Backyard Rink

Nice I was thinking the same with the paint. Probably do the lights. Yeah not sure I will get boards up this weekend but hopefully the following. Think we are still a ways out from the tarp going down.

I also plan on attempting to make a backyard rink again. Last year didn’t go very well, but hopefully I have learned a few lessons. I won’t be trying to complete the initial flood all at once and instead will try to do it in 2 layers. Last couple of years I have had issues with laying down 8″ – 4″ of water (due to drop) and the top freezing a couple inches but have a breach/small hole due laying plastic down on rougher terrain and then having a few inches of ice with no water below.

Also, did some landscaping this spring and have grass there now and leveled it out a bit more. Probably still have a few inches of slope, but hoping I won’t have a breach in the plastic with just grass there now.

I haven’t bought a liner, but purchase vapor barrier plastic – will probably go that route again this year as it’s readily available to buy when I’m ready.

Just a quick thought on your plan.

I’m thinking by doing it in two large layers you’ll probably end up with a very similar situation. If you add a bunch of water to an already frozen mass, they water on top is going to want to go to the bottom. Adding a lot of water to the top will also warm the ice and might just lift the sheet up so it’s floating. Not a big problem if the whole thing rises together but if only part of the sheet decides to break away and float, you might have a mess. No matter what happens, the liner is still carrying the e tire load of the ice sheet so any holes in that sheet would still be a problem.

I think by far the best thing would be to resolve the issue of tearing your liner and fill it to a min of 3”-4” all the way around. Otherwise I’d recommend only adding like 1/2”-1” layers at a time. That way you don’t disrupt the sheet that’s already frozen.

Forecast next weekend appears to keep the highs below freezing. Not wanting to mess with a frozen ground I made some good progress today. Just need to finish the corners, mount lights and add some brackets between boards. I’m planning to mount the lights nest so I can turn them on while I’m finishing the rest of the rink. I think it makes sense to shoot for weekend before Halloween to do this. Losing daylight saving time makes it difficult to do anything after work.

The tarp is going to wait for a calm day when it gets cold. Last year it was a little breezy when I tried to lay it down and it wasn’t fun.

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Good start.
Will be doing mine next weekend. Buddie comes over and we make the kids help.
Can knock it out in a day.
With day light savings at this point my kid is going to be chomping at the bit to get out so will the neighbor kid. Tarp don’t go down till I am going to fill. Still to much crap blowing around. Damn neighbor won’t pick up his leaves.

My yard is flat enough to find a spot to make one about the size of a cookie sheet. Wish i could though my kids would love it.

Anyone else thinking of starting to fill this weekend? Man, looks like highs might be teens later next week.

I may but depends on the wind both my neighbors haven’t picked up their leaves yet.😡

Slight breeze tomorrow otherwise calm all week… and cold. The voices in my head got the best of me.

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Looking good. Yeah I am waiting till Wednesday when the snow passes then game on.

Now the waiting game begins. Took about 20 hrs to fill.

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Laying tarp and filling tomorrow. Any reason to remove snow from inside boards when laying down tarp. I did last year but there was a foot of snow.

Looking good Biggill!

Ripjiggen wrote:

Laying tarp and filling tomorrow. Any reason to remove snow from inside boards when laying down tarp. I did last year but there was a foot of snow.

I don’t think so. When you fill I’m sure it’ll melt most of it.

Kind of what I was thinking.

How is yours holding up Biggill. I may have jumped the gun with the cold snap. This warm whether isn’t helping build much ice

I measured the thickness over the weekend and had a good solid 3”. I’d imagine I have around 4” now. I’m not going to drill any more holes in it since the last time I did the water was pushing up on top through the drilled hole. I can walk and jump on it without any cracking. The only issue is that there’s a 1/2” of open water near the boards where the sun hits it. Not a problem when you have 6-8” of ice but when there’s only about 4” water tries to push up on top.

I would’ve been out there with the kids Monday and Tuesday night but I had a coaching clinic I needed to attend. If it cools off fast enough tonight I may let the kids play on it.

Looking back to last year it looks like I’m well ahead of last year. I posted pics of the kids playing boot hockey on 11/26/21. Tonight I imagine they’ll have skates on.

Rink still looks pretty good after nearly 50 degrees today. Some warm days ahead but I’m not too worried. I think it’ll cool down by the following weekend. Should be skating confidently by then.

Yeah I have the same issue. I can walk on it but water coming up the sides quite a bit. Are you drilling holes to check thickness?

I did over the weekend with a 3/8 drill and had water coming up and formed a big puddle in the middle of the rink. I think I’m done drilling. I can’t crack it if I jump so that should be around 4”+. I’m sure I’ll hav with kids out on it in the next couple days. I’ll keep the adults off for a while yet. Might resurface if we get a night in the teens.

Gotcha. I had been adding some nice layers before the warm. Had really good smooth ice. Now the warm up has made it look like March ice. Don’t mind the warm days but it looks like it may be warm for another week.

Not looking good. It’s gonna stay untouched until at least Friday.

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Yeah all my snow turned to slush and water considering I had open water on the sides from warm weather. So guessing it added 3 inches which is not ideal. No way I could have cleared it though. Guess I should have waited but wasn’t expecting 50 degrees for a week either.

Planning to clear it all off on Friday night or Saturday. We’ll see what I got. Could be a long weekend of fixing unevenness. Might have to add a couple inches of water to the top of its really uneven.

Took a stroll out on the rink. The areas where the slush was showing on top seem to be frozen solid. The areas with deeper snow still have about an inch of slush. Not all bad considering the 5” of snow that fell. Heading out of town tomorrow so it’ll sit until Friday or Saturday. I think it should be pretty firmed up by then. Looking forward to shoveling it off to get started resurfacing. It could be ready this weekend after all.

Nice. I got real lucky that I had enough water that turn it all in slush. I walked on mine and it is pretty firmed up already. Couple of floods and it will be time to put the skates on. It is really a live affair with these things as they do take some work but my kid and his friends love it.

Opening night. It’s a little bumpy from the slush but overall not too bad.

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The ice is in mid season form and it’s only December 5th. I haven’t checked thickness but it doesn’t even budge anymore when adults walk and skate on it. I’d have to say 6”+ for sure. I don’t even have the woodpile stocked yet. Had to construct a bench quick on Saturday so we had a place to put skates on. Planning on having some kids over this weekend for some fun.

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Yeah my ice is pretty dang good. Kids were out all weekend. Think my kid skated 16 hours this weekend from Friday to Sunday. Out again now.
Ran the Zamboni last night and she is pretty dang smooth. Will get some pics up later.