Author Topic: Backyard hockey rink construction tips and ideas  (Read 3405 times)

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Backyard hockey rink construction tips and ideas
Topic: September 19, 2019, 08:24:50 AM
Brag about your custom hockey rink. Post your pics and details of your backyard rink. Scroll down or swipe up for details and info describing how to post pics.








It's time to start constructing the rink again!

This is our last rink in 2017. We chose not to build in 2018 because of a warm winter forecast. For once the weather forecasters were correct, it rarely dropped below 45 degrees. We're giving it another shot this winter. The rink is rudimentary at best but it does the job none-the-less. Our rink is 34x54, built with treated lumber and a 40x60 construction tarp. The back stop netting was purchased online from a net website.

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Total out of pocket expense for all materials - $450 includes all of the wood, screws, fasteners, tarp and back-stop netting. The treated lumber has lasted 7 years to date with no cracks, warping or rot. The tarp has been replaced 3 times over the same 7 years.

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Reply #1:
 September 20, 2019, 10:05:07 AM
Couple of questions...

Is your spot on the yard perfectly level?

How thick is the ice?

Does your grass grow back in the spring?
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Reply #2:
 September 20, 2019, 10:58:50 AM
We've constructed a rink 6 of the past 7 years. Over those 7 years we've worked out the kinks and now it takes roughly 3 hrs, start to finish for assembly before filling. With two hoses, it takes about 8 hrs to completely fill.

With that, to answer your questions.

1. The yard is not perfectly level, nobody's is, at least that is what we learned first time around. Year one we thought our backyard was perfectly level, (by eye). After construction we came to find we were quite wrong. We wound up having to reinforce the left "long" wall because that entire side of the rink was 2 - 2 1/2 feet deep, the right side long wall was 3 inches deep.

Year 2 we mulled over two choices to correct leveling, excavate and level off the rink area and have one weird ass looking back yard, or level off with top soil. We chose top soil leveling and had several tons of soil dumped, which we hand graded with conventional yard tools and our lawn tractor. The end result wasn't exact but it wound up close enough without ruining the backyard. Since year two, the right side long wall is still 3 inches and the left is 5-6 inches. Our leveling was pretty much split straight down the middle of the length of the rink.

2. The "grass" always grows back. We used construction grade seed after we graded the rink area 6 years ago. It grows dark green fast and thick. However, it's about 90% weeds. It always comes back quickly within about 3-5 weeks after disassembly in late March/early April. With the tarp in place from Oct/Nov through the winter into March the grass underneath will decay due to trapped moisture and freezing/thawing of dead grass and weeds. When you remove the tarp, smell can be pretty pungent and overwhelming from the decayed landscape. It's basically the same smell as horse manure. That goes away in a couple days when it dries out. We spray down the tarp with the hose, tape any holes that may have opened up from use with Gorilla tape. We let it dry out and then fold it up for storage in the shed until next winter.

Our kids are getting older now and like skating in the park on the frozen crick as well. So this might be the last hoo-rah for our backyard rink. The biggest benefit they have at this point is skating at night under the flood lights. Other than that, they like the park better.
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Reply #3:
 September 20, 2019, 11:03:37 AM
We do have a neighbor 6 houses down who excavated. When I say it looks weird, I mean it. It looks like they have a 3' high 30' long shelf in their backyard. I never asked how much trouble it caused for mowing but I imagine it's not easy. Another neighbor 4 houses down in the other direction had blacktop installed and completely leveled. It doubles for inline in the summer and with a tarp over it in the winter it becomes and ice rink. That has gone completely unused for the past 15 years since his son graduated high school.
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