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Backyard skating rink (1 Viewer)

Nigel

Nigel

Footballguy
Anyone else put themselves through this every year? 

This is my third year doing it. My yard is not flat, 26" drop from one end of the 24x30' rink to the other. First year was great, kids skated from Jan 1 through end of March without a thaw. Last year was a disaster, got cocky and tried to go bigger and the ####### thing collapsed, wiped out a fence, damn near killed my wife, never skated. Went back to original size this year with some better bracing in place. Debating whether to flood it tonight with some cold weather coming but worried about a stretch of weather in the 40s looming in the long term forecast. HUGE decision.

Will post some pics later.

 
Oh yeah, I posted in that one last year pre-collapse. Was too depressed to update it. Winter in Boston ended up sucking for it anyway, nobody got much use out of them which was some solace, but man I was depressed for weeks. Had to stare at the mess it created in my yard all winter.

 
Struggled with this for last 4 years.  Have lots of time and $ invested.  Each year I had improvements I wanted to make.  Each year was "the year" that it was all going to come together for the perfect ice rink.  Each summer/fall I ran out of time for all improvements.  Each year was different headache(s) during the winter to try and solve.  Things can go very very wrong depending on the weather.  I have 2x12 borders, 3x4 plywood boards, angled corners, lights, etc etc. All designed to set up and break down into parts.  When its up and running and cleared and smooth it has been awesome -- but its a ton of work.  I joke that it is my "moby ****' that I cant let go...

...But this year I did.  Hockey kid is 9 now, averages 4 days/week with hockey practices or games.  Didnt set it up.  Its all sitting on pallets and under tarps.  A tiny little part of me died, but had to let the dream go.  Feel good that we had it at least for a few winters.  Have priceless pictures of my then 6 year old stick handling on it years ago.

 
I live on Long Island NY and the winters here are so sporadic that I can't commit to one. I've seen the rink in a box set up and I'm dying to do one. Wit a 6 year old who plays ice hockey and a 10 year old who figure skates, and a 42 year old dad who still plays ice hockey, this is a no brainer if it was just a little bit more consistent with the winters. :rant:  And I hate winters!!

What type of sustained temps do you really need for this to be practical?

 
How do you attach the boards to the tarp so it doesn't leak.  The video doesn't say.

They laid boards out on tarp.

When they fold the tarp over they just screw the tarp to the wood?  So with it folded up it won't leak obviously I just am not sure about the any other attaching

 
Just lay the liner over the frame and fill it with water, once full you can staple liner to boards. You don't want to attach liner to boards before filling. And I wouldn't use a regular tarp, use a solid white sheet of poly at least 6mm thick.

eta have plenty of slack so liner can settle, staple liner to outside of boards when full. 

 
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Wouldn't work here.  To many sunny/warm days throughout the winter.  Kid would love it though.

 
When I started with mine (2004) I used this website for advice

http://www.hpurchase.com/byrinst.htm

The site has been dormant for a number of years but the tips wouldn't really change year-to-year. There's a nice gallery of photos that were submitted. Mine is in there for 2004 and 2005.

I never had any luck with joining 2 pieces of liner together so I always bought 1 sheet that was large enough for my rink. Of course, it was a big (and costly) sheet as my rink was about 40x60. I tried seams on 2 occasions and had leaks each time.

6 great years but as the kids got older and the weather became less stable it just wasn't worth it any longer.

 
James Daulton said:
What happens if it freezes and unfreezes repeatedly?  Does that screw up the ice surface somehow?
Click to expand...
No. It can suck if it thaws, then you get snow, then it refreezes on you. But sometimes it's actually nice to get a slight thaw and when it refreezes it's smooth as glass.

 
She was home during the day and called to tell me it looked like the liner was tearing. She went out to inspect while still on the line with me. As she was telling me "it looks like the back wall is bending" the thing started creaking loudly, I could hear it on the phone.. "What do I do?" she screamed...I told her to get the #### out of there and she ran just before it blew open a 5" thick 25x35' sheet of ice and tons of water came rushing out and slid down the decline to the back of my yard, taking out two sections of fence along the 5' high retaining wall that runs the length of my yard.

so I went smaller this year, and braced the #### out of it. 

 
Nigel said:
She was home during the day and called to tell me it looked like the liner was tearing. She went out to inspect while still on the line with me. As she was telling me "it looks like the back wall is bending" the thing started creaking loudly, I could hear it on the phone.. "What do I do?" she screamed...I told her to get the #### out of there and she ran just before it blew open a 5" thick 25x35' sheet of ice and tons of water came rushing out and slid down the decline to the back of my yard, taking out two sections of fence along the 5' high retaining wall that runs the length of my yard.

so I went smaller this year, and braced the #### out of it. 
Click to expand...
lol.  Sounds like the scene of an Adam Sandler movie.  But with your wife and the ice and water didn't actually carry her down your yard.

Maybe next time?

