Jump to content
Slate Blackcurrant Watermelon Strawberry Orange Banana Apple Emerald Chocolate Marble
Slate Blackcurrant Watermelon Strawberry Orange Banana Apple Emerald Chocolate Marble

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

bjlasota

Backyard Rink Help

Recommended Posts

I know this is more of a forum geared towards gear, but I thought I'd give it a whirl on here to see if anyones had any experience. I grew up playing on naturally frozen ponds, so I've never lived in an area where I had to actually BUILD one myself. My wife and I finally got a house with a yard and I'm looking to put my first rink up this winter pending how cold it gets in lower Michigan this year! I've measured it out and I'll be able to get a 30'x50' rink in the spot I want it. I could get a 50'x100' but I gotta let the Husky run too. I have a few questions to help me be successful and have a sheet for this winter. Please reply for clarification if you don't understand what I'm asking on anything below.



- First, the land. The people we bought the house from had a kid who used the yard as a dirtbike track. The grass has grown in, but there's a round groove right where I want to put the rink. It's not that deep, maybe 2-3" at the deepest points. Do I need to fill these in with dirt before I put my liner down, or will the liner stretch or move to fit in these holes?


- Second, the boards. I found some OSB in Chicago. I want to use them more than a year, so my question is, what kind of paint should I use to prolong the boards life? I plan on painting it white, but is there a special, cheaper paint that will "seal" the OSB from water? I do plan on separating them during storage and covering so they can breathe between seasons. I'd also prefer rolling on instead of spraying a ton of boards.


- The OSB I found is a $1 for a 2'x4' sheet. That's basically $4 for a 4x8 which is a steal. I currently have a bunch of 24" long landscaping stakes. If I support the boards with these stakes, is that enough? Basically I'd pound the stake 12" down into the ground, then the remaining 12" would support halfway up the 2' boards. I can get 36" stakes too, would that be better? For most of the lawn, the ice will be up at most 6" on the board, so that would still be behind the stakes.


- Lastly, I am also going to buy enough OSB to cut 4' long, 6" wide strips and screw on the inside boards to cover up the liner. Most liner places say to add 5' to stretch over the boards. But since my boards are only going to be roughly 18" high from the top of the ice, is there a reason to add so much? What would anyone suggest for a 30'x50' rink where I want to freeze 4-6" thick ice, and roll the remaining liner under a 6" kick plate(I'll probably need to keep the liner within a 4" area so I can screw the kick plate 2" down from the top).



Thanks in advance for all the help. Happy freezing!


Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There are a few great outdoor rink sites. Quick Google will help u find them.

Get a new liner every year. I'd fill the rut.

My brother has a very small rink in his yard near Boston. He loves it and it it's his fourth or fifth winter but he says its much more work than he ever imagined.

Good luck.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This thread has been dead for quite a while but I wanted to chime in since I put in a small rink this year. Actually two weeks ago.

It's 30x16. 16 inches of water in deep end, 6 inches in shallow end. I lucked out and picked the best time to build it since we've had close to 0 degree weather since then and it's now frozen solid all the way through. And every time I resurface it that also adds to the thickness. So I'm hoping to have skateable ice until April. Fingers and ballz crossed!

Anyhow, def. don't need a completely level site, as evidenced by my specs above. All yoe need are 2x12's in 8,12, 0r 16 foot lengths, 2x4's for bracing, stakes wouldn't hurt either for bracing. Don't forget the liner, and have plenty of excess draping over all sides so it doesn't pull down when filling.

Using a hose attached to my laundry tub faucet I began filling at around 4:30 pm and it was filled by 2 am. Took 3 days to freeze enough to skate on.

SirJW above is right, it is alot of work. You have to clean it every time you skate, then resurface it. But it's so worth it, just stepping into your backyard and having ice is incredible. And I'm trying not to get obsessive about stepping onto glass smooth ice, but it's very tempting to get "one more quick spray of water on" so it's smooth. THough you chop it up as soon as you start skating.

And every time it snows you have to shovel it off. Again, it's alot of work but well worth it if you have kids as well, as my daughter is 7 and has been taking figure skating lessons for 9 months now and loves to be on it. And my almost 2 year old has been on it with me holding him up of course. And the cool thing about that is he loves to get his little skates on and go out. So I'm looking forward to many winters on home ice.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...