Flexible Pond Liners
Here at Everything Ponds, there are a couple of different types of flexible pond liners that we personally use and recommend to our customers. The type of pond you’re building will determine the best liner for your particular application.
When we refer to flexible pond liners, we mean liners that can bend and mold into custom shapes and sizes as determined by your pond excavation. It's important to define this since we don’t necessarily mean liners that are able to stretch. Although some liners, like EPDM rubber, do have some stretch to them, it’s generally not a good idea to stretch the liner during installation. A stretched liner is generally weaker and more easily punctured by sharp objects. Other liners like our Premium RPE liners or Box-Welded liners are reinforced, which means they don't stretch at all.
Our Liner Recommendations
Flexible vs. Rigid
The reason flexible pond liners are more commonly used than rigid liners is their versatility, packing size, and creative freedom. Whereas a 15’ x 20’ rigid fiberglass liner would be very difficult to ship, move around, and install, a 15’ x 20’ piece of flexible liner would be relatively light and easy to install. In addition, a flexible liner can be molded into pretty much any shape or size your imagination can dream up.
Materials Available
There are 3 main types of flexible pond liners we recommend here at Everything Ponds: RPE liners, EPDM rubber liners and flexible box-welded liners made out of polypropylene liner. The first two liners are sold as flat sheets, which are then folded by hand into the hole dug for the pond. The box-welded liners are pre-formed 3D shaped boxes we custom make specifically for rectangular and circular formal-style ponds.
Reinforced Polyethylene (RPE) Liners vs. EPDM
Our Premium RPE Liner is our first choice when it comes to choosing a flexible pond liner due to RPE's higher strength and durability. In many cases, RPE doesn’t require an underlayment because of its higher puncture resistance. In contrast, EPDM rubber always requires an underlayment because it's a softer material that's easier to puncture. However, because EPDM is softer, it is also more bendable and pliable to work with, making installations with a lot of tight corners and bends a little easier. When would we use either liner? For a very small pond with multiple shelves, corners, and bends that would require a lot of liner folds and pleats, the EPDM rubber will help get the liner into the tighter space with less effort. For ponds with less folding required, RPE is definitely the better choice because of its higher strength. RPE can still be pleated and folded, though it will just require a little more time to install compared to the ‘floppy’ EPDM. Watch the below video for a visual of each of the two liners.
Box Welded Liners
Box-welded liners are what you get when you combine a flexible pond liner with a preformed shape. We take flat sheets of extra-strong polypropylene liner and heat weld them into 3D shaped boxes or cylinders. What we end up with is a flexible 3D shaped liner that makes an excellent rectangular or circular pond with no folding or pleating required. We can make pretty much any size you need as well, so if you have an existing rectangular or circular structure you need to line, the box-welded liners are a great choice. Visit our product page here to type in your size and get a price.
Click Here to Return from Flexible Pond Liners to our Pond Liners
Click Here to Return to our Home Page
Everything-Ponds.com is your complete source for quality pond liner information. Have a question about any of the flexible pond liners mentioned above? Please send us an email!