Monday, November 17, 2008

Waterproofing Fish Ponds, Fountains With Liquid Roof

Liquid roof or Liquid rubber, being Liquid EPDM, has a wide range of application areas due to its extensive features. Its reflective nature results in delivering cooling effect. It is UV and ozone layer stable, highly chemical resistant, can tolerate a very broad temperature range and is compatible with a variety of surfaces like rubber, fiberglass, concrete, metal, foam, wood and fabric. It is the best solution for roof leaks repair. But besides all these features, one characteristic of epdm that is very important and must be mentioned is its water proofing nature. Due to this, it is extensively used to waterproof fountains and fish ponds.

The fountains and fish ponds have concrete surfaces. When special additives for water resistance are not added to a concrete surface, a need for an impervious coating becomes very essential. Because if such a coating is not applied, then it may lead to leaching out of soluble constituents and this is something very dangerous. These factors demand that the ponds and fountains must be glazed with a coating that is nontoxic and safe for the fishes and offers maximum water resistance. Liquid EPDM rubber, no doubt is the best. It provides protection to the surface both against the fresh and salt water.

Besides providing the water proofing feature, it also provides a solution to the roof leaks problem. The pond surface is usually plastic, concrete or rubber lined. When leaks are encountered in concrete surfaces, rubber liners are usually installed. But this process is very tricky and complicated. Also plastic pond liners generally get cracked. They can be repaired with products like caulks and tapes but they eventually get wear out. So for fixing leaks on both plastic and concrete surfaces, liquid roof is the most recommended product. It is both long lasting and easy to install.

Surface preparation for application of Liquid roof to ponds and fountains etc should be done carefully. The surface should be cleaned properly before application. If an alga is present treat with an algaecide or 25% solution of bleach, let stand for one hour and rise well. In fish ponds polishing the surface with a wire brush or a high pressure water spray might be needed. A rain free one week is needed for the surface to dry out.