Making Your Own Backyard Rink

[JimStanmore]

I have researched making my own rink at home for quite some time.  Now that winter is here I am going to start the project.  This year it will be a small 12' x 12' one for practicing spins and turns.  We are now below 32 degrees most of the time in Southern Jersey so, I will clear the pool out of the way (a little late, maybe) this weekend, put down the boards and tarp and fill with water.

I am also considering buying a snap together kit (Icengo) that includes frame and liner and works on uneven ground.  They run only $99 for a 15x19 and $144 for a 15x33.  That's cheaper than the wood and tarp to do it myself.  Thoughts?

I would like to share experiences, has anyone else here made one of these?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-cheap-backyard-ice-skating-rink/
http://www.southcoastal.com/history/rink.htm

[sk8Joyful]

I have researched making my own rink at home for quite some time.  Now that winter is here I am going to start the project.  
This year it will be a small 12' x 12' one for practicing spins and turns.  We are now below 32 degrees most of the time in Southern Jersey
so, I will clear the pool out of the way (a little late, maybe) this weekend, put down the boards and tarp and fill with water.

I am also considering buying a snap together kit (Icengo) that includes frame and liner and works on uneven ground.  
They run only $99 for a 15x19 and $144 for a 15x33.  That's cheaper than the wood and tarp to do it myself.  Thoughts?

Hi Jim,

I have discussed this Idea for quite some time, seeing as how: on one lot, we could have a full Hockey-rink  , &
on the other one, at least about 1/3 that size, would that be big enough??

However, here (in the PN-wet  ) the temperature stays pretty much above freezing, so how would one get around that little challenge?  

[Query]

here... the temperature stays pretty much above freezing, so how would one get around that little challenge?

So Easy! Nuclear winter!

[FigureSpins]

When I was a kid, my dad froze the backyard once or twice, but not with any tarps or framing.  It was just a giant puddle that killed all the grass in the area, lol.  A few winters later, there was an ice storm one night.  The baseball infields (made of sand) turned into very-odd shaped puddles of ice that we skated on until the temps rose and they melted away.  Sand makes a good leveling base for ice rinks and bocci courts. 

I've attended a few seminars on ice making and ice painting and they swear by a laser level during preparation to ensure that the ice lays and freezes evenly.  Low and slow is the other tip: making ice is like spray-painting: lots of thin, thin coats and let them dry (well, freeze) before adding another coat.

We've had the cold weather for weeks, but my yard is far too sloped to even attempt it and our lawn is so bad as it is, DH would flip if I killed any of the green he's worked so hard to create.  He said that, in our next house, he'll make sure I get porches, roof overhangs, and a level spot in the yard for an ice puddle.  (Which will become his bocci court during the other seasons.)

There's a site for DIY rink makers called www.backyardicerink.com that has lots of tips/plans. 
There is a forum somewhere...maybe on Yahoo! Groups?...where DIY rinkbuilders post.  I remember reading it once and they talked about having crates of old donated skates to lend visitors and friends.

This sounds like a fun project-let us know how it goes.

[Query]

Here is another source of info:

[indent]http://backyardrinks.ca[/indent]

Some random thoughts, if anyone still wants to do this:

A prior coach got her name in the paper by having a back yard rink as a teen ager. But the climate has changed (people used to skate down the C&O canal too), so without a nuclear winter, it won't be practical in our area.

I love the story about the water flowing inadvertently into the neighbor's yard - I've heard the same with outdoor swimming pools.

I've wondered whether you could smooth ice with a steam pipe instead of an ice surfacer - might be cheaper or easier.

Outdoor rinks accumulate dirt, which wears out blades faster. A cover would help keep out the dirt. Or put it in a storage shed.

If the cover were removed during clear nights, or it was black (so heat radiates away to the night sky), and kept on during warm days (use a white cover during the day), it would keep your rink colder. But if the temperature got too warm, I'd hate to break through to the water beneath.

Imagine a rink without a fence. Quite a stop when you skid over the line into the grass...

Then there is the attractive nuisance question - if you don't fence the neighbors out well enough (kids love to climb fences), one might break a leg on your rink.

Keep a cell phone handy to call for help if you break your own leg?

You could use an outdoor swimming pool, if you don't put too much water in it. Then swim or roll kayaks in the summer. (Incidentally, don't skate chlorinated ice would be tough on blades.)

If you heat your home with a heat pump, I wonder if there is a practical way to use the pump to help cool your rink.

It is sure easier to use someone else's rink, preferably indoors, Tell a friend that if they build and maintain one, you will chip in on the cost!!

[Isk8NYC]

Black or dark colors retain heat; white or light reflect heat away.

Use a liner that's light-colored so your ice doesn't melt on sunny days.

A cover is a good idea, but don't let it touch the ice.  I've done science experiments with the kids - if you put down a black trash bag over some snow and a white trash bag nearby, the black bag will melt the snow right down to the ground.  The white bag will also melt the snow, but not as fast.  Then again, i know my kids wouldn't put the cover on anyway.

[Query]

Black or dark colors retain heat; white or light reflect heat away.

