How to Make a Backyard Rink - The Complete Guide!
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- čas přidán 9. 06. 2024
- This is your guide to starting your very first backyard rink. Whether you want an outdoor rink to learn to skate on, or a hockey rink for your future NHL'er to dream big on, here's how to get it done!
My favorite Canadian Backyard Rink Store. Check them out for things like liners, flooders and netting.
www.rinkmaster.com/
White Tarp: amzn.to/3Im3WWk
LED Lights: amzn.to/3Im3WWk
Rink Shovel: amzn.to/3HU4HVw
DISCLAIMER: Korey Freeman is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. - Jak na to + styl
For anyone curious about how I did my dasher boards (the boards hiding the tarp), I just put up a video showing this process. czcams.com/video/iU1eRTuC5ok/video.html
Hi
@@brandonrennie9065 Hey Brandon!
my family has put up a 200 by 80ft rink year for the past 10 years its the highlight of coming home in the winter!!
That's awesome! That's a real rink!
You're the "man" ...I built a odr twice its alot of work but a lot of fun...kids still talk about it years after
Thanks Korey. I can't believe very few people have viewed this because you covered quite a bit and you have lots of great tips! I thought I have viewed just about every instructional video out there about backyard rinks so I appreciate yours. I'm in Southwest Colorado and last year my son and I skated on a friend's pond about a half mile away all we wanted. However, the distance with trying to maintain the ice and clear the snow got to be a real bear. So I was determined that this year I'd build my own rink in our yard. I've got a nice level ground squared corners and I'm in the process of building my boards. We get a lot of snow here in Colorado and trying to shovel it by hand just about killed me so I bought a snow blower this last summer. I think some kind of snowblower is key for maintaining your ice because you need to get the snow off the ice immediately after it stops snowing. The problem I still need to solve is how to get the snow blower over my 16 inch boards. I'm thinking of making a small little door that can be opened in order to put the snow blower on the ice without massive lifting. Happy skating!
Awesome! Thanks for the kind words. I didnt get this video up in time for the start of last winter.. hopefully this year it helps more people!
And yes, a snow blower is a huge help. A door is a great idea. I just make a ramp with 2 boards resting on my rink boards and drive my snow blower up it to get into my rink. However my boards are only 12", and in that corner of the rink only a couple inches are above the ice level.
But you could still probably make a ramp as well, it just might take a ramp on the inside as well to get out... an upside down V ramp.
Just giving you another idea. The door would be a great option for sure.
what a great fun project. looks like you and your family had a great time.
Here in Vancouver we’re basically on the tiny sliver of Canada where this is basically not possible. That and I don’t have a yard. So I’m watching for the vicarious thrill. Did a great job on the rink and the step-by-step. Bet it’s fun!
Thanks Sibby. It's so much fun! I hope you are staying safe in Vancouver
@@koreyfreemanofficial Yes thank you! The local arena only has like 3 ppl there when I go so I have that going for me :)
It’s possible now
You my friend are a damn good Canadian👍🏼
Thanks my friend!
the little girl skating on the ice is so cute.
Thanks! I think so too!
Great video!
7:30 exactly what i came for! how best to lay up the tarp against the high boards. Thank you! and good luck with the rink this year!
Thanks! Glad you found what you were looking for!
Okay I will try it
Great video. Best of the best.
Thanks Pav!
Great video and really appreciate the links!
bauer vapor XX the best model. like
thank you..
*FUN ViDEO* Our #ODR last year was SO *SMOOOOTH* TOO!
THANKS AGAIN!
Smoooooth comment! Love to hear it!!
@@koreyfreemanofficial You have a great Thumb Nail picture there too!
dope video! Hello from the west coast.....where the temperature is NEVER cold enough for an ODR! :(
Hello hello! There are pros and cons to living out there I'm sure 🙂 Thanks for checking in!
