Back Yard Ice hockey Rink build an ice skating rink

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Back Yard Ice Rink

Your main costs will be for plywood and plastic. Once built, the boards will last for years (we still have a few that date back to our rink's first season) but the plastic liner will get torn and ripped and is an annual expense. The best material to use as a plastic liner is a seamless 40' x 100' sheet of 6-mil clear industrial plastic available at most building supply stores or lumber yards. 40'x 100' is a standard industry size and the price will be roughly $150 (U.S.). You can get larger sheets but those will be either custom made or a special order and will cost a lot more

The hardest part of the annual rink construction is digging the post holes and putting up the boards. Starting in the fall, well before the ground freezes, you will have to dig post holes and set the boards in place. Each hole for the big boards has to be at least two feet deep to allow the bottom of the board to be flush with the ground when the board is lowered into place. The holes for the low boards need to be only one-foot deep but the same principle applies — make sure the bottom of the board is flush with the ground. Depending on the hardness of the soil in your yard, you might consider buying a sharp narrow spade or renting a special fence post-hole digging tool for a weekend. These resemble two long narrow spades hinged together near their blades.

Obviously, one post hole can accommodate two board legs. The ends of each board should be touching each other to create the smoothest possible seam. As you lower each board into the ground and shovel the dirt back into the holes around the board legs, make sure you tamp down the ground firmly to secure each board in place. A thorough tamp down is crucial. Digging post holes is a demanding and tiring job and not something you want to do in one day unless you have a lot of help. I start in October and rarely dig more than two or three holes at one time.

Don't get faked out by those first few frosty days of late fall or early winter. What you need to make ice is a three-day stretch of serious cold wherein night temperatures are no more than 5°F to 15°F (-10°C to -15°C) and day temperatures don't rise above freezing. The colder the better. Keep an eye on the long-range weather forecast. When you're certain that a frigid stretch is no more than a day away, you're ready to put in your plastic liner and flood your rink.
Now comes the easy part. Put the hose in the cellar (if you leave it out it will freeze) and wait for the water to freeze. But wait patiently. The water will skim over quickly but it may be three or four days — maybe longer — before the ice will be thick enough to skate on. I test mine by holding onto a low board and slowly transferring my weight to the ice until I hear it crack. If it doesn't crack, I put my entire weight on the ice and walk around. But the main point here is that you want to be wearing shoes — not skates — when you check the ice.

1.	Determine the place and the orientation of the ice rink.
2.	Arrange your panels of board to form the perimeter of the ice rink.
3.	Measure and indicate the middle of every piece of board. So, for a panel of 8 ' made a mark at 4 '.
4.	Arrange your brackets at every 4 ' around the perimeter of the ice rink.
5.	Screw solidly the border of board (2 " x 2 ") in the bracket (above of the piece E) by beginning in a corner with one screw (rustproof) of 3 ". N.B. : The bracket should be align with the extremity of the board. See Figure #1.

Steer clear of any septic lines when considering where to place your rink.
Make the base as level as possible. Keep in mind you will have to compensate for sloping areas. Make the base thicker in the lower end of the rink. Enclose the base with snow banks at least 30 centimeters high. Higher banks (60 cm) will make the ice last longer. The white snow will reflect the sun so the heat doesn't stay on the surface. The ice will last longer even when the temperature goes above freezing for short periods. So make the banks as high as possible.

Once the rink base and enclosure is made, it's time to spray some water. As I said earlier, the colder it is the better. Personally, I wouldn't start making a base without at least -15 degrees celsius. Water the base, swinging the hose back and forth, with a fine spray until it gets "slushly". Depending on water flow and rink size, the initial flooding should take no more than a half-hour. Depending on the temperature, you should wait 1 - 2 hours for that to freeze. In the end you should have 6 to 10 cm of base ice.

If you can find a one-piece plastic liner that is the right size for your rink, then you are one step ahead of me. I have a real problem getting one here, for a reasonable price. The companies that sell the one piece custom liners are one option (probably the best option if you can afford it), and places that sell greenhouse plastic (usually big sizes) are another option.