I went on our rink for the first time with my son and I'm already planning out next years build!! I haven't been that happy to be skating in a longtime. He LOVED it, we had a blast. I learned so much for this site so a HUGE thank you to everybody! Definitely stepping up my game next year but for now were gonna just have a blast! Thanks to Mother Nature for this arctic cold front ;)

Same here - our 44 x 40 is no big enough!!

Jeez, that dwarfs our rink. It's only 18x32 but next year definitely gonna go the full length of the yard which I'm guessing is 60+ and width of 40+. My kids begged me to go on it again tonight after dinner and it's only 15 degrees but they didn't care! I'm just happy they are happy!!

Definitely not a bad thing at all. Backyard rinks will evolve around how much you use them - more lighting, big boards, netting, etc etc. Have fun with it! :-)

Well I'd say then its a definite that we upgrade. They were on it for about 12 hours Saturday!!! Then up again at 8am Sunday to do it all over again. Ive learned so much from doing this that Ill be much better equipped for next year and plan on starting the process in the spring. Even our planned remodel of our backyard has changed due to the impending plans next year!!

It's not a bad thing to keep a journal of what went right and definitely what went wrong. Always a good thing to have a reference so we don't make the same mistakes a second time.

A journal is DEFINATELY something I started on your advice. A few quick things I've learned so far...

1. Patience. Me being as excited as the kids waiting for it to get cold drove my wife crazy, next year after the boards are up ill use that time for all of the "finishing touches". That way at least I'll be occupied and not sitting by the window looking at the thermometer.
2. Invest in some pucks. I was able to grab 50 pucks on Craigslist for $15. The kids use every single one of them when we are on the rink so it was worth every penny.
3. Brace then brace some more. I thought I had sufficient bracing (every 3 feet on the low water side and every 2 feet on the high water side) but I still got some bowing. I was luckily enough to add additional bracing before the ground froze solid but still had to use the big boy sledge. When in doubt, brace.
4. Plan out your entry and exit to and from the rink. The last thing I want is dirt, sand, Grass or whatever other ungodly substance is stuck to my kids shoes to end up on the rink. I was able to snag a few mats and lay them out on the way to the seating area. Help minimize any unwanted debris.
5. Make a Bench. I made a 6' long bench for the kids to sit on and change on and it works for giving them a rest when they are on the ice to. I snugged it right up against the boards and it works perfect. Definitely glad I did that.
6. Test out your home made resurfacer before stepping on the ice with it. Yup I didn't do that and I had a virtual sprinkler going on the rink of hot water causing a huge mess. Just needed to file back the water and I would have been ok. Lesson learned.
7. Use it! I go out after my kids go to sleep and I'm out on it again before work and school with them, and then again after school. It may not be huge or glamorous but they don't care they just want to skate. I haven't been this happy with this much ice time ever. They love it and that makes me love it. If the kids wanna go, go, it's been an incredible experience.