how to build a backyard ice rink
Think you can't possibly learn how to build a backyard ice rink on your property? Guess again! At Iron Sleek, we offer backyard ice rink kits that suit virtually every yard layout to make the entire building process as seamless and straight forward as possible. We have the experience, expertise, and products to help you get started on building a skating rink.
Ready to get started with how to build a backyard hockey rink that your family will love spending time on? Follow these simple steps for optimal success:
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Pick Your Spot The first tip in how to build a backyard rink: Find the perfect outdoor spot for it. Rule of thumb? The flatter and the more shaded, the better. Avoid highly sloped areas for better results. Find the most level area in your yard with relatively dry and solid soil (in close proximity to a water source) and you have found a location for your rink. For more details on choosing a spot to build an outdoor rink, click here.Measure Your Working Area Once you've identified where your skating arena can go, you can pinpoint the size of the kit you can accommodate. When considering how to build an outdoor rink, keep it mind that it must fit on the selected workable area. When you purchase a kit from Iron Sleek, you will receive a liner that is at least 4-5 feet longer and 4-5 feet wider than the actual rink frame. Choose a size wisely. More rink means more maintenance. As your kids get bigger your rink should get bigger.Survey Area Pinpoint and document the grade/pitch of the arena outline using a transit laser or a string line level. Knowing the grade will determine the amount of support required to hold back the water pressure. Iron Sleek Brackets are spaced closer together for higher pitched sights. The grade will also guide the setting on your board heights. We also have a video on using a laser transit for those with access to one.
Ez Ice Backyard Rink
Layout And Build You are officially ready to build your frame using Iron Sleek Rink System. Some things to remember during the process include:
Inspect Rink Boards Once you've built out the frame, closely evaluate the inside of the rink boards for projections and/all sharp pieces that may puncture the liner. Additionally, determine that the frame proves solid and sturdy. You will also want to inspect the inside of your rink for anything that may tear the liner.Fill In The Gaps Inspect the bottom of your frame boards for large air gaps. The water filled liner will fill the air gaps looking like a water blister from the outside of the rink. This can create risk of puncture to the liner from the outside. If your fingers can fit between the bottom of the rink frame and the grass, you should fill the gap with Iron Sleek's Ice Rink Board Foam Cove for Sale.If cove is not in the budget, minimally backfill with packed dirt (never snow) to eliminate the space.Line Away The next step in how to build an outdoor rink in your backyard: Laying out the liner. Stretch the liner inside the frame, leaving plenty of slack to tuck into corners and around bottom of boards. Let excess liner drape over the rink frame and Iron Sleek Hardware to keep brackets dry and boards from absorbing too much heat. Watch this YouTube to see how to stretch a liner.Fill It Up You are ready to start filling your rink with water. Some things to consider:
Secure The Rink Liner A loose liner can let water out. Now that your arena is filled, stapled the excess liner to the outside of the frame to keep it secured.Skate, Skate, Skate! Inspect your rink after 3-4 days of temperatures under 20 F to ensure you have the solid 3" of ice needed to skate (skating too soon can risk tearing the liner with a blade). No need to be overly scientific here, just walk the rink in your shoes first (not skates). Once the ice could support an adult without out water gushing up the side you should be good to skate, skate, skate!
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Even if you are building an ice rink with lumber or plywood, you can still learn a lot from watching a poly-steel rink being put together! Watch the video below.Flooding your yard with water to make an ice skating rink isn't practical. Unless, of course, you, your kids and your neighborhood are really, really into hockey. Such is the case for Riverwest's Jeremy Prach and Franklin's Mike Barber.
Flooding your yard with water to make an ice skating rink isn’t practical. Unless, of course, you, your kids and your neighborhood are really, really into hockey. Such is the case for Jeremy Prach.
For the past two years, Prach created a high-quality skating rink in his yard. He and his wife, Kara, live in Riverwest and own two properties next to each other. Between the two structures is an open lot that’s ideal for a rink.
Bringing Hockey To Your Own Backyard
"I tried to make an ice rink a few years ago with no liner. It did not work, " says Prach. "Despite what people say, your dad did not do this, and a residential garden hose will not create a rink without a liner."
Two tears ago, Prach saw an ad for a liner in a parenting magazine by a Wisconsin-based company called Nice Rink. He asked for the liner for Christmas, got it and built the rink with friends and neighbors while on winter break from his job as a special ed teacher at Riverside High School.
The liner cost about $250, and he spent another $60 for plywood. Plus, Prach says, it’s about $125 for the water bill during the three winter months.
Backyard Ice Hockey Rinks
This year, Prach made multiple improvements on the rink to make it even more professional. He started the project by leveling the yard with four yards of topsoil before laying down the liner.
"Last year, I did not level the yard with topsoil, so the ice was 16 inches in some spots and it took days to fill it up. A few times we had to cut open the liner and perform an open heart surgery and dig out the high spots and the ice was thin in those spots, " says Prach. "The yard will be a hoot in the spring with a foot of mud."
Although there are occasional figure skaters on the rink, the real focus of the rink is hockey. Prach is an avid hockey player and so is his six-year-old son, Loyal. (And most likely, his two-year-old son, Merit, will find himself on ice in the near future, too.)
Tips On How To Make Your Own Diy Backyard Skating Rink • Pickle Planet Moncton
The Prach rink is open to friends and neighbors anytime the lights are on, with kid-friendly hockey games 4-6 p.m. every weeknight and adults are invited after the kids are asleep to play hockey until 11 p.m. Weekend hours vary, depending on Prach and his son's league hockey games.
"Loyal will skate every day it’s above 20 degrees, " says Prach. "I try to organize three other adults to skate with me every night."
"We always have big plans. Dreams get bigger with the more beer we drink, " says Prach. "The tree house will soon double as a heated shanty."
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