Polyueria vs. Fiberglass, which would you use?

[aquitori]

Polyueria vs. Fiberglass, given the price of both products are around the same price and you had $400K to toss around to coat your pond which would you use? and why?

[joe bauer]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori Polyueria vs. Fiberglass, given the price of both products are around the same price and you had $400K to toss around to coat your pond which would you use? and why?

i would check around some first. i read of one guy that is building a pond and it is supposed to be finished, but will not be completed for a long time yet. i don't know if either of those coatings is responsible for the holdup.

also, the owner says the pond leaks like a seive, again i don't know what type of coating is being used.

earlier he reported that the pond has two levels, but he could not fill the upper level because it was piped to the lower level and water runs downhill. they had to jackhammer up a 4" pipe and cap it off.

i feel that anyone who is going to build a koi pond should do their homework and know the basics of pond construction before paying big bucks to get someone to do it. it is your money, you need to make sure you are getting what you pay for.

so your question is a good one, i hope some posters with experience in those coatings will answer.

[keokoi]

Jeff has a big pond... Does he use Polyurea on his pond? Maybe he will post about his experience with his pond... It looks nice in the pics..

Joe

[schildkoi]

As long as I had a good applicator and plenty of time, I'd use Fibreglass. Fibreglass is smoother. Polyurea would be a good second choice though.

Steve

[koiczar]

First off, the question Tony asked concerned "coating" your pond. I assume that means the pond is gunite/shotcrete!?

Fiberglass - I coated one of my previous ponds (concrete) years ago. Found out that the fiberglass doesn't adhere to the cured concrete. The concrete acted like a form shell to apply the fiberglass into. When it was torn out, the glass simply pulled off in sheets.

Polyurea - I have seen the results first hand being applied with the geotextile and over gunite. There is no comparison between the two applications IMHO. If applied correctly, the polyurea is hands down the "coating" of choice.

Also, when laying glass, you have to make sure the woven cloth is completely wet when applied. Then there's tack time - how much catalyst you use is CRITICAL

Not with polyurea. The tack time is basically the same, unless you're shooting in cold, humid or damp conditions. Besides, the cure time is much shorter for the polyurea. You can immediately fill the pond after it's been shot. The stuff is food grade safe when cured!!

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by koiczar First off, the question Tony asked concerned "coating" your pond. I assume that means the pond is gunite/shotcrete!? Fiberglass - I coated one of my previous ponds (concrete) years ago. Found out that the fiberglass doesn't adhere to the cured concrete. The concrete acted like a form shell to apply the fiberglass into. When it was torn out, the glass simply pulled off in sheets. Polyurea - I have seen the results first hand being applied with the geotextile and over gunite. There is no comparison between the two applications IMHO. If applied correctly, the polyurea is hands down the "coating" of choice. Also, when laying glass, you have to make sure the woven cloth is completely wet when applied. Then there's tack time - how much catalyst you use is CRITICAL Not with polyurea. The tack time is basically the same, unless you're shooting in cold, humid or damp conditions. Besides, the cure time is much shorter for the polyurea. You can immediately fill the pond after it's been shot. The stuff is food grade safe when cured!!

Plus, with fiberglass you get all itchy.

[Akinosan]

Interesting thread, I just happend to have a pond I've been working on coated with Fiberglass yesterday, and it looks fantastic! My own pond was done with polyurea and I love it, so I guess there is a place for both types of coatings in this market. As far as adhesian goes, they both stick very well to a Gunite surface, but it is very difficult to spray polyurea on Gunite without having to deal with pinholes. The fiberglass is much more labor intensive, but when done properly, gives you a very high quality surface for a Koi Pond. The cost is about the same for either product, so I feel its just a matter of preference. From what I know at this point about the two products I would choose either of them.

[aquitori]

I really like fiberglass, very good product. My next pond I build I will probably go with fiberglass.

[Geishakoi]

To answer Joe's question, I do not have polyurea in my pond yet, because the pond was built 5 years ago, and I just got in to polyurea 1 year ago. I used a two part component which I purchased from a local koi dealer. It is kind of like CIM & Sanitread. I have been having problems with it peeling off the bottom and sides of my pond, and therefore I will need to drain, sandblast and recoat with polyurea.

With the high demand of polyurea right now, we have sprayed aprroximately 40+ ponds in the last year, and therefore my project has been put on the back burner. What got me in to polyurea in the first place was it's potential to stretch with the movement of the earth, and it's adheasion factor. A product which I feel stands alone in comparison with epoxy and 2 part applications with no tensil strenghts for movement within the structure.

It goes without saying that there is 2 types of concrete, one that can crack, and one that will crack. I don't know much about fiberglass, but have seen surfboards that have been dropped, have seen boats that have been bumped, and have seen many cracks on fiberglass. I actually coated a fiberglass pond a couple of months back, because of the cracking problem. The pond was about 20 years old, sunk in to the earth, and all the bulkheads were rotted around the penatrations. I had to drill holes all over in the shell to get adheasion as I did not want to rely on the super smooth surface of fiberglass. As a matter of fact, there was not much alge on the sides and bottom ! I would imagine if you were able to put a gel coat on both sides of the fiberglass, they probably could have eliminated the rotting of the resin and glass that was exposed to moisture.

DISCLAIMER!!! I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT FIBERGLASS NOR DO I CHOOSE TO!

My opinion, as far as pricing is considered, there is no comparison. You are comparing apples to oranges. Polyurea can be applied straight on to geotextile as a membrane, which would eliminate the cost of gunite, rebar, and labor to put on coating. As far as pinholes are concerned, Ruben's statement is correct. If a concrete shell has too much moisture behind it or in it, the heat of 170 degree polyurea will pull the moisture to the surface, creating pinholes. To eliminate that you have allow for a full cure for at least 60 days, and put several coats of primer. This I do know for sure by experience.

Joe, you got me hook line and sinker....

Jeff Dunkel

[jnorth]

Posting as your alter-ego Jeff? I'll take either of them over liner.