Black or dark (if they are also black or dark in the infrared) colors radiate heat away at night, if the sky is clear or the clouds are colder than your rink.

I.E., white insulates; black both converts light to heat, and converts heat to infrared radiation (which makes it a poor thermal insulator).

In brief, to stay cool, you want a white cover in the day, black cover at night.

The white cover could also have thermal insulation underneath.

But a better solution is to move north.

Or - move next to a nice indoor ice rink. A lot less hassle. (-:

P.S. By the same token, white cars and houses are cooler on summer days, warmer on winter nights. White makes a lot of sense from an physics/engineering perspective.

[kayskate]

I froze my small patio a few yrs ago. What a PITA. No liner, just snow and a hose. Came out bumpy. Whoever said water seeks its own level never made a backyard ice rink. I sprayed the rink several times a day until I had a base of ice and kept spraying until it was a few inches thick. Kept the hose in the house so it would not freeze. The rink was really too small to do much and I had to watch out for the bumps.
There are pics and entries about it on my web site.
http://www.skatejournal.com/jan05.html

Kay

[katz in boots]

Where is Rusty Blades Didn't she do this a few years back?
I searched but couldn't find a link to the old forum topis, there were pictures; it had lights & everything.

[jjane45]

From the archive:

Rusty Blades
12-24-2006, 10:22 PM
The Perfect Christmas Eve

What could be more perfect than to spend Christmas Eve on your own backyard rink with beautiful Christmas lights, nice music playing, a bonfire, and friends and neighbours enjoying a wonderful country evening!

After all the effort (and expense) to create a special place, it was a pure delight to see people enjoying themselves so much. The comments about how beautiful it is was the nicest Christmas present I could get.

Christmas Eve (just before the party):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/calamityjanecanary/Christmas1.jpg

(50 x 75 feet seemed SO big when flooding the ice and SO small when skating with a bunch of people! Now, I could put a regulation size rink just on the other side of my house . . . .)

[FigureSpins]

Thanks for finding that - I can't believe my office expects me to work this week, lol.

I loved that photo.  It should be on a holiday greeting card.

[jjane45]

It's impressive, looks like the resurfacing was professional grade, too!

[FigureSpins]

It's impressive, looks like the resurfacing was professional grade, too!

She under-engineers NOTHING, although I remember her saying she really wants a resurfacing machine rather than whatever she was using on her frozen tundra, lol.

[Rusty Blades]

LOL! A resurfacer would sure beat my @$#% garden hose!

Haven't had the rink for a couple of years now - want to move it and make it full NHL size (88x200 feet). Need a bigger pump and 5600 feet of fire hose LOL!

[katz in boots]

OMG, of course you want to make it bigger  
Why stop at NHL size???  I fully expect a bid for the 2020 Olympics  

Seriously though, that was a great backyard rink.  If only the weather got cold enough here :'(

[fsk8r]

OMG, of course you want to make it bigger  
Why stop at NHL size???  I fully expect a bid for the 2020 Olympics  

Seriously though, that was a great backyard rink.  If only the weather got cold enough here :'(

Another one wishing it was colder or at least cold for longer. As soon as it gets cold enough here, it warms up again.

As for the size of the rink, it's bigger than my backyard, so would have been quite sufficient for me. Hell, I'd be happy with a puddle outside my house to skate on!

[Query]

Around here a water main has just broken in my neck of the woods, according to http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/maryland/water-main-break-on-route-1-in-beltsville-122210

BELTSVILLE, Md. - There is a water main break in Beltsville 
   on Route 1 from Ewing Road to Sunnyside Avenue...

   Route 1 in that area is closed in both directions. Flooding is 
   occurring on the road and officials are advising drivers to avoid the area...

On December 8th, there was an article at http://wtopnews.com, saying

   Drivers beware: Water mains bursting...

   WASHINGTON -- Commuters driving to work this sub-freezing morning 
   should be aware -- just because it hasn't rained or snowed recently 
   doesn't mean there won't be significant amounts of water on the roads. 

   The recent cold shock has been too much for some water mains to bear, 
   bursting at many locations throughout the region and causing 
   headaches for local drivers. 

   "I've never seen anything like this before, the guy in front of me spun 
   around in a circle like a donut," says one driver in Montgomery Village 
   in Gathersburg of the icy conditions. 

   "Cars are slipping and sliding."

Isn't that cool? No effort needed to create these rinks!

[kiwiskater]

It must be cold enough for some of you out in the eastern US are able to keep rinks running in your yard?

[sk8Joyful]

On December 8th, there was an article at http://wtopnews.com, saying

   Drivers beware: Water mains bursting, 

   WASHINGTON -- Commuters driving to work this sub-freezing morning 
   should be aware -- just because it hasn't rained or snowed recently 
   doesn't mean there won't be significant amounts of water on the roads. 

   The recent cold shock has been causing headaches for local drivers. 
  "I've never seen anything like this before, the guy in front of me spun 
   around in a circle like a donut," says one driver in Montgomery Village 
   in Gathersburg of the icy conditions. 

   "Cars are slipping and sliding."

