So perhaps I should try some spot treatment with individual buckets of warm water in the worst areas before I try flooding the whole thing with 1/4" of warm water? I am a little paranoid about putting a bunch of warm water on top, having it go below and then heaving the ice, and tearing my line...

I read somewhere that mixing milk with water can work pretty well to turn things white. No personal experience here...

Also not an eco nazi, but using milk would do away with any concerns there. Also, no issues with getting paint on your gear...

Bob here... I've made several newbie posts in other sections of the forum and gotten great input and advice from a bunch of you already. Thanks a million. This season marks my first attempt at rink building. We live in the city and have the typical tiny Minneapolis backyard. The landscaping in the b...

Anyone ever tried covering their rink when weather is set to be problematic? They're forecasting freezing rain followed by snow starting overnight tonight in Minneapolis. This is our first rink and it's very modest in size so it actually wouldnt be too hard to cover the entire thing while the rain a...

Awesome. Our oldest is just 6, so it typically takes me longer to shovel the sidewalk WITH his help than without...but he was very helpful with measuring out stake placements a few weeks back. It is so great when you can see them being industrious and excited all at once. Congratulations on getting ...

Fellow rookie here, so take this with a grain of salt (or two). I think you could run into some problems if the ice/water under your plywood layer were to melt or leak out down the line...then all of a sudden you're skating on ice on top of plywood on top of (potentially) nothing. Maybe you're fine ...

...Things are vastly improved in our backyard. Many thanks to the posters here. Early last week during a cold snap I put on a 1" layer. Starting with warm water I focused on the worst of the heaved and rumpled and pimpled areas. The hot water gave out eventually and I was working with tepid wat...

Searching for a little reassurance here... We've been on the rink a few times over the last few days, having a ton of fun. I've resurfaced a few times so far using a bunch of bucket dumps...which has been working really well (small rink). Tonight I had some significant cracking when I dropped the wa...

I used what I think is the same 100' x 40' 6 mil tarp from home depot. "Husky" was the brand I think. And yes, they only have clear and black. It turns out that the "clear" is actually a milky translucent clear/white with this particular model. It's not plastic wrap clear...more ...

Here are a few things I've learned in my first few weeks as a proud backyard rink owner: 1) No, you do not NEED to resurface after every skate. It is tempting to do so however...because having a fresh surface waiting for you out back is pretty awesome. 2) If you are not going to resurface within a s...