We are lucky to live in a four season climate! Really, we are!
My husband, no I should say, our “HERO,” created a do-it-yourself backyard ice rink! It is perfect! The size is 18 feet x 30 feet…not the Olympic rink in my dreams but perfect for backyard hockey. Being realistic, men always go bigger and better the following year so it’s good he didn’t start off bigger. Actually, there are some permanent objects preventing a larger rink in the current spot. The septic field, sentimental Christmas tree (I’ll save the sentimental explanation for another post) and the swing set, not to mention the property line are solidified reasons for the size we have. However, there is already talk about incorporating under the ice lights next year! That would be cool!
How he did it? Here is a video that essentially used the same materials and have the same qualities our rink has. The video also explains how to incorporate under the ice lights and create a Zamboni rake.
The girl in me was so excited to create long snow benches and a homemade score board. Next year, I’ll work on Christmas lights strung from above the rink. There is a flood light setup for night time skating which is usually when we are out there. Funny to think that most people don’t go outside in the dark to play in the snow, but if a light is on, we will skate.
It took four hours to fill the rink and two days to freeze but it was three days before we broke it in just for the sake of being cautious.
The maintenance has been lower than expected. We, I mean, he has only re-flooded two surface layers since it was built right after Christmas. We are experiencing temps in the teens so our rink is here to stay for awhile. I never thought I’d be hoping for cold temps to remain constant. Funny how priorities change when children enter your life!
Here is my contribution to the rink, and just so happens to be my favorite part…the Chalkboard Scoreboard!
We thought about making a backyard Zamboni with these directions. I don’t really think it will happen because the shovel & hose method is working just fine.
And besides, we have this…
Visit Craftberry Bush for directions to make an ice heart like the one I did.
I hope this has inspired you to create a rink for your family or perhaps you already have. Perhaps you have failed miserably like we did for the first two years. The lumber and plastic sheeting are a must for success. I’d love to hear your comments. We are always looking to improve ours. It is something that our kids will be talking about when they are adults, “remember when dad made us an ice rink?”
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