FIRESTONE POND LINERS
Firestone pond liners, are a tried and true liner option that have a solid following in the pond industry. The liner that is branded specifically for decorative ponds is called Firestone PondGuard. There are a number of features and benefits that make Firestone an excellent choice when building anything from a small garden pond, to a large scale commercial landscape pond.
Firestone Liners & Accessories
Materials
Firestone uses EPDM rubber as their material of choice, which is one of two options we recommend here at Everything-Ponds.com. The other option we recommend is our Premium RPE liner, which is a high quality reinforced polyethylene liner with excellent strength and UV resistance. EPDM is an excellent material for situations that require a very flexible liner since EPDM bends easily around shelves, corners and tight bends. RPE is a little stiffer to work with compared to EPDM, but carries with it higher puncture resistance, making it harder to damage and puncture than EPDM.
For an overview of all the various liner options, including rigid fiberglass, rigid plastic, pvc and polyproylene, please read our page on pond liners.
The Company
If the name Firestone is familiar to you, it is probably because the company started in tires and rubber products over a 120 years ago in the year 1900. The company has developed their rubber production throughout the years and have steadily branched out into many industries. In fact, the Firestone company has 13 plants making a range of products, including their versatile line of Firestone pond liners.
The Specifics
Unlike preformed pond liners, firestone's EPDM pond liner is a flexible rubber sheet that comes in a roll, which can be purchased in a number of different sizes and shapes. Have a small garden pond that only needs a small liner? No problem, the liner is available as small as 10'x10', or in the case of large ponds, as large as 50' x 100'. One negative of very large panels is they can get quite heavy since EPDM is one of the heavier liner materials. For very large panels (up to 60,00 square feet), we actually recommend Reinforced Polyethylene because it is stronger and lighter, making larger sheets possible. For more information on RPE liners, please take a look at our RPE liner page in our store.
Firestone EPDM conforms well to uneven substrates.
For firestone liners, if even larger pieces are needed, Firestone has a method of joining multiple sheets together with their specialty seam tape. However, a word of caution on joining multiple sheets together: It's our experience that if a liner is going to leak, it's usually at a seam created on site. If at all possible, use a single sheet to avoid any installation errors. If using one sheet just isn't possible, be sure to read the manufacture's instructions carefully when installing yourself, or have an experienced applicator do the work for you. Since the liner is essentially the foundation of your pond, fixing a leak later can be both difficult and costly. We would rather use RPE liner in a single piece than seam an EPDM rubber liner together on site.
Features
Firestone EPDM synthetic rubber is durable and very flexible. It has been tested to withstand temperatures as cold as -40 degrees F and as hot as 175 degrees F. Due to its flexible nature, the liner is able to stretch and conform to features or objects in the pond subgrade. It is also able to expand and contract as needed due to temperature variations, or pressure changes in the water. The Firestone pond liner is weather resistant, and it is sold in 45mil thicknesses (1 or 1.1mm).
Warranty
Firestone pond liners have a warranty that covers the liner for up to 20 years if installed as per manufacturer recommendations. One such recommendation, which could void the warranty if omitted, is using an approved underlay beneath the liner to increase the puncture resistance. Generally, if the liner is properly installed, it should last well over 30 years. This highlights another advantage of RPE liners. No underlay is needed if the liner is going over clean soil, sand or clay.
Environmental Performance
One of the benefits of going with a Firestone pond liner is its resistance to UV light and use of inert materials, which will not leech harmful chemicals into your pond. Some other cheaper liners actually use plasticizers that could harm fish or other life in your pond, so going with an environmentally friendly liner is important. Our Premium RPE liner is also fish and plant safe, and as an added benefit is actually NSF-61 certified, which makes it safe for even drinking water! Firestone PondGuard does not have the NSF-61 rating, so if you need that rating on your liner for human consumption applications, we would recommend going with the Premium RPE liner instead.
If you have any questions about using any of the liners mentioned above, please feel free to contact us here. Thanks for stopping by!
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