We had some frost!

[bcapp]

Hello everyone,

Aspiring first-time rink builder here! We just moved from a townhome with a postage stamp yard in the suburbs of Ottawa to 8 acres of uneven ground out near Pakenham. I'm pretty excited to get going on the rink this season now that we finally have the space and my enthusiasm for the project is tempered only by the incredible amount of 'know-how' that I simply don't know! Luckily I stumbled upon backyard-hockey.com and from what I've read so far, the admin and users of this site seem like good people with the knowledge and experience I lack. You will no doubt find me posting questions or searching for guidance and I hope that I may lean on some of you occasionally for suggestions and tips!

I have a five year old son who is just learning how to skate and I would love it if his memories of learning how to skate somehow involved being on a rink his old man built!

In terms of rink location, we have a field that may have been used for pasture at one time but is currently empty. It is a tad open and exposed which I foresee being particularly cold on January nights but perhaps more of a challenge may be the level of the ground. It not only slopes - it dips and dives! From corner to corner I'm looking at a six inch slope, so I'm prepared to go with larger boards on the low end, however, within a four foot stretch there may be a gap of seven to eight inches in the middle of any boards I put up. Is my best solution to build the boards and fill these gaps?

What do most people do for their lighting? I can run electricity from one of the sheds, but less that a foot underground is hard rock so I am unable to secure a post in the ground.

Over the next couple of weeks I will order my liner, however we rely on a well for our water. I am looking into the cost of having water delivered to fill once the time is right (that volume calculator is a God-send!) but I'm wondering if the well can handle the demands of a resurfacing without my wife running out of water mid-shower! Does anyone have experience or tips on maintaining a rink on a well?

I'm excited to have this 'empty canvas' to work with but I am anxious to do this the right way while still being mindful of the cost. For a first attempt, I'm going to try the 24X40 rink for under $250 and build on it from there in the years to come!

Thanks for ready through this - any help or suggestions you can provide are greatly appreciated! I look forward to conversing with you over the coming months!

Cheers,
Bryan

[Joe]

Hey Bryan,

Welcome to the site and congrats on your new home! Ask as many questions as you need...that's why we're here!

As for your undulating ground, you can still use the string-and-level method that I outlined in that blog post, but instead of just measuring at the four corners, you'll want to measure at a few spots along the way. If you have 4" of water at one corner and you run the string to the adjacent corner and it also has 4", but then in the middle the ground dips down a foot, then you'll have 16" of water in the middle and will want to make sure your board height and supports will be able to withstand that 16" of water. I can draw a picture if need be, just let me know.

I have a blog post forthcoming about lighting and lighting/netting support...so be on the lookout for that.

Maintaining a rink on a well can be done after the initial fill, and the volume calculator will tell you the volume you need for a thin coat mid-season. But how that affects the well really depends on your specific well and how large your rink is. If you run out of water when three people shower in a row, then yeah, you may run out mid-flood. But then your rink is probably not your biggest problem. I try to flood at night, which is not only better because it's colder, but it gives the well a few hours to replenish before morning showers.

Good luck and stay in touch!

[kevmac]

Hey Brian,

First of all, congratulations on moving out of Ottawa! (By the way, 8 acres?! I'm jealous already.) Second of all, congratulations on deciding to build a backyard rink and also for finding the forums here. It's a great little community here that Joe created and everyone seems more than willing to lend a hand when available. Now let's deal with some of your concerns:

Ground Level:

Joe has already addressed the uneven ground issue. I'll add the addendum that you can always assume your ground is level until you try and keep water on it.

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Lighting: I have two halogen worklights (one with 2 lights and another with 4) that are mounted on the top of 12' 4x4 that are simply 'sitting' on the top of the ground. The 4x4s are attached to my boards which are 4' high and then braced outward with a 2x4 and attached to a stake in the ground. The stake is in the ground only about 8" - just enough to keep it in place. And maybe withstand a body check or two.

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Well Water: I've been building a rink just outside Ottawa for the last 13 years and every year have used my well. I usually get my tarp down early enough so that Mother Nature helps me fill it (surprising how much precipitation we get here in November and early December) and then I actually top it off with my well. Knock on wood: I have never run my well dry. It really all depends on the aquifer that you are relying on. Ask your neighbours who have been there for years since wells in local area are generally drilled at the same depth and feed off the same water source. One thing you don't want to do is run your neighbour's well dry at the same time.

Note: I am a little worried about my well this winter though considering the drought level that we had in the area this summer. Just be cautious - if you start seeing brown water coming out of the hose, shut 'er down.

One thing that you will notice while flooding is your pump will be running constantly and the pressure inside the house will be directly affected and vice-versa. Nothing sucks more than getting already to go outside and flood when your wife decides to put on a load of laundry. In the end, I don't think a 24x40' rink would put that much strain on your system for resurfacing though.

One question - what type of pump do you have? Jet in the basement or the submersible in the well.

Good luck and keep the questions coming.

