The best Dimpled membranes, compared.
Top pick: Einside embossed HDPE membrane, 2 m × 20 m – Higher star line in this set, 4.4 from 9 ratings, on a stated 40 m² at about £1.74 per square metre. Best value: Einside embossed HDPE membrane, 2 m × 20 m – Both awards sit on this roll: it is the lower rate of the two settled Einside sheets. Updated October 2026.
A dimpled membrane is a high-density polyethylene sheet moulded into studs, so a void sits against a wall, a slab, a foundation or a roof deck. In the UK the same shape is sold as a cavity drain for an internal basement, as a geotextile-faced sheet in front of external tanking, and as a perforated board on a green roof. Flat polythene, weed fabric and shower tape are not this product. The sheet does not, by itself, hold back groundwater. Nine ratings are a thin sample, and the written reviews are not UK basement reports. Stud height, weight and job match are in the [dimpled membrane buying guide](/hub/flooring/dimpled-membrane/sub/dimpled-membrane-buying-guide). An internal cavity drain usually faces the studs toward the structure: about 3 mm where space is tight, 8 mm on walls, and 8 mm or 20 mm on floors, with a mesh face if you will plaster.
A dimpled membrane is a high-density polyethylene sheet moulded into studs, so a void sits against a wall, a slab, a foundation or a roof deck.
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Personal buying guide
Question 1 of 2
Where is the sheet going?
The Einside MEMBUG220 is listed as a black HDPE foundation sheet, 2 m by 20 m, covering 40 m² at £69.50, about £1.74 per square metre. The page states 8 mm dimples, about 1,860 per square metre, an air volume of about 5 litres per square metre, a drainage figure of about 4.6 litres per square metre, and 400 g/m², with the roll at 17.5 kg. Across 4.4 from 9 amazon.co.uk ratings, the two reviews on the listing, both marked as reviewed in France, describe a sheet that was easy to cut, stayed in place after backfill on house foundations, and was judged useful against damp and light knocks. Those texts are not UK basement reports, so they do not show how the roll behaves in a cellar. One reviewer says the roll arrived with many cuts and holes, which is the complaint that repeats. Plugs, tape and a drain are not in the box, and the listing names neither a BBA certificate nor a mesh face or geotextile. The image URL matches the 1 m Einside roll. In this set the wider roll carries the top pick and the best value badges on the higher star line and the lower price per square metre, though nine ratings remain a thin sample.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You are covering house foundations with a stated 40 m² of 8 mm sheet and you have checked the roll for transit cuts before backfill.
Less suitable: You need a mesh face, a named certificate, fixing plugs, or a UK cellar report rather than nine ratings and two French reviews.
Specifications
Common questions
What area does the listing state?
2 m by 20 m, which the bullets call 40 m², at 400 g/m².
Are fixing plugs in the box?
No. The listing is one roll. Plugs, tape and a drain are not listed.
Does the listing name a BBA certificate?
No. Nothing in the listing cites a certificate.
The Einside MEMBUG120 is the narrower foundation sheet, listed as 1 m by 20 m and 20 m² at £50.00, about £2.50 per square metre. Dimple height, 400 g/m², about 1,860 dimples per square metre, about 5 litres per square metre of air and the stated drainage figure of about 4.6 litres per square metre match the 2 m roll, and the item weight is 8.75 kg. The star line is 4.0 from 19 ratings, which is more ratings than the wider roll and a lower score. The four reviews in the listing are all marked as reviewed in Italy, so they are not UK basement reports. The short praise calls it a good product that arrived quickly and matched the description. One parcel arrived badly damaged and the reviewer used a double layer, and another judged the sheet thin and inconsistent when it was used as a cover over a water tank. Plugs, tape and a drain are not listed, and the page does not name a BBA certificate, a mesh face or a geotextile. Choose it when 20 m² is the area you can handle and you accept a higher price per square metre than the 2 m roll of the same stated spec.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You want the same stated 8 mm, 400 g/m² spec on a 20 m² roll and you can live with a higher price per square metre.
Less suitable: You are pricing by the square metre, or you needed UK basement reviews and a mesh or certificate the listing does not name.
Specifications
Common questions
How does this differ from the 2 m Einside roll?
