flogo.jpg (5637 bytes)

Please Visit

FarmGate Home

General Store

Collectables

Tree Care

Festivals and Special Events

FarmGate Bookstores

Habanero Peppers

Ottawa Public Washroom
Evaluation

Eastern Ontario Images

Burning Wood

Sweetgrass 
Restaurant Review

So Good 
Restaurant Review

Winter Driving

Gardening Calendar

Raised Gardens

Plant Preferences

Harvest Chart

FarmGate Map

Regional Post Card

Parliament Web Cam

Vegetable Preferences

Apple Variety Preferences

Fruit Preferences

Living Alone

Food Issues

Health Issues

FarmGate Links

Fresh Herb Chart

Day Tripper

Sunday Dinner

FarmGate Service

Saving Gas

Saving Electricity

tdc's Froggy

Please Vist Our Bookstore

Building a Backyard
Skating Rink

Backyard Skating Rink

In Eastern Ontario, especially those communities in and around Ottawa have the opportunity to build a backyard skating rink for the kids when the weather permits.

Build the rink in December when the weather is good and it will be ready to flood when the temperature remains consistently below - 0C during the day and - 10 C at night.

In the rural areas it might be a simple as shoveling the a pond for the kids or to be a little more sophisticated and put up some boards and spray water to make ice.

Anyway you do it - it is a great community builder and kids just love it!

Its better for them to do this than playing video games and watching TV!

Besides, if you decide to make it a neighbourhood project - You get to know your neighbours.

The following instructions are based on a 24' W x 46' L rink.

1. Preparation

1 spool of measuring string
1 measuring tape
60 12" spikes

 

  • Find a shaded, flat surface, close to a source of water and light to build your rink
     
  • Plan to build your rink when the weather is warm and there is an anticipation of at least three consecutive days of cold weather (-10 C minimum - Mid January to Mid February )
     
  • Mark out the dimensions of your rink on the ground with string and spikes
 

2. Assemble the Framework


22 2” x 6” pressure treated
wood boards
22 2” x 4” pressure treated
wood boards
8 sheets of ½” plywood
2 boxes of 2 ½” galvanized deck screws
2 boxes of 1 ¼” galvanized deck screws
1 cordless drill
1 circular saw
1 hammer
1 stapler
1 roll of duct tape
1 Plastic tarp/sheet in white or clear (should be 2’ longer and wider than actual size of rink)
  • Measure, cut and assemble your wood framework for the rink using the pressure treated wood boards
     
  • Number your framework boards to remember how to assemble them next year
     
  • Lay down the tarp and secure it around the framework
     
  • Measure, cut and install the plywood boards around the rink to create rink boards (use 2 foot plywood boards for the sides and 4 foot plywood boards for the ends)
     
  • Use leftover cut pressure treated wood pieces as braces to support the rink boards
 

3. Layer the Water


1 lawn hose with fine spray nozzle
  • It is best to start your rink with thin layers of water using a fine spray nozzle
     
  • Spray 0.5 cm layers of water at a time and let them freeze in between
     
  • Be patient because this process could take 2 to 3 days and several layers to build a good rink base
     
  • Fill any cracks in the ice surface with snow rather than more water
 

4. Final Touches


1 lawn hose with fine spray nozzle
1 wide snow pusher
60 A few tubes of ¾” pipe foam to fit over rink boards
  • To finish off the rink, place ¾” pipe foam insulation along the top edge of the rink boards for safety
     
  • To clean the surface of your rink, scrape the ice with a sharp steel flat edge on a wide snow pusher
     
  • Keep your rink smooth by spraying a fine mist of water every couple of days as needed
     
  • Sweep the ice around the perimeter with a stiff bristled broom to prevent a high ridge from developing
 

Our thanks to Home Depot for these instructions.

If you have digital images of your Eastern Ontario
backyard ice rink and would like
us to show them here.

Is this the best backyard hockey rink in Canada?

Just e-Mail them and we will consider posting then right here!

Copyright © 2015
tdc Marketing and Management Consultation