Cheers
Kevin

[Matt]

depending on your water set up you could possibly by-pass your pressure tank and run the water directly from the well. the pressure wont be as high so it would be harder to fill your rink this way but when resurfacing it'll keep you from messing with someone's shower water, unless of course they take extra long showers. but as Joe said its generally easier to resurface at night and avoid all those issues.

congrats and good luck.

[bcapp]

Thanks for the replies everyone! You are all very helpful and encouraging - it really allows me to move forward with some confidence knowing I can jump on here for suggestions when I run into trouble. I hope everyone is well and enjoying their families.

Last weekend I got the boards up - I went 2' all the way around except for the high corner where I've got 1' boards. I was doing this by myself and found it took the better part of an entire day, but it was fun and I particularly enjoyed watching cars driving by slow down to take a look at what I was doing!

This weekend I'm going to double check all the bracing, I was losing daylight on Sunday so it was a bit of a rush job but I'll make sure everything is secure on Saturday. Temperatures here have been below freezing at night and hovering just above freezing during the day... I was concerned the ground might freeze before I had a chance to clean up my bracing but this weekend is going to be mild with some rain so hopefully that that will soften things up. I've elected to have the water brought in to avoid any issues with the well (it's submersible by the way) and I'm hunting around for a deal, but right now it seems I'm looking at $300 for delivery and 3600 gallons of H2O.

A few weeks ago my wife and I cut down a couple of dead trees and cleaned up some cedars on the property and dragged everything to a 'burn pile' about 20' from the rink. We'll gradually burn the downed brush to help keep us warm while using the rink on those frigid days and nights. I actually wound up with a couple of extra 1'X8' OSB strips that I will use for bench seating around the fire. After Christmas, I'm hoping to collect my neighbours trees that are left at the end of driveways to plant in the snow along the side of the rink to provide a bit of a wind barrier.

Thanks for the suggestion of halogen worklights KevMac! I'll probably wind up going this route, but I'm not electrically inclined and I'm a bit nervous running over a couple hundred feet of extension cord for power... Should I be? I probably should have given 'lighting' much more thought while determining my rink's location.

When the time comes, how often should I be resurfacing? Right now my thought is I will be out there weekly... Is that too often? Not often enough? Am I doing the rink a disservice by using cold water? My plan is to use an outdoor faucet for resurfacing - it will be a bit more laborous but to prevent the line from freezing, I'll re-winterize it after every use. Any recommendations or words of advice on this plan?

For any and all Veterans who may be on the board - thank you for your service.

Lest We Forget.

[kevmac]

I remember the first time I laid the tarp in my backyard and my neighbours across the street just had to stop to ask what that abomination in the backyard was going to be. Boy oh boy, did they not realize what was about to happen in the neighbourhood for the next decade during the winter months.

I think as long as you have a decent gauge of extension cord (not those green ones used for Christmas lighting) you should be good to run a good distance of feet. Basically, don't cheap out on an extension cord. Also, depending on your house electrical system, be careful on how many 500W lights you are running through that outlet.

As for resurfacing, I'd suggest resurfacing after every use at a minimum. Personally, I flood every night that it is -8'C or below. My theory here is the more ice I have, the better it will survive through a thaw or a day of pickup hockey with the guys. I follow the guideline of flooding between -8'C and -20'C: typically anything warmer will cause the water to sit for too long on your ice and anything colder will make the ice too brittle. (Joe was supposed to run an experiment last year where he flooded half his ice with cold and the other half with warm - however, it was such a crappy season that I don't think this was ever undertaken). My system has a 8" or 12" (not sure exact length) exterior faucet which was sufficient for cold weather but when it hits -15'C and the east wind is a blowin', it ain't worth a damn. Fortunately, I have a shut-off valve just past the connection to the copper piping so I use this for turning on/shutting off the water.

I don't think you will not do yourself a disservice using cold water - if anything you will save on hydro costs.

[kevmac]

I just thought that I would add: "I HAVE ICE IN MY BACKYARD!!"

[bcapp]

Hey everyone,

Here's a pic of what I've got so far... My liner arrived the other day and I'm officially on the 'weather watch'.

The water will be trucked in and I've received a quote I'm quite happy with from a local hauler (quite a wide range here so it pays to shop around) and he's only asking for a couple of days notice to fill it up.

You'll see I was excessive with the bracing - with this being my first crack at it, I'm hoping for as few surprises as possible on fill day! I've triple checked the slope from a bulge in the ground around the middle of the rink and am content the 1' boards will suffice in that one corner.

Thanks for the tips Kevmac on the lighting - I've got those 12' 4x4 posts sitting on the ground but they're strapped in there pretty good and I was pleasantly surprised how little they move.

Picked up some flat aluminum straps for my ice thickness ruler and will assemble the resurfacer in the next couple of weeks.

[Joe]

Looks awesome! Keep us posted!

[kevmac]

Agreed, it looks great. Might have to have a home and home series - Metcalfe versus Pakenham. :-)