Just an FYI- I looked into using pond armour for my build but after lots of reasearch and talking with the manufacturer, I decided against it. Manufacturer says "do not apply to wood". They told me to overlay my plywood with a concrete backer board then us muratic acid to wash down the concrete. ONLY THEN did the suggest using their product. I know people have had luck using it directly on wood but I have also read of failures coming 4-5 years afterward. Not what I want to have, delaminating or any type of faliure. Just my 2 cents, good luck.
Liquid Rubber Legit and Good ?
- Thread starter 305phins
- Start date
Pond Armor and other epoxies water proof at about 10 mils thickness, not including the amount that soaks into the pores of the wood or the cement board. Liquid Rubber waterproofs around 80 to 100 mils wet film thickness, for comparison sake.
As far as how easy it is to work with, one complaint that's been written by people who have used Pond Armor and other types of epoxy is that the Pond Armor is thicker and more of a pain to work with. But to be fair, it does come with thinning instructions if that's a problem.
Silicone bonds fine to epoxy.
Did you watch Joey's video series where he used Pond Armor/Shield?
You mention cost efficiency. If that's important you should compare the price of Pond Shield to Max ACR or the thin epoxy system from US Composites. I've heard that Pond Shield can be bought cheaper than the listed prices so you'll need to research that.
Max ACR costs $85 for a 1.5 gallon kit, so about $57 a gallon.
US composites sells a 1.5 gallon kit for $75, so about $50 a gallon.
Max ACR is in California, US Composites in Florida, so shipping could be a factor.
Of course there are other epoxy companies as well.
Hope this helps.
I did read it. There have been some threads on Pond Armor/Shield bonding to wood. I've never heard of this problem with other types of epoxies so I can only speculate that the thicker nature of Pond Shield prevents it from biting into the pores of plywood. I think Joey used a thinned bite coat for his first layer. I think Max ACR recommends the same thing so the epoxy penetrates the bare plywood a bit better.
Max ACR and Pond Armor are both epoxies and both have a 2:1 mix ratio. Both have been used to seal plywood tanks successfully.
I would go with epoxy resin instead of liquid rubber. Liquid rubber ends up being much more expensive and my only experience with it is applying it to a concrete wall. Epoxy, on the other hand, I've used in a lot of applications, including sealing plywood fish tanks. So I'm just more comfortable with it. But that should not discount the experience of others who have used liquid rubber to seal plywood tanks successfully.
There is no perfect sealant for plywood tanks. Every type of product has a tradeoff associated with it.
I have used both... both have their perks but Pond armor outweighs liquid rubber in my opinion though.
i have built a few plywood tanks and have always used pond armor. i was originally introduced to it by my dad who used it for a pair 400 gallon plywood sumps he built. silicone bonds strong to pond armor, it is easy to work with make sure u mix small batches. i usually paint all the seams with it first and than do 1 full coating. let it cure, lightly sand it and apply a second coat. i use foam rollers and 2" chipping brushes to paint it on. so far i have had success with it on my 350 gal, my brothers 80 gal, and 55 gal plywood sump.
