Hey All,
All my life I've wanted to have a backyard rink, but growing up in the outskirts of NYC, in a middle class home, the property sizes didnt allow it. I've since grown up, gotten married, bought a house in NJ with a nice sized backyard, and convinced my wife to let me build a rink in it. It's a dream come true, but I don't want it to turn to a nightmare, so I'm counting on all of you for tips on how to make this as perfect as i expect it to be.
I've already done all the preliminary work, and discovered that I have a 6" pitch in my yard. I plan to flood 3" on the high end and 9" on the low. I want to do this as low cost as possible without really skimping on the project. My rink will be 20' x 40' which I'm thinking will be large enough for a nice little 2v2 game.
I'm trying to decide on OSB, 2 by wood, or plywood. I'd love to spring for the Nicerink boards but if this all goes well this year, maybe I'll do that next year. I think I'm going to over prepare for uneven grounds and go with 18" boards on 3 walls and 10" on the 4th wall, where skaters will enter the rink.
My biggest question right now is this. My yard is surrounded by 60-80 foot trees. Lots of leaves and a pain in the ass to maintain in the fall months. Judging by last years winter, the trees are never really bare, they're constantly dropping leaves. When I flood the rink, is it a bad idea to throw a clear tarp over the whole thing to avoid foreign objects falling into the ice? Or will that insulate the rink?