Hi - First timer from outside of Chicago. I've got my 12" boards and bracing up. Liner should be here tomorrow.

My question - nowhere in the rink set-up instructions does it detail whether liner goes up and over or under and behind the boards. As I got thinking about it, seems odd that you would have the liner on the inside of the rink (rink facing side of the boards) where it's going to take a beating over the winter btw pucks, skates and whatever else. Am I missing something? Is the liner supposed to go under the boards and then up the backside of the board versus up the inside-facing boards?

Thoughts? Thanks much!

Welcome to the site:

The preferred route is to always place the liner on the inside of the rink. The boards are there to support the liner and the water. If the liner is outside the boards, you need to support your liner again because the water will end up between the boards and the liner. The other downside to this method is that your boards are sitting in water until your water freezes in the winter and sitting in water in the spring until you dismantle your rink. This will definitely speed up the rotting process on your wood.

Most people replace their liner each and every year, so they don't really care about trashing the liner with skates and pucks (the whatever else is shovels, they do a number on the liner). Others, like me, are cheap and try to keep their liner from year to year so you will hear about people installing dasher boards to protect the liner.

Cheers
Kevin

Perfect! Thx Kevin -

Thanks for the feedback...I'll add that to the instructions. Kev's right...inside of the boards, and either protect them with kickplates (which I never use and am not a fan of) or replace your liner next year. My liner takes a beating above the water line but I never care. It gets tossed (or covers my woodpiles) in the spring anyways.