Hi.. Great video, it's so nice to see you playing hockey work your kids.... So this year I finally decided to build a rink for for my teen daughter. I have a full size tennis court in my back yard and went through the whole process, as this was the first time doing it and I want sure how it would turn out, I decided to build half of the court, approx 60'by 50', but unfortunately it was in the weekend of the record snow storm we had here in Ontario. The rink was done on the Friday and we had -25 temps Friday night, so I started the flooding that night, it took me approx 15 hours to flood. I thought my court was pretty leveled but it turned out that I had a a very slight slope, so the water started filling up on on side of the court and then gradually coming to the other side. Fast forward... Everything looked good as the temps were frigid on Saturday and Sunday, but unfortunately Sunday night we got the record snow fall, and all my hard work looked it went down the drain. My snow ploughers who do my drive way energy winter didn't even want to go back to the court and remove the snow as it was too much work, finally I convinced them last week and the managed to remove most of the snow from the rink. I also bought a snow blower to remove all the additional snow that was still left on the ice. Today I did another run with my snow blower and now I realize my I've is so uneven and bumpy that it would be dangerous for daughter to skate. Can you suggest to me what I need to do now to get the ice to be even? I'm thinking of giving up and just consider this little adventure a fail, but my daughter really wants to skate. If everything had gone well, I was planning to do the whole tennis court next year approx 120' by 60'. If you could give me some tips it would be really helpful... Ps. Sorry for the long message. Lol
You are really fortunate to have a tennis court! That'd be awesome. For the future you will want to check the forecast before beginning the rink. Snow on top of freezing water can make quite the mess. But you obviously know that!
If you are able to make your ice deeper I would suggest just letting the water run for awhile to add another cm or whatever you think it'll take to get rid of the bumps. Then just stay off the ice until this new layer has frozen. This would be the easiest and best solution if it's possible in your situation.
You could also try flooding and immediately after scrape the bumps with a shovel while the ice is still softer. You might be able to knock down some of the bumps this way. If you do this a few times you might see a big improvement. You could also skate on it yourself and do lots of braking on them to wear them down. Skating can be a good way to get rid of bumps as well.
I hope that this experience doesn't discourage you from trying again next year even if you have to give up on the rink this year. It really is a great winter thing for the family!
Best of luck to you! I would love to hear an update from you how it goes!
@@koreyfreemanofficial Hey Korey, thank you for your fast reply and sorry for my late reply. I really appreciate all the information in your reply. I won't give up so soon. Would love to keep in touch with you, hopefully in another platform then CZcams. If you are ever in the midtown area of Toronto please feel free to drop by and have a look at my rink.Maybe I can get better advise once u have seen it. Once again thank you for all the info. Stay Safe!!
@@MP-fn7bc All good. I don't get to Toronto much.. if I do it's normally for an event and then I am in and out! You can connect with me on instagram @koreythefreeman or email koreythefreeman@gmail.com.
Good vid; it’s a nice blend of construction advice and skating. Can you do a follow up video about ice maintenance or flooding? I’ve seen the tarp idea; instead I wet the snow and squash it flat (I wish I had a lawn roller for that part), and flood it nightly until it’s flat.
What time of year does the sun irreparably soften the rink?
Thanks Jeremy. I went to a rural elementary school and we had a big outdoor rink every year made with a snow base and then some farmer parents used farm machinery to pound it with water. So much fun for the students!
It really depends when the season ends as no 2 winters are identical but I would say probably sometime in March is the norm
And I am hoping to put up a scraping/flooding video soon
Thx Korey. I didn’t realize how much I’d love maintaining an ice surface until this year; the neighbours of a local park got a permit and some basic training to provide an ice surface using the city’s winter water supply. We had a cold snap at -17°C and that was the best chance at making a rink. Interestingly 3 days later there were still some deep puddles in spots that had lots of mud. So filling those spots with snow and flattening them was surprisingly meditative. Enjoyable, even.
And the next big snow after that; my own backyard went into transformation. It’s bumpy. It’s ugly. It’s tiny. And it’s fun!
@@jbpriede Thanks for sharing! I agree. For me it's great cuz it forces me to get outside and it makes winter much more enjoyable. Also, my oldest son absolutely loves it, so that makes it worth it even if I didn't enjoy the upkeep.
A tarp def makes it easier to get smooth ice and it is a lifesaver if there is a mid season thaw. But still nothing wrong with the old school way!
the yard looks small with the playground and trampoline but the rink looks huge
I made the rink about as big as i could fit in our yard. Still felt small on skates but def did the job!
