering what is the best way to make a seal. I know you can cement rubber to rubber, but I'm not sure about rubber to plastic, I was considering using silicone (normal bathroom silicone) as it seems to be very sticky on both types of surfacea and I already have a coiuple of tubes, but I wonder if this could have harmful chemicals for the fish. Any other things I could use? (While writing this, I just realised that aquarium sealer must be safe, but would it be flexible enough?) -- Best regards, Ms Fish |
#2
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Sealing two types of pond liner
On Sun, 24 Jul 2011 11:03:38 +0100, Amanda
wrote: I have a waterfall, which flows into a small stream constructed with rubber liner, that then flows into a small pond. The pond liner is (I think) some kind of cheaper plastic looking liner. I believe water is leaking where the stream liner overlaps the pond liner, ie water is creeping back up between the two liners. I was wondering what is the best way to make a seal. I know you can cement rubber to rubber, but I'm not sure about rubber to plastic, I was considering using silicone (normal bathroom silicone) as it seems to be very sticky on both types of surfacea and I already have a coiuple of tubes, but I wonder if this could have harmful chemicals for the fish. Any other things I could use? (While writing this, I just realised that aquarium sealer must be safe, but would it be flexible enough?) Assuming that the "rubber" liner overlaps the pond liner and that the pond liner is higher than the level of the pond, water should not flow upwards back under the stream liner and you may have a leak somewhere else - check around the pond at the level the water in it settles. I would guess that the "rubber" liner is actually butyl (the best form of liner as it can last up to 50 years if treated right). If the pond liner is "cheaper" then it might be either PVC (10-15 year lifespan) or polyethylene (3 years at most). If it's polyethylene then it would be as well to drain the pond and replace the liner with PVC or butyl as a first step. I suggest that you buy a pond repair kit (or just the adhesive if sold separately) from your local garden centre. The adhesive is made to stick liner together.. You will need to drain the pond to below the level of the join, and allow the area to dry. Then fold back the upper liner and clean both faces thoroughly. Finally wipe with mentholated spirits. Apply the waterproof adhesive to both surfaces and as soon as it feels dry to the touch press the surfaces together and smooth carefully to remove any air bubbles. Apply a weight to the join and leave to fry for the amount of time specified on the tube/kit before refilling the pond. If, OTOH, you find another leak, it's a patch job (patch material will be in the kit) but make sure that the patch extends at least 2 inches all round the tear. Cheers Jake ============================================== Gardening at the dry end (east) of Swansea Bay in between reading anything by JRR Tolkien. www.rivendell.org.uk |
#3
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Sealing two types of pond liner
On 24/07/2011 12:07, Jake wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jul 2011 11:03:38 +0100, Amanda wrote: I was wondering what is the best way to make a seal. I know you can cement rubber to rubber, but I'm not sure about rubber to plastic, I was considering using silicone (normal bathroom silicone) as it seems to be very sticky on both types of surfacea and I already have a coiuple of tubes, but I wonder if this could have harmful chemicals for the fish. Any other things I could use? (While writing this, I just realised that aquarium sealer must be safe, but would it be flexible enough?) Assuming that the "rubber" liner overlaps the pond liner and that the pond liner is higher than the level of the pond, water should not flow upwards back under the stream liner and you may have a leak somewhere else - check around the pond at the level the water in it settles. Thanks I have checked for other leaks and there are none in the pond or waterfall, what seems to happen is that even if the rubber liner of the stream is higher than the water level, water still wicks back up underneath. I think it's bit like an external window sill, if it doesn't have a groove underneath the same thing can happen, most of the water falls straight off but quite a lot still goes back up underneath. IA house I lived in once had huge patches of damp wall because this groove was blocked. The problem is you can't do anything like that with rubber. It needs to have a vertical end rather than horizontal. Anyway I'll try the pond liner repair kit, I hadn't realised it would work with anything other than rubber. I think it's PVC, sooner or later I know it should be replaced but that's a big job for now as the pond has paving round the edge. -- Best regards, Ms Fish |
#4
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Sealing two types of pond liner
On Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:11:02 +0100, Amanda wrote:
I think it's bit like an external window sill, if it doesn't have a groove underneath the same thing can happen, ... snip The problem is you can't do anything like that with rubber. It needs to have a vertical end rather than horizontal. Well loop the waterfall liner back up around something so it forms an edge for the water that flows around the end and back along the horizontal underside can drip from. fixed pitch font \ \ ___ \ U -- Cheers Dave. |
#5
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Sealing two types of pond liner
On 24/07/2011 22:45, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:11:02 +0100, Amanda wrote: I think it's bit like an external window sill, if it doesn't have a groove underneath the same thing can happen, ... snip The problem is you can't do anything like that with rubber. It needs to have a vertical end rather than horizontal. Well loop the waterfall liner back up around something so it forms an edge for the water that flows around the end and back along the horizontal underside can drip from. fixed pitch font \ \ ___ \ U Thanks That's definitely worth looking into, but will mean getting a whole new liner for the stream as it's too short to do that at the moment. I was hoping not to have to rebuild the stream, but it could be a very good solution. -- Best regards, Ms Fish |
#6
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Sealing two types of pond liner
On Mon, 25 Jul 2011 09:09:55 +0100, Amanda wrote:
Well loop the waterfall liner back up around something so it forms an edge for the water that flows around the end and back along the horizontal underside can drip from. fixed pitch font \ \ ___ \ U That's definitely worth looking into, but will mean getting a whole new liner for the stream as it's too short to do that at the moment. The "U" doesn't have to be very big, water really doesn't like running up hill. B-) The more vertical you can get the rear side the better, 1/4" vertical would probably do but 1/2" would be better. Depends a bit on how thick/flexable the stream liner is. -- Cheers Dave. |
#7
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Sealing two types of pond liner
its really a worst leakage problem thanks to draw our attentions towards this issue.
For more www.pondpro2000.com/why_pondpro.html |
#8
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Sealing two types of pond liner
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