Rink on a Tennis Court

[Fatroll]

Does anyone have any insight in regards to putting a rink on a tennis court. Our neighborhood is considering this. Does anyone have experience using boards propped against the fencing and support posts? I was looking at a nicerink liner for this purpose but it will be huge. The court is 108' x 120'. Nicerinks widest liner is 108' and we would need an extra 5 ft in width for the boards. I plan on emailing nicerink about a bigger liner.
Thanks

[Joe]

I build mine on a tennis court, but I only use about half of it. I do use my existing court fence support posts to support my shooting-end boards, and they work amazing. One challenge, though, is that laying a liner can be challenging when you don't have access to walk around all four corners. The constant tugging and releasing of liner while the rink fills it hard to do when you can't access one (or more) sides. I would never consider turning my entire court into a rink, as that would mean I wouldn't have access to any of the four sides. And liners are much more open to damage caused by walking on it when they're against a hard surface - I know this from experience.

What I would do, if you can, is build the rink inside the court, but leave room to walk around on at least three of the sides. If you can all spread out the cost, Nicerink brackets (with the spikes shaved) and boards are one of the best solutions for hard surfaces. This way you'd also be able to work within the parameters of the available liner sizes. You could make something like an 80x100 rink, which you could walk all the way around, and still use the liners they already have. Just be ready for the snowstorm cleanup...because that's one huge rink.

[Fatroll]

Great tips, thanks!!!
Do you have issues with cracks on the court? I don't want to ruin it for the tennis players in summer.

[Joe]

Not at all...and if you think about it, the area under the liner will be protected from moisture. On any other court, the snow/ice/water/whatever is sitting right on top of the surface. What causes most cracks is water that gets under the surface and expands, so you're preventing that with the liner.

Where are you located?

[Fatroll]

North East Ohio. We live in a lake community where pond hockey can definitely happen. The problem with Ohio is that we get too many warm days that make people nervous about being on lake ice. Last year was ok, the year before that was unskateable, and 2010-2001 was outstanding, so it is hard to predict. If we get this rink going, we may get some good days because of the smaller volume of water taking less time to freeze (understanding it will thaw faster too). This tennis court will have lights, access to water for resurfacing, bathrooms, storage for a snowblower, parking, and we have a firehose pump from the lake to fill it. What do you consider a minimum water depth? 4 inches?
This is something I want to take the lead on for the neighborhood in hopes I get a little help with maintenance from a couple others.
Our association seems to want to pay for a lot so, I just need to find a way to do this that is economical, but we are not going so cheap that we are spending more in the long run.

[Fatroll]

I understand you recommend getting a new liner every year. With the intention of disposal, do you thin the NiceRink 1 liner would do the job?

[Joe]

Yeah, the Nicerink I is a good liner. I use the Nicerink CS but I have had some issues on the hard surface. The NR1 is a good liner. If you need help with Nicerink questions, email me at joe@eliterinks.com.

4" is the de facto min depth, but you can get away with a bit less on a hard surface, understanding that it may evaporate in the spring a bit quicker. Since your spot is likely close to level (my court has a 4" variance across 56'...not much at all), I'd bump it up to 6" just so the warm February sun doesn't melt too much of your ice.