It’s fairly simple as long as you’ve got some basic requirements: 1. A flat spot to set up a rink. My maximum space is 40’ by 28’. I’m limited by a fence, driveway, house and tree. Flat is super important. I luckily have a rise of 7” over the length of the rink and it’s level side to side. 2. Something to keep the water in. I buy a rink liner from. A place I found online, Blue Lakes Plastics in Minnesota. 32’ by 45’ white plastic liner for $130 USD delivered. I’ve done the old school ‘wet down the snow’ method a couple of times. It only works when it’s reallly cold for a duration and warm ups not only melt your rink, but the water runs off. All gone. Bathtub method is far easier and reliable. 3. Sides. Gotta consider how much these may cost and how to store this stuff afterward. After careful deliberation I arrived building a fence two feet high on the high end of the rink and 2 feet 7 inches on the lower end. I used 8’ long 5/4 treated decking from my local big box lumber store and built 8’ long fence sections (or less as required) and used deck screws to keep stuff together. I also pounded galvanized posts into the ground to keep the sides up. Drop in liner. Fill. Done.
Hah, so cool. Hope you and your enjoy the hell out of that.
Thanks. We will. We’re about another day or two from skating. About three inches of unexpected snow slowed down the ice. A nice little slush puddle on top right now. I’d like to post a pic or two of the finished product . Do you know the best way I can post a couple of pics from my phone?
If you download the imgur app you can upload to it imgur from your phone. Then you can get a link for the image by clicking the "Share" button on the post and copying the link.