# Pond Liner Underlayment



## barnmichael (Jan 2, 2008)

Being the cheapskate I am, I was planning to use old carpet and padding as the underlayment for my pond liner. But I've recently been told conflicting stories. Some say the padding is okay but don't use old carpet while others say old carpet is great. Then others say you can't use either due to some gas build up or other nonsense.

So, please share your tales of ponds, liners, underlayment, etc.

Thanks.


----------



## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I used roll fiberglass insulation and it worked well for the time I had the pond. I never had loss of water due to holes... of course, I never walked on the liner ever either. The only problem I can think of was when I removed the pond I had this yellow fuzzy liner to try to unload on someone that wanted a used liner... no takers yet.


----------



## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Nothing wrong with being a cheapskate. In my mind you are a recycler. I used many layers of newspaper. Anything you have that will soften the substrate will work just fine.


----------



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

newspaper works very well and if it's down under the liner, and there's not much oxygen, it's not really going to deteriorate very much. Our pond has been leak free for nearly ten years now, and all I did was lay some newspaper in the bottom, and some sand to even it out a bit. EDPM rubber. Granted, it's not a big pond, about a 6x4 rectangle, 30 inches deep at the deep end. But I've got a couple 6 year old goldfish, descendants of the 6 or so 25 cent "feeders" we threw in when we first filled it. We get baby goldfish every year


----------



## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

How many layers? 2, 5, 1000???


----------



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I can't remember. I just laid newspaper sections in there till it felt smooth. I actually don't think you need to worry about underlayment very much unless you have really aggressive tree roots nearby


----------



## pdk (Jan 2, 2008)

Gas?? I, myself, have used carpet without any problems.The place not to be cheap is the liner imho. Thick is good. (Note that I live in Canada where the weather is extreme).


----------



## Dennis Cherry (Feb 16, 2008)

If you are using carpet then make sure it is synthetic only.


----------



## Schlosser (Jan 2, 2008)

I used sand under a preformed pool (kidney shaped, about 3ft x 5ft), and that was a bad thing to do. Unless you use sharp sand, the smooth sand CAN and WILL shift causing stress on what's above. 

You might not notice it, but the ground is constantly shaking a bit, from trucks passing by your front yard and from whatever is going on in your neighborhood: construction, reconstruction, etc. This shaking compacts unpacked soil, chocalate powder to harden, cracks to form in driveways and houses. 

Art


----------



## pdk (Jan 2, 2008)

I have given up on preformed liners and would recommend free-form only.


----------



## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

I'd say more than 5, but less than a thousand.


----------



## sheepdog (Jan 2, 2008)

I used a couple of inches of sand on the bottom and carpet padding around the sides (worried about splinters).





















Craig


----------



## bryanj (Jan 2, 2008)

I've used Newspaper for one worked great. And carpet and padding for another,and sand no problems.


----------



## studeclunker (Mar 15, 2009)

Being the CASO that I am, when my son’s room needed re-carpeting, I put the old under the pond liner I was also installing. I bought mine at Home depot. It was a very[/i] thick liner and worked beautifully. I did[/i] walk around in mine. It was three feet deep and ten feet square. It never[/i] had a problem with leaks. When I pulled the liner up three years later, the carpet looked none the worse for the wear. A bit bug-eaten around the edges was all.


----------

