Old Fashioned Backyard Ice Rinks
In order to make ice, you simply pack snow, flood the snow surface with water and allow it to freeze.
You can make this traditional backyard ice rink with or without boards.
I recommend building your rink using boards even with a traditional backyard ice rink, especially for those families who want to play hockey. It is much more fun to play hockey with boards, because the rink boards prevent the puck from flying out of the rink, and your time is spent playing hockey instead of searching for pucks.
When the weather gets consistently cold (colder than -5 degrees Celsius or 23 degrees Fahrenheit) and you get enough snow (anywhere from 20 to 30 centimeters) pack the snow as hard as possible. You can pack snow by stepping directly on it over and over.
Packing snow is very time consuming and most probably you will need to pack snow more than once at the very beginning when making your old fashioned backyard ice rink, especially when the weather fluctuates. Get all the family and a few friends to help and make it a fun event!
You will need all the help you can get! The more you pack and the tighter the snow gets, the easier time you wil have when freezing your surface!
You can also pack snow by placing some plywood boards onto the unpacked snow and stepping on them.
Backyard Ice Rinks Liner Method
I also recommend that you go over your snow with a basic yard roller in order to pack it tightly and evenly. This is an extra step but it will save you a lot of misery when it is time to flood your snow surface.
If you use a yard roller make sure you fill it with at least 80 pounds of water.
I recommend making a backyard ice rink using a plastic ice rink liner OR a rink tarp, especially if you live in a region where the climate gets mild temperatures often during the winter.
As you can see in the photo above of a backyard ice rink, the plastic rink liner is placed directly on the grass and up and around the rink boards. Making ice with ice rink liners is very easy and it produces an incredibly smooth and flat ice surface in a very short time.
I'd like to assure potential rink builders that using a plastic rink liner on your grass will absolutely in NO way ruin your beautiful grass!
I have been making my own rink on my grass every year for many years, using a 5 mil plastic liner on the same area for most of those years and my grass is still beautiful!
At first, I worried about my grass, but I took the risk and to my surprise, by spring, the grass underneath my liner got GREENER earlier.
The fact is -- the plastic liner actually traps heat and sunlight as the temperatures rise, which creates a greenhouse effect.
The grass outside the perimeter of my rink "greened" normally and actually had to catch up to the grass inside th perimeter of my boards, so please rest assured that your grass will not be in any trouble when using Backyard Ice Rinks Liner Method!
I always buy a one piece plastic 5 or 6 mil clear or white liner that is the right size for my backyard rink. This method works great for me. The liner is reasonably priced and saves me lots of time and trouble.
With the Backyard Ice Rinks Liner Method there is no need to pack snow in order to make a base.
When the temperature drops to -10 degrees Celsius and you can forecast approximately the same temperature for at least 3 consecutive days, you just flood with water and let it freeze!
Using the Backyard Ice Rinks Liner Method, I assure you that in only a couple of days it will be ready to skate on!
