Comments on: DIY Backyard ice rink

By: BradK

BradK — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:40:27 +0000

These are great tips that require only the simplest of materials that can be found at the big hardward stores. I am curious what kind of damage (if any) is done to turf in the spring. I would like to do this for my young skaters, but not at the expense of killing the turf. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

By: Theresa

Theresa — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 14:11:53 +0000

Kyle,
Did you ever try this? I am in South Jersey and we are considering this project. However I don’t want to disappoint the kids building the whole thing and then never be able to use it. If you did build it, would be very interested to know how long you were able to use it.
Thanks!

By: tim

tim — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:05:16 +0000

i live in worcester, ma and have justy enough room to build my own rink. got some great hdpe for the dashers and acrylic from http://www.iplasticsupply.com/

By: Tim Huson

Tim Huson — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 20:56:47 +0000

Hello, I’ve just moved to Poland and want to build a backyard rink. Based on your local temperatures and the table in the link below, does it look to you like the winter here is cold enough to keep a backyard icce rink frozen enough to maintain a rink for 2-3 months? If so, when would you guess it will be cold enough to fill the rink?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak%C3%B3w#Climate

Thank you!!
Tim

–
Tim e-mail: tim@huson.com
cell: +48-696-930-523

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 23:06:51 +0000

the slush is caused by the sun. You need a 2nd tarp to put over it durring the day when you are at work. The biggest enemy is the sun. It may be cold out, but the sun still generates heat. Hope this helps

By: Kyle in DE

Kyle in DE — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:19:40 +0000

Thank a lot for the info. I will look into it next year. I like the idea of the playsand to level it out, seems like a good cheap way to make a level ice surface.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:07:23 +0000

First year rink builder. The rink is 16′ x 60′ ( this is all i can squeeze in the backyard ) with ice thickness of 3″ to 18″. We have had great skating most everyday here in southeast MI since Dec 28th. Just recently about 10 days ago i notice the rink was getting thinner ice on on the shallow side. The plastic was showing 6″ x 12″ bare in a couple of spots. You see after each night of skating i would clean the surface with a shovel but was not adding any water. Also i believe after a Sunday rain the water got under the plastic and when it froze the ground heaved.
After adding about 1/4 – 1/2″ of water for 3-4 nights straight seemed to help. I also experience the air pockets. It did correct itself and finally smooth out, but only when applied a very thin layer.

By: NJRob

NJRob — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:09:05 +0000

Kyle, I’m in northern NJ and threw my first rink together this winter. It really wasn’t too bad but better planning would have made it easier.

First day(Saturday), laid out 4×4′s in a 20′x30′(+/-) rectangle with 4×6′s in the lower corner to help level. Connected all the wood with mending plates and screws, covered ground with newspaper and 6mil poly scraps as protection for liner and installed liner. Began filling with water. I soon found out that the liner had shifted and the rink would only fill halfway before spilling over.

Day 2(Sunday), pumped out water, shifted liner, increased the “wall” height with a 2″x4″ where it appeared to low and began to refill. All looked good so I spent a couple of hours attaching wood 1″x6″ wood decking material to the perimeter frame with angle brackets(so as to not put holes in the liner). With 2 soaking pairs of boots and freezing rain I watched as the rink slowly filled. It quickly became apparent the change in elevation was greater than I thought and the rink again would not completely fill. To make matters worse, I realized the 19’4″ rink was about 8″ deep in the lowest point therefore the liner needed to be 19’4″ wide + 4″(for 2″ of ice minimum) + 16″(for 8″ change in elevation) therefore 20′ liner was too small.

Day 3 the following Friday, I decided on a course of action. The easiest solution was to raise the level of the ground with play sand. I had to disassemble the wood decking, roll the liner back and shovel 1 cubic yard of semi-frozen sand into the 4×4 framework and rake level.

Day 4(Saturday) I added 1/2cy of sand, raked level, replaced the liner, replaced the wood decking and filled. As the rink neared it’s capacity it became apparent once again that there was 1 or 2 spots that the liner was too low and I could not get the entire liner covered with water. The result was a spot in one corner about 2′x4′ where the liner was exposed. A snow storm began and I decided the project was complete for this season and we would make due.

Day 5(Sunday morning), It snowed all night and I now had a pool of slush surrounded by about 8″ of fresh snow. Within 2 days the slush froze solid and we were skating. I think the slush was a blessing. The slush froze white rather than black like clear ice so the sun’s rays are reflected rather than absorbed.

I have since used the “snow” my son creates skating to cover the exposed liner and a mist of water on cold nights freezes this as well. We quickly had a complete ice surface.

Maintenance has been much easier than others are posting. When the surface gets bumpy, my 8 year old skates hard and within an hour has it cut up and all bumps gone. I use a snow shovel with metal edge on the blade to scrape the surface, a squee-gee from Home Depot to push skate shavings off and just spray cold water from a garden hose to resurface. I bought a “hose-wand” with multi-setting and use the mist to wet down the shavings to keep the thin spot covered and the wide-fan spray to spread water over the rest. On exceptionally cold nights 20 and lower I can add about 1/2″ of ice to the surface and have a glass like finish in the morning.

Best honey-do project in a long time. This spring I’m leveling the backyard to make it easier next fall. It will also add about 10′ of usable space to the length of the ice area. Good luck.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:52:21 +0000

You really cant. Just get one piece.

By: Franco

Franco — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:35:47 +0000

Thanks John,

This is my first year building a ring as well. Thanks to this and other websites the experience has been great. The kids and i love our rink.

The cracking happens to me to when I flood. I have to admit, it scared the crap out of me when it happend. I thought I screwed up all my hard work. But the next mornig the surface was smoth as glass. I’m glad to hear that the cracking is normal and dosent cause problems.