Great video. Just wander where you got tarp and what's the brand? I want to have a small one this winter. Also, was your backyard levelled enough? If not, it caused a big trouble? Thanks
Thanks! I ordered my tarp from Amazon.ca. It is the Kotap 8mil tarp. www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0096M0CNI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
My lawn isn't perfectly level, the first year I would estimate my ice was 10" deep in the thickest spot, and 2.5" in the lowest spot. It was fine. Basically you will need to ensure that your boards will be high enough to get a good 2" minimum of water everywhere. It might be a good idea to check your yards levelness with a laser level or setting up a tight string on your yard and checking it with a level, just so you have a rough idea what you are getting into.
After the first year I lowered the part of my lawn slightly where the ice was so thin, but it wasn't necessary. Obviously a really flat yard is ideal, but who has that? :)
Good luck!
@@koreyfreemanofficial Thanks for response!
If you want your plywood to last for more than a year or two, you could put some exterior paint on them.
Definitely a good idea. As a bonus, if you paint them white it will help keep the sun from melting the ice around the boards as quickly.
good vid! lot of good tips. 100th comment!
Thanks Fred! Appreciate the comment!
Really helpful video. FYI- Your led light link isn't linked right. Do you think solar outdoor lights would work? I'm worried about electric shock. Thanks!
a.co/d/b4qvBjj
Thanks! I would recommend something like this. Solar lights should work if you get enough wattage. I don't have much experience with solar to give you good feedback on that idea.
If you are worried about shocks keep your extension connections covered with electrical tape and your outlet box area dry.. I think you are probably being paranoid but everybody has their things!
Great video, fellow Canadian here. Can you explain the dasher boards in a bit more detail. I am building my first backyard rink and I have been wondering how to do this. Until your video, I didn't understand where all the excess tarp goes, and how to not screw thru it. It looks like your plywood sides are 12-20" and you put the tarp over this for the water to freeze. Once frozen you unclamp the tarp, and you said to just fold the tarp. How tall are these dasher boards? After folding the tarp do you just make sure there is some space so that you can screw the dasher board into the plywood boards. Any tips, or more details would be really appreciated. Thanks.
Thanks Paul. Yes, you are correct about the process. My dasher boards aren't all the same height, but some are only a few inches tall. This makes it hard to fold up the excess tarp to not screw thru it.
My side boards are only 12" high. Since some of my ice is really thick due to my yard not being perfectly level, it meant in some spots my dasher boards were really short so they wouldnt stick past the top of the boards.
I would recomend trying to get your dasher boards closer to 12"... but this will depend on your board height. Than you can just fold over or scrunch up the excess tarp below the area that you screw the dasher in.
Does this help make it make sense? Judging from your comment you seem to understand
@@koreyfreemanofficial Yes I think I understand. I plan to use 16" side boards and then 2ft behind the net like where you have 4ft. Originally I was just going to keep the liner resting over the boards all winter. One of the reasons I chose 2ft ends instead of 4 was so I didnt have to buy a bigger liner to get up and over the boards. You're the first person to suggest that tip of folding and screwing above the liner. Usually I have seen people screw thru the liner and then cut the excess liner away. Given how expensive plywood is right now it might be worth it to buy actual plastic dasher boards. Where did you get the yellow ones you have. Thanks again.
@@paulflogeras2309 yeah, i am not sure why more people don't do the dashers like this! My dasher boards were just particle board.. but they only lasted 2 years. Particle board doesnt like moisture!
@@koreyfreemanofficial hi again. Have you set up your backyard rink for this year yet? Any chance you could take some photos, specifically how the dasher boards are set up and the liner is folded. Thanks
I haven't set them up yet. I won't be putting in the tarp until I an ready to fill it with water. I will try to make a little video showing when I do add the dashers
Hey where did you find that yellow slide ?! Where did you buy and the brand! We are looking for something like that ! Thanks
I got it used so unfortunately I don't know what brand it is. Sorry. Good luck !
Takeaway: it's not the size of your rink that matters, its how much fun you have you have with it!
Nice job. Did it affect the lawn underneath?
Thanks! The lawn underneath the tarp took a little longer to lush up in the spring but came back just fine.
