The world’s smallest backyard ice rink: now with increased smallness!
This winter hasn’t been a good one in Chicago. December and most of January have been freakishly warm. We’re finally getting a good cold snap, so I put up the boards, dropped in the liner, and flooded our backyard ice rink.
The rink is smaller than last year. Our backyard is slightly uneven, and the smaller size allowed me to exclude the highest part of the yard. The remaining area is fairly even, making it easier to flood and freeze. Total setup time, including flooding: two hours.
The parts list is the same as last year. I reused everything:
- Boards: 2×12s
- Stakes: 2×2s, cut in two-foot lengths
- Liner: 6 millimeter plastic
- Angle brackets: The same kind folks use to build decks.
The only new materials were an Illinois quarter my daughter threw in at center ice, and a Canadian quarter I tossed in there to keep it company. We couldn’t find a Loonie on short notice.
As was the case last year, I didn’t anchor the stakes to the boards. My rink is small and shallow, so there’s not really any pressure on the boards. I just drove the stakes into the ground with a sledgehammer (fun!).
I adjusted a few things based on lessons learned from last year. Those lessons:
- Shallower is better. As nice as it would be to have a twelve inch thick block of ice, that much water takes a really long time to freeze. A few inches of water freezes much, much faster. If there was a significant amount of weight on the ice, say three adults, three children, and two mongrel dogs, the ice at the deep end would be pushed down and the water underneath would come flooding out, making that portion of the rink unusable.
- Sun is the enemy. Get as much of the rink as possible in the shade. It will freeze faster and the ice will last longer. Last year, the deepest part of the rink was in a sunny spot, making it almost impossible to freeze solid.
- Get it level. Level the area as much as possible. This will alow you to use less water. As above: less water=faster freeze=more hockey.
See last year’s rink, with more construction info, here: http://www.tangleweed.org/blog/?p=103
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Kip:
Great report on a great tradition! Glad you guys finally received some Winter weather with which to work. Down here in Lou-uh-vul we have actually had a couple of weeks of genuine winter temps as well including two 1/2″ snowfalls which prompted school closings and general hysteria. Pretty freakin’ amusing when you consider we’re only about 320 miles from Chicago. Sounds like you and the newly fashionable skating Scott are having a good mens’ league season. Really glad you pushed him. I had encouraged him ever since he moved to Chicago but you clearly pushed him over the edge. Great stuff. i hope to arrange a business trip up there where I can catch a game with you guys.
Take care,
Kevin
Comment by Kevin Judd — 2/10/2007 @ 9:35 pm
Hi Kip:
Sounds like you are now having a good winter, one that will freeze your rink. I got a hoot out of your rink description, as I always wanted to build one as a young guy, but we did not the plastic for liners back then, so it was almost impossible.
One suggestion I would make to help you combat the sun is to paint the surface with white rink paint, same as they do with indoor facilities. The normal black ice attracts the sun light which speeds up the melting process. Have no idea of the cost of such paint, so it may not be economically attractive. I am sure you can make the decision on this one.
Glad to hear you and Scott are having so much fun with your hockey league. Sounds as if you are both ready to move up to the Black Hawks.
Have a nice weekend.
Charlie
Comment by Charlie — 2/11/2007 @ 12:01 pm
Looks like a great porta rink! Set it up and take it down easily! We’ve been making porta rinx for years, here in Wisconsin. But the best rinx company we found is http://www.nicerink.com another good one for portable rinx is Farley Technologies up in Canada. There is nothing like having a backyard rinx for your kids to practice on. Our Porta Rinx has been skated on by our kids and now our grand kids! Our first rinx was built in 1971! Every year it gets better and better. You certainly can create your own rinx in the backyard easily enough but to have a truly portable rinx setup you should check out that company NiceRink their porta rinx is truly the easiest we have tried. We also found a company out in Oregon that produces this lawn mower for the ice, it shaves down all the bumps just like those ice mowers or edgers we use at our local indoor rink.
Comment by Dave Black — 4/19/2007 @ 11:01 am
There was a comment recently made by a so called Dave Black, in his comments he speaks as if the name Porta-RInx is synonymous with all back yard ice skating rink kits … There are several real companies in the market that sells a portable kit for an ice skating rink, there is Nice Rink, Ice N GO, some Jiffy Rink … and there is POrta-Rinx, when you hear the name Porta-Rinx please do not let this guys last comments confuse you, there is only one Porta-Rinx … I invented the kit 10 years ago … check it out for yourself, check out the news articles of the additional products, (i.e The Ice Mower also commented on by that so called Dave Black) you can also check out what Cities and Town Park and Recreation departments say about Porta-Rinx. Sorry, to have to comment, but …I have to protect my ten years of building the Porta-Rinx name, as one can understand, again Thank-You … Sincerely, Damian J. Renzello
Comment by Damian Renzello — 6/18/2007 @ 7:47 pm
FYI…
This Damian Rnezelo guy claims to have invented Porta Rinx which is not true! I made a nice post on a blog not even talking abou this guy and he jumped all over my post claiming to have invented porta rinx 10 years ago LOL my family has been building porta rinx in our back yard since 1971 as I said in my post certainly longer than ten years this guy claims to have invented the porta rinx. If you read his website portarix.com you will see some “web warning” about people slandering his name. I certainly did not. I did not even post anything about him. But this guy jumped on my post and wrote a bunch of stuff so I recently Googled his name “Damian j Renzello” and found some interesting stuff like this article that he is a Lawsuit for Tax Fraud and Fraud against the government, I think it is the same guy it says he deliberately falsified documents to defraud the Judiciary in the United States and talks about all sorts of lawsuits he has been involved in and even gives a quote from the cheif Attorney in Vermont USA that the State of Vermont took some action against him for “violation of the Consumer Fraud Act” and that he “decieved consumers” go figure since it looks like he is buying a 200 dollar PVC porta rinx kit and reselling it for thousands of dollars! BEWARE of Web based companies.
If anyone wants help building their own porta rinx or wants to buy directly from the source email me or check out a reputable source to buy from like Amazon.
Comment by Dave Black — 9/27/2007 @ 1:50 am
whatever … check out my web site http://www.portarinxandbambini.com, check out my news articles and referances … FU MN
Comment by Damian Renzello — 10/23/2007 @ 2:59 pm
This guy David Black … aka Mike Nelson is full of it! I do not resell kits, I manufacture them from scratch! period! Please do not believe this so called David Black aka Mike Nelson I have had 5 years of problems with this guy so has many many others … once again check out my web site, http://www.PortaRinxandBambini.com - check out my news articles, which dates back 10 years ago and also check out my letters from past customers, Please do not be mis led by this crack head! he has got to be one of the worlds greatest Losers/cyber squatters.
PS David why don’t you, if you are for real why dont you just give me a phone call
PS I do not own Portarinx.com Mike Nelson aka David Black does!
for more info on David Black aka Mike Nelson
Check out …
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=mike+Nelson+Cyber+Squatter&btnG=Google+Search
also check out … This story explains it all!
http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050505/NEWS/505050380/1003
Thank you folks …
and may the world pay you back - David Black aka Mike Nelson … in all possible ways for slandering a good guy with good intentions for all your slanderous comments. 10 times fold
and for all of you seriously looking for a portable kit for an ice skating rink … talk to you soon, Damian
Comment by Damian Renzello — 10/28/2007 @ 8:18 am