 
Nigel said:
She was home during the day and called to tell me it looked like the liner was tearing. She went out to inspect while still on the line with me. As she was telling me "it looks like the back wall is bending" the thing started creaking loudly, I could hear it on the phone.. "What do I do?" she screamed...I told her to get the #### out of there and she ran just before it blew open a 5" thick 25x35' sheet of ice and tons of water came rushing out and slid down the decline to the back of my yard, taking out two sections of fence along the 5' high retaining wall that runs the length of my yard.

so I went smaller this year, and braced the #### out of it. 
Click to expand...
Glad she's OK and we can laugh at you. :lmao:  

 
I saw a Shark Tank episode the other day featuring a product that seemed to simplify this a whole bunch. I'd just go with that. 

He didn't get a deal cause he was a ####ty salesman.
 
@AcerFC has an amazing synthetic ice rink in his basement.  They do outdoor rinks, too.  I priced it out and was all ready for it, but my wife ultimately axed it, because she thinks we'll be selling here shortly and afraid it'd be a PIA to remove.

 
Spin said:
@AcerFC has an amazing synthetic ice rink in his basement.  They do outdoor rinks, too.  I priced it out and was all ready for it, but my wife ultimately axed it, because she thinks we'll be selling here shortly and afraid it'd be a PIA to remove.
Click to expand...
@AcerFC tell me more...my wife asked me about these yesterday. We are adding an addition on our house and will have a whole second basement 

How good is the 'ice'? use ice skates and/or roller blades? 

 
glvsav37 said:
@AcerFC tell me more...my wife asked me about these yesterday. We are adding an addition on our house and will have a whole second basement 

How good is the 'ice'? use ice skates and/or roller blades? 
Click to expand...
You use real ice skates. It works just like ice (with an adjustment of a minute or two at first)  

The only issue is that it dulls the blade quickly. I just had this delievered to my house and im hoping that helps. It should. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0043WTBJW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481669532&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=skate+sharpener&dpPl=1&dpID=41cYUhzEImL&ref=plSrch

This is a boring video of my kid who wanted to act like the HS team after a goal. But you can see how the skates glide nicely on the surface

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i6LB9s7uHLg

We got very lucky. The past few weeks we have had a great kid come over and give my son private lessons. It is perfect for his size and age. He is 7 and in first grade. The kid who played college and had a stint in the ECHL said it was great after never having been on it until he got to our house. 

My son will go down there a lot, but always seem to ask at 9:00pm so we say no a lot. He will rollerblade around the house all day. 

We used global synthetic. I have zero issues reccomending them. We bought the surface for his 3rd birthday. His 7th was a few weeks ago in November and we are on the second bottle of oil. The first one came with the system. 

We were a bit limited with our space as you can see. If you can extend it and make it bigger, your kids will love it. 

 
@AcerFC  thanks...now i remember seeing that vid, you've posted it before. My little guy is 6 and plays ice hockey so this would be awesome. I'm a goalie and he wants to play net, it would be awesome to put the pads on and slide around with him. I'll check it out.

edit: did you make the boards or did you buy them too?

 
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glvsav37 said:
@AcerFC  thanks...now i remember seeing that vid, you've posted it before. My little guy is 6 and plays ice hockey so this would be awesome. I'm a goalie and he wants to play net, it would be awesome to put the pads on and slide around with him. I'll check it out.

edit: did you make the boards or did you buy them too?
Click to expand...
We built everything except the ice panels on the floor. 6 is perfect age for it. He will get a good 4-5 years. When they get to be around 10, it will be great for stick handling. Assuming most basements have low ceilings. But if yours does not, then it can be used forever. 

On a side note, I read a great article years ago before my son started officially playing travel. It was written by an ex nhl goalie whose son wanted to be a goalie. He would not let him until squirts. That stuck with me and my son wants to be a goalie as well. He plays every third or fourth game, but I want him playing the ice before specializing. Ill see if I can find the article for you. 

 
AcerFC said:
We built everything except the ice panels on the floor. 6 is perfect age for it. He will get a good 4-5 years. When they get to be around 10, it will be great for stick handling. Assuming most basements have low ceilings. But if yours does not, then it can be used forever. 

On a side note, I read a great article years ago before my son started officially playing travel. It was written by an ex nhl goalie whose son wanted to be a goalie. He would not let him until squirts. That stuck with me and my son wants to be a goalie as well. He plays every third or fourth game, but I want him playing the ice before specializing. Ill see if I can find the article for you. 
Click to expand...
are you and I the same person??  I feel the exact same way. I only let him play net on spot duty at dec hockey but I won't let him go full time for a few more years. He needs to understand the game first. However, with a surface like this I can work on movement and getting use to the equipment at home. 

I'd love to see the article if you find it, bit I'm 100% on board even before reading it. 

Where do you guys travel to? Ever make it out to Eastern Long Island area? We play at The Rinx and Superior rinks. 

 
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