The main advantage of flooding with hot water is that *it freezes faster*. It's known as the Mpemba effect, and it's completely counter-intuitive but still true. The exact reasons why are complicated and we don't know for certain why, but the main theorised reasons are:
- hot water starts freezing from the bottom instead of the top, so it doesn't form an insulating layer
- the fastest moving molecules evaporate more readily, cooling the rest of the water
- convection currents distribute heat more readily, so the whole mass of water supercools before freezing all at once
- heated water has less dissolved air, which affects freezing
Any of these could be the reason, or more likely a combination of them.
Thinking of doing this in Massachusetts but it doesn’t seem like you can even play pond hockey here anymore like when I was a kid due to the temp fluctuations. Do you think it’s an option down here?
I am certainly no expert with your weather, but judging from a quick Google search it seems like it'd be pretty dicey. There it shows it doesn't get much below freezing. I am guessing you might get a few days of skating in here and there but seems there would be way too many mild days to be worthwhile.
It takes a long time for the rink to freeze up initially if the weather is only a few degrees below freezing... so you might just end up with a big pond in your yard all winter.
Just my 2 cents. If you are really curious you could start with a tiny rink for a winter and see what happens.
Cheers
Looking to build one this month with some pressure treated wood, but I’m worried about sealing the wood. Be about $950 in wood based on the height and length I want. Plan to keep up year round to use as roller hockey rink too. Should I wait till it’s warmer to be able to seal? Not sure how problematic sealing is.
Nice! Honestly I am not sure. I have never sealed pressure treated lumber, but I would think a quick google search should give you some good advice. If you paint it white it will help you ice from getting soft by the boards. But make sure the wood is dry before you paint.
Is there a need to take apart the frame each season? We own a couple acres so that space it takes up doesn't make much of a difference. I do plan on emptying it and putting the tarp away at the end of the season though, just curious about the wood frame itself.
Consider yourself fortunate! You should be able to keep it set up. The wood might not last quite as long as if you stored it under a roof during the offseason... but I would think the effort saved would be well worth it.
Look out on plastic frames, ive seen someone build it with strong plastic ones, and it might stay on for the entire season
Also if ur not able to find idk if its able to recycle strong plastic and mold it into a board idk
What if there is a foot of snow down, would you try to pack it or shovel it to the side before laying the tarp?
I would shovel or blow it out, at least as much of it as you can so that as have as much extra board height around your rink as possible
My fiance is a figure skater and just want to know can you use the same format for the rink for figure skating as well?
Absolutely!
where did you get your boards and everyhing like the wood
I think at McDonald’s if you didn’t know McDonald’s sell’s a lot of wood nails cement 😂😂😂😂
I got the wood from Home Depot. Home Depot will even cut the plywood into strips for you if you want.
How do you flood the rink? By the way, nice job!
Flooding is really simple! I just start by giving the rink a good scrape (I use a rink shovel, it's wider than a normal shovel). Then I just use a garden hose connected to an outdoor tap (frost free tap recommended so it doesn't freeze up, just running cold water), attached to a flooder I got from Rinkmaster.com. It's called the Floodmaster. There are other similar products available, or if you are handy you can even make your own.
I spend more time hooking up the hose and winding it back up than I do with the actual flooding. Maybe this winter I will make a video of the flooding process.
www.rinkmaster.com/products/floodmaster?variant=25552974215
I’d love to make a big rink in my backyard to practice and to invite my teammates to play at my house for practice but the problem is…….. I live in Florida WHERE IT DOESNT SNOW! So that why I’m buying the tiles the you can use to slide around buy like 1 or 2 packs so I can practice when I don’t want to go all the way to palm beach to practice (I’m far from my hockey team)
Hey, living in Florida can't be all bad! Glad you are finding a way to do the sport you love!
@@koreyfreemanofficial no I love Florida don’t get me wrong but I think I’d be nice for it to snow here so that I didn’t have to by the tiles I could just make a hole in the snow and freeze water but yeah it’s good that I found a hockey team here
how big is your rink I heard 44 and took 12 hours to fill I have a 28 by 72 I used to get a water truck but its getting so expseive thinking about filling off my house tap
I don't live at this place anymore but i think the rink was around 26x44. Def recommend fillimg with a tap. It will be much much cheaper than a water truck
How big is the rink? Do you think a 50' long and 8' feet wide good for a 14 year old
My rink is 26'x44'. Even a small rink is better than no rink, but I would recommend asking your kid how they feel about it. 8' wide will work for shooting, but is probably too narrow for shinny or anything like that. You don't want to constantly be tripping over the side boards by accident.
