Cam
August 21st 04, 02:28 PM
On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 01:34:00 GMT, "Mike Miller" >
wrote:
>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!
>
Google didn't carry your original post because you put a binary in a
text group.
Cam
wrote:
>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!
>
Google didn't carry your original post because you put a binary in a
text group.
Cam