The listing states 1 m by 20 m, 20 m² and 8.75 kg. The dimple height and 400 g/m² match the wider roll. The shelf price is £50.00, about £2.50 per m².
Are fixing plugs in the box?
No. The listing is one roll. Plugs, tape and a drain are not listed.
Where were the captured reviews written?
The four reviews in the listing are marked as reviewed in Italy. The star line is 4.0 from 19 ratings.
This generic holed HDPE panel is listed at £106.99 for garden water storage, pots and roofs, and the page also names showers, pools, basements, sheds and garages. The title states both 0.5 m by 25 m and 30 cm by 25 m, while a bullet states 0.5 m wide by 25 m long and 700 g/m², so coverage cannot be settled, a price per square metre is not available, and dimple height is not printed. Technical details list a 1 kg item in an 8 cm cube, which does not sit with a 25 m sheet at 700 g/m². A bullet claims the sheet can replace a gravel layer and reduce building load by over 20%, and that it conserves up to 30% water. Those figures are claims on the listing, and the listing has no test behind them. There is no star line and no review text. A geotextile is not stated as included, no certificate is named, and the image is the same as the £146.98 panel. The size clash is the reason to wait, rather than treating this as a scored basement membrane.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You are only comparing garden drainage panels and you will confirm the width with the seller before you pay £106.99.
Less suitable: You need a known area, a stud height, amazon.co.uk reviews, or a foundation sheet you can price per square metre.
Specifications
Common questions
What size is the roll?
The title states both 0.5 m by 25 m and 30 cm by 25 m. The bullet states 0.5 m wide by 25 m long. Coverage is not settled from the listing.
Is a dimple height given?
No. The sheet is called dimpled and holed. Stud height is not printed.
Is there a star rating?
No star line and no review text are in the listing.
The second generic holed panel is listed at £146.98, with the title stating both 0.5 m by 25 m and 70 cm by 25 m and a bullet stating 0.5 m wide by 25 m long at 700 g/m². Coverage stays unknown, so you cannot compare a price per square metre with the Einside rolls. Dimple height is not given. The technical block says 1 kg and a package of 8 by 8 by 8 cm, which is not reconciled with a 25 m roll at 700 g/m². A bullet gives a temperature range of −30 °C to 80 °C, tells you to use a geotextile that is not included, and claims a load reduction of over 20% and water savings of up to 30% for landscaping. No star line and no review text are in the listing, and the image matches the £106.99 panel. The page names gardens, roofs, showers, pools and basements, without plugs or a certificate. It is the dearer of two listings that do not agree their own width, and the first-available date on the listing is 22 September 2026.
Pros
Cons
Best for: You already know you want a holed garden or roof panel and you can resolve the 70 cm versus 0.5 m clash before you order.
Less suitable: You are choosing a foundation membrane on price per square metre, stars, or a certificate this listing does not name.
Specifications
Common questions
What size is the roll?
The title states both 0.5 m by 25 m and 70 cm by 25 m. The bullet states 0.5 m wide by 25 m long and 700 g/m². Coverage is not settled from the listing.
Why is the parcel line only 1 kg?
Technical details say 1 kg and 8 by 8 by 8 cm. The bullet says 700 g/m² over a 25 m length. The listing does not reconcile the two.
Is a geotextile included?
The bullet says to use a geotextile layer. It is not listed as included.
Four amazon.co.uk dimpled sheets were compared from the listings kept for this set. There is no separate scoring note. Both the top pick and the best value sit on the 2 m Einside roll, on the higher star line and the lower price per square metre. The five weights below follow that buying order and sum to 100. This is not a laboratory waterproofing test, and a star rating is not a UK cellar trial.
Job match
25%Whether the listing is a foundation sheet or a garden and roof panel. Internal lining, external protection, a green-roof board and a flat damp-proof membrane are different buys.
Stud height and weight
20%A stated dimple height and a weight per square metre. The two Einside rolls state 8 mm and 400 g/m². The generic panels do not print a stud height.
Drainage figure and unit
20%A drainage or air-gap figure only when the listing prints one, kept in its own unit. Litres per square metre are not litres per second.
Certificate and listing consistency
20%A named certificate only if the listing names it, and a width that agrees with itself. None of these four pages names a BBA certificate.