Cool rink. Is this in Ontario?
Yup! Waterloo
@@koreyfreemanofficial Cool! Were you able to start your rink in December?
@@brentann5100 yeah! We filled it with water around mid December. It took quite a while to freeze because it didn't stay very cold. But once it did freeze it was an amazing rink winter!
Thanks Cory. I can't believe very few people have viewed this because you covered quite a bit and you have lots of great tips! I thought I have viewed just about every instructional video out there about backyard rinks so I appreciate yours. I'm in Southwest Colorado and last year my son and I skated on a friend's pond about a half mile away all we wanted. However, the distance with trying to maintain the ice and clear the snow got to be a real bear. So I was determined that this year I'd build my own rink in our yard. I've got a nice level ground squared corners and I'm in the process of building my boards. We get a lot of snow here in Colorado and trying to shovel it by hand just about killed me so I bought a snow blower this last summer. I think some kind of snowblower is key for maintaining your ice because you need to get the snow off the ice immediately after it stops snowing. The problem I still need to solve is how to get the snow blower over my 16 inch boards. I'm thinking of making a small little door that can be opened in order to put the snow blower on the ice without massive lifting. Happy skating!
How much money is it around for the wood and stuff???
It depends on the size of your rink and wood in your area. I would estimate the tarp and wood cost me $300. This was several years ago tho and prices have gone up. Then of course there are other optional things like lights and netting. And you will also need a garden hose and a flooder.
Many of these things are upfront costs tho. Its a great investment into your kids!
What if you have mean a hole neighbors and a little bit of a slope issue that you don’t want to be permanent
Sorry about the neighbours. The good news is most people are inside a lot during the winter, so if you keep the pucks out of their yard I would hope they wouldn't kick up a fuss. It is your yard, not theirs!
Regarding the slope, if it's too ridiculous you might have to do an old school rink without a tarp. Nothing wrong with that, just more work, and won't bounce back as nicely during a mild spell. Good luck!
@Gan unfanboy that's great. Tarps are really expensive. I am on my third year with this tarp so that helps. Sometimes we don't have a lot of snow here so making a rink could be difficult without a tarp.
You must have a good location for a rink because i am not sure how you could build a better rink without a tarp since that becomes self leveling and super smooth right off the hop. At any rate, you have a rink and that's great!
why am I watching this I live in Socal
PADDED GOAL POSTS would cut down on the broken siding ;)
Brilliant suggestion! I never thought of that!
I got some bad news for some of you guys…..
I don’t think this will work to well in Florida
My backyard is so not level and we make it every year
Good for you! How deep is the ice in the thickest part?
in a total cost how much did it cost
I am not sure, this was several years ago and obviously inflation has effected what it would cost now. My 30'x50' tarp was around $170 (now it's $230). i would estimate maybe $700 with the tarp, wood, netting, flooder, lights and hose.
As weird as it sounds but hot water freezes faster than cold water.
It'd be fun to try a hot water flood sometime, but my outside taps are just cold water so not worth the hassle for me.
@@koreyfreemanofficial This might save you some water
But czcams.com/users/shortsbKHRgbICF44?feature=share
@@Guapogiboy those would take a lot of refilling I think... not for me but a cool novelty. Notice how the video stops as soon as he starts flooding?
Doing
BRAD!
Does it harm the lawn?
Nope! It took a bit longer to look as lush as the rest of the lawn, but it came up nicely.
Ps i am a bit of a lawn nerd myself lol
The key to not having it harm your lawn is in the spring. Getting the tarp up off the grass as soon as the ice melts is critical. If you leave it too long and the ground thaws then it causes some issues. Nothing that won't eventually repair itself but it takes a lot longer.
What's the kid doing at the beginning of video hahah
Just being nosy with the camera I think!
Supplies :first u need a big ass backyard and money which…
Ohhh Captain Obvious is checking in. Hope you're doing well!
Great video!
Thanks!