Isn't that cool? No effort needed to create these rinks!

Yeah, during the 3 or so days traffic got stranded, en masse overnight on the FREEWAY no less, I said: 'oh to be there on my skates right now  '. but no! - Stuck at work again!, sigh.

I wonder how well Jim's Skating-rink is doing   

[Isk8NYC]

I have no idea if this is useful or not, but $30 for a 10'x20' rink kit sounds like a bargain.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/5/SportsRec/WinterSports/EarlySkater/PRD~0833898P/Jiffy%252BIce%252BRink.jsp?locale=en

Jiffy Ice Rink
Product #83-3898-8
•Help that novice in your family learn to skate

•Easy and quick to assemble and set-up

•Fits in most backyards

•Lots of fun for all ages

•Finished size approximately 10x20 feet (3x6 meters)

•Jiffy rinks may be joined to form a larger ice skating surface

I know, I know, it's Canadian dollars, but still, I think it sounds like a bargaiN!

[Query]

I theorize that reasonable size climate-generated rinks tend to be very rough (unless artificially surfaced) mostly because ice expands as it freezes. The ice has to buckle to accommodate the expansion.

A large lake can do better, in spots. Suppose you have a shallow area. The shallowest place freezes first, because cold diffuses to it from the air first. Then frozen area then expands outwards, without much resistance, because there is no ice around it.

If the frozen area touches a shore, it may buckle just near shore, because near shore ice is still nearest melting, and is softer, and because the main part of the sheet may simply move to accommodate near-shore expansion instead of buckling (though the second mechanism won't work if the ice sheet reaches opposite shores).

I intuitive believe you will often get rough ice within a few dozen feet of shore, but fairly smooth ice most other areas. Not practical for a small backyard rink, but good for parts of a big lake, at least in a cold enough climate.

After the surface freezes, the layers underneath start to freeze too. At any given depth, they should freeze first around the initial (shallow) areas too, because that is coldest, and the same process should continue at those levels.

Of course, in spots where the lake freezes all the way to the bottom (the very shallowest areas), the surface will be pushed upwards, and will be rough, and maybe have hills as well. Nonetheless, a big lake may have many smooth areas, where this hasn't happened.

It is my understanding that people frequently skate on The Great Lakes (of North America), so parts of them must freeze reasonably smooth.

There is an obvious problem with my theories: I know for a fact that people used to skate on the C&O canal, which is quite thin (1 or 2 dozen feet) most places. I'm not sure how such a narrow body could naturally freeze that smooth.

Perhaps outdoor ice skaters in small or thin places like the canal accept much rougher ice than those of us who are spoiled by artificially surfaced rinks are used to?

[FigureSpins]

It must be cold enough for some of you out in the eastern US are able to keep rinks running in your yard?

It's unusually cold on the East Coast this year, so it is likely.  Most people who put together their own rink are just looking for recreation for their family.  Very few figure skaters would go to the trouble because of the work involved. Rusty Blades is the only member (AFAIK) who has ever mentioned building a backyard rink.

When I was growing up, it was cold enough to freeze the ponds and lakes every year.  After a cold snap or snowfall, the Fire Dept or Parks Department would measure the ice and put up a flag to show if it was safe or dangerous for skating. 

As soon as the green flag went up, there would be 20 hockey guys with shovels clearing the snow and scraping the ice smooth.  We figure skaters were just parasites - never helped to shovel or smooth the ice, lol.

 No adults ever came on the ice to ice dance or just skate together, like you see in all the old drawings and paintings.  (I don't know that I would take a chance these days, either. Someone has to stay on shore, just in case.)

There were kids who just wanted to slip and slide in their boots/sneakers.  The ice was never good enough for jumps or spins - it was rough and bumpy, so edges were tricky.  It made your feet tingle after a while, like when you run a shopping cart over a pebbled sidewalk.  Spinning was okay, but you have to watch for cracks in the ice or you'd turn an ankle.

Outdoor ice is s-l-o-w ice (because of the embedded crap) and you have to work for every stroke and push, so it was great strength-building exercise.  I don't remember getting our skates sharpened often, but that's probably why I like my blades a little dull.  We slept well at night after all that fresh air and strenuous exercise.

[Bill_S]

 
 No adults ever came on the ice to ice dance or just skate together, like you see in all the old drawings and paintings.  (I don't know that I would take a chance these days, either. Someone has to stay on shore, just in case.)

Like you, I grew up skating on frozen ponds and lakes in the winters. However, I recall there were a LOT of adults skating together with their kids. That's a fond memory - the stars overhead with a big bonfire on shore, and teenagers sneaking away into a dark corner of the lake to sneak a kiss on a cold night.

I suspect that today, even if the lakes froze safely, skating would be prohibited because of the spector of lawsuits.

[PinkLaces]

My neighbor is outside right now scraping the snow off the pond that separates our 2 houses. He's also got the hose out and is flooding it.  The pond is really not much bigger than a hockey circle.  I see he's got a net out there.  His 2 boys are really small - 1st grade and pre-school.  It will be fine for them to practice hockey.  It would be hard to get much skating in on such a small surface.