Comments on: Backyard ice rink confessions

By: Samantha

Samantha — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:44 +0000

I’ve been trying to convince my parents all winter to make a rink. So finally they said yes but the weather says no. I wish it would get cold already…..Waiting for it to freeze is the hard part.

By: Meg

Meg — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 02:55:52 +0000

I have no idea how active this site still is, but my yard is terribly uneven. I don’t have the money to make it even, either. Would it be a terrible, out-of-the-question idea to just build on uneven ground and then fill the lower ground first with ice to make it even out eventually?

By: Brad

Brad — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:18:56 +0000

Thanks for the advise guys. I have to say good old Mother nature was on my side this week. I was worried I was flooding too soon, but as luck would have it I fluked out! I flooded on Saturday (Nov 28th) then waited….. it was cold but not quite cold enough to freeze. I just about crapped my pants on Sunday morning, it snowed about 3”. Like you guys mentioned the snow basically turned to slush and I think it actually help my base thicken up. Then the weather finally got cold. I’ve been monitoring the forecasts on the net so I didn’t get caught flooding when snow was forecast. So, what did I do?…… I got excited and after work last Thursday I stood on the surface and it was solid like a rock, so I got out the “homeboni” and give it a shot of warm water to smooth out. Yup, it snowed a couple hours later. I thought for sure I was in for some work but it was cold enough to freeze the majority of the surface. There was only a bit of shell ice around the boards where it didn’t quite freeze all the way. But luck again was on my side. I’m slowly learning that one must have patients when building these things. Anyway, I got the surface just about perfect and we’ve skated 3 times already. It’s awesome! I posted some video’s on YouTube. You can check them out on my channel, just type “Emslie4″ and then search. There should be 5 vids. Hope you enjoy and once again, thanks for the advice.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:36:51 +0000

Ice rink #3 continued,
We spread the liner, I found some that is 6 mil thick, and filled the rink this weekend. I found two rips in the tarp and fixed them with duct tape. One was on the edge and one was in the middle. The one in the middle I fixed and then painted over with white spray paint. Both patches have worked great. The ice is frozen over but not all the way through. It has been in the high 30s at day and in the 20s at night. Soon we sill be skating!

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:08:41 +0000

Thanks for the info. I was wondering if I should be filling more or letting it freeze

By: John

John — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:50:00 +0000

My only word of caution is to make sure you don’t fill up your rink too much. Remember that the ice will expand so your ice surface will be higher than the water level when you fill it. Also leave room for resurfacing and handling any snow (before it freezes) or rain. You can always smooth out any roughness caused by rain or snow, but you can’t make your ice lower. Voice of experience here One year the ice ended up above the boards on one side and the pucks kept disappearing into the snow bank.

Once you put that water in, just leave it alone until it is frozen all the way through and then shovel off any snow and get the rink rake going.

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:43:28 +0000

Brad,
I know what you mean, now that I have my frame up and ready I’m looking forward to cold weather. I looked up on the web and I found that it takes 3 nights of 20 deg weather to freeze the ice well. I wouldn’t worry about the snow falling on water. Even if the top freezes bumpy just wait until it is solid throughout and then you will be able to lay a fresh layer to smooth it. Look at the instuctions for the rink rake on this site. I made one two years ago and it works great.
It’s still in the 40′s here in Western Ma, so I’m just sitting here waiting. Keep posting your progress, I’m planning to do the same.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:06:30 +0000

The boards are up for ice rink #3. I’m waiting now for cold weather. When I see several noghts of well below zero weather coming up I’ll lay out the plastic and start to fill it. I’ll kepp posting.

By: Brad

Brad — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:05:42 +0000

This is my first attempt at building an outdoor rink. I am about to go crazy waiting for the cold weather. I was outside building my rink yesterday and couldn’t wait anymore so I filled it with water. So far so good…. no leaks!
I’m looking for advise regarding fluctuations in weather. The forecast is calling for colder weather by the end of the week. However, there is one day before the cold weather that is calling for snow……. then cold. Since my rink is full of water, what should I do with the snow that falls before the cold? Ya, I know most of it will melt and turn to slush but the forecast is calling for snow then cold. I’m worried I will not be able to clear the snow off to get a good freeze for my base. Does anyone have any experience with this?
I’m like a kid waiting for Christmas when i comes to cold weather for my rink.

By: Peter

Peter — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:51:14 +0000

Ice rink #3 – 2009-10
Today I took stock of the wood on hand and tomorrow we set out on our 3rd ice rink in as many years. Each year I improve on mistakes I made last year. This year’s improvements will be to center the plastic, front and sides and to fill the rink little by little as to minimize air pockets under the ice. We live in Western Mass, temps are not that cold yet but I hope they will drop soon. I’ll post more as the project goes on.