If you love hockey, the winter season is especially magical. If you have a backyard, building an ice rink is a fun and healthy way to spend time with loved ones and keep active. One of the most crucial factors to take into account while constructing a backyard rink is fastening the rink liner.
For the purpose of providing a smooth, simple-to-maintain surface, a suitable rink liner is necessary. But if the liner is not correctly fastened, it may shift and result in issues like leaks or uneven ice. The following are some pointers for securing an ice rink liner:
1. Make use of stakes or boards Using boards or posts around the perimeter is one of the most popular techniques to secure a rink liner. In order to do this, wooden posts or boards are placed around the perimeter of the rink, and the liner is then wrapped around them. To keep the boards or stakes from moving, they should be buried about a foot deep. This approach works well and is quite simple to implement.
Utilizing weights to hold the liner in place is another choice. With this technique, weights like cinder blocks or sandbags are placed on top of the liner and placed around the rink’s perimeter. The liner will stay put and not move thanks to the weight of the blocks or bags. In addition to being successful, this approach may also be simpler to put up than utilizing stakes or boards.
There are clips included with some rink liners that can be used to fasten them to the ground. These clips are fastened to the liner before being fastened to the boards or posts all around. This method is practical because it doesn’t call for any additional materials or tools.
The rink liner should then be filled with water after being securely fastened. Use of hot water is one such technique. This entails using a hose or bucket to fill the rink with hot water. Since air pockets are removed, hot water freezes more quickly than cold water and produces a smoother surface.
Using shell ice is an additional choice. Spraying a thin coating of water onto the rink’s surface and letting it freeze results in shell ice. A thick layer of ice eventually forms after multiple iterations of this process. Because shell ice produces a smoother surface than using hot water, it is a popular option. Size Does Matter: Dimensions of a Hockey Rink and a Backyard Rink
The size of your backyard rink will be determined by a number of elements, such as the size of your yard and the amount of space you have. A typical backyard rink is typically 40 to 80 feet long and 20 to 40 feet wide. Nevertheless, you can alter the size of your rink to suit your needs.
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) sets standards for hockey rink size. 85 feet wide and 200 feet long define a typical hockey rink. There are creases in front of each goal, and the rink’s corners are rounded.
To sum up, installing a rink liner is a crucial step in creating a backyard rink. There are various options, including the use of stakes, boards, weights, or clips. Once the liner is in place, you can add hot water or shell ice to the rink to smooth out the surface. Finally, depending on your demands, the size of your backyard rink will vary, but a typical rink is typically between 20 and 40 feet wide and 40 to 80 feet long.
Usually 200 feet long and 85 feet wide, an NHL hockey rink.