Price per square metre
15%Shelf price divided by stated coverage, only where coverage is settled. The two generic panels do not get a rate.
Match the sheet to the job before you compare the shelf price. An internal cellar, an external foundation, a green roof and a flat below-slab damp-proof membrane are four different buys. The four prices below are the amazon.co.uk lines in this comparison, from about £50.00 to about £146.98. A price per square metre is given only where the listing settles the area.
A dimpled membrane is a high-density polyethylene sheet moulded into studs so that a permanent void sits against a wall, a slab, a foundation or a roof deck. In the UK the same shape is sold for four jobs, and they are not interchangeable. An internal cavity drain usually faces the studs toward the structure: about 3 mm where space is tight, 8 mm on walls, and 8 mm or 20 mm on floors, with a mesh face if you will plaster.
Weed fabric, greenhouse polythene and shower joint tape are not a dimpled membrane. A flat 300 µm polyethylene damp-proof membrane is the Approved Document C example under a ground floor that is not under water pressure. It is not studded, and it is not a basement lining.
Studs face the structure on an internal lining. A plain sheet is not a plaster base. Laps need tape, and the cavity needs a channel and a discharge. The sheet does not hold back groundwater by itself. PCA guidance treats Type C as minor seepage management, not a hydrostatic barrier.
Both generic panels print more than one width, and the parcel line says 1 kg in an 8 cm cube. That does not support a price per square metre. A handful of reviews marked as written in France or Italy is not a UK cellar test.
Name the job before you compare a price. Internal cellar lining, external foundation protection, green-roof storage and a below-slab damp-proof membrane are four different buys. On an internal wall the studs face the structure. A mesh face is for plaster. An external sheet puts the geotextile toward the soil, in front of a primary tanking layer, and leads water to a land drain. A green-roof board is often 20 mm or deeper, perforated, with fleece and outlets.
Require a drainage figure with its unit. The Einside pages state about 4.6 litres per square metre, and an air volume of about 5 litres per square metre. That is not a litres-per-second rating, and it should not be lined up against one. The generic panels do not print a drainage figure. Load cuts of over 20% and water savings of up to 30% on those pages are listing claims, with no test behind them.
Three typical situations, each with a recommendation from this comparison.
You are covering foundations and you want a stated 40 m² of 8 mm sheet at the lower rate in this set. The Einside 2 m by 20 m roll is about £69.50, about £1.74 per square metre, with 4.4 from 9 ratings. Plugs are not in the box, and the reviews on the listing were written in France.
You want the stated 8 mm and 400 g/m² on a roll you can handle. The Einside 1 m by 20 m sheet is 20 m² at 8.75 kg, about £50, about £2.50 per square metre, with 4.0 from 19 ratings. The reviews on the listing were written in Italy.
You are comparing holed drainage panels for a garden or a roof, and you will confirm the width before you pay. The cheaper generic panel is about £106.99. Its title and bullet do not agree the width, there is no star line, and a price per square metre is not available.
The top pick and the best value are the same listing. The Einside 2 m by 20 m roll is about £69.50 for a stated 40 m², about £1.74 per square metre, with 8 mm dimples and 400 g/m² stated, and 4.4 from 9 ratings. Both awards sit on that higher star line and the lower rate. The 1 m roll matches the stated spec on 20 m² at about £2.50 per square metre. The two generic panels do not settle a width, so they are not priced per square metre. None of the four names a BBA certificate, and the sheet does not hold back groundwater by itself.
Einside embossed HDPE membrane, 2 m × 20 m
Higher star line in this set, 4.4 from 9 ratings, on a stated 40 m² at about £1.74 per square metre.
Einside embossed HDPE membrane, 2 m × 20 m
Both awards sit on this roll: it is the lower rate of the two settled Einside sheets.
Editorial
Peter F. is the editor for DIY & tools at productscompared.co.uk. Comparisons in this category are checked against amazon.co.uk listings, review evidence and public UK sources.
Guides on what to look for, how to use a product, and common mistakes.
Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk lines kept with these four products.
This page contains affiliate links to amazon.co.uk with the tag pcuk26-21. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Prices, stars and review counts are the UK listing lines for this comparison. We did not run a lab test.
