Warm up to winter

Building the rink
Attach your boards with nails or screws using extra cut 12-inch sections of the lumber to stabilize the corners and connection spots throughout. The framework will stand on its own when you're done.

Use old rags or carpets (or whatever works for you) to pad the bottom of the boards so framework is flush to the ground.

When the temperature is cold enough to flood your rink, get out there and spread the tarp across the entire rink.

Cushion corners and uneven connection spots on boards with rags or carpets to avoid tearing plastic tarp.

Fold the tarp over the outside of the boards and staple it in place. Be sure to leave enough give in the tarp so that it will lie parallel to the ground when filled with water.

Flooding the rink
Using a garden hose, spray water over small sections, moving the hose from side to side. Be sure to keep the hose off of the area that is being flooded.

During flooding, keep an eye on the tarp. It may come undone and require restapling.

Once the bottom layer is frozen, continue repeating the process until you have a finished rink with a minimum of 10-cm thick ice. Building your rink's ice in layers prevents rippling and shell ice (a thin layer of ice with water beneath).

Maintenance

• Clean your ice after each day's skating or after snowfalls. Scrape ice with a metal or plastic snow shovel depending on your preference.


• When you need to flood ice again because of wear and tear, follow the same layering process used to fill the rink originally.


• If a crack appears in the ice, pack it in with snow before flooding to prevent the water from seeping down and creating shell ice.