Materials Needed to Build a Backyard Ice Rink

There's something about skating on your own backyard rink that can't be replicated in indoor hockey rinks with their fluorescent lighting, perfectly smooth ice and year-round operation. A backyard rink involves a little more work than going to the local indoor rink, but for people who prefer the pleasure of slipping a pair of skates on and stepping into the yard for a skate, a backyard rink can be constructed with a few materials.

  1. Plastic Sheet

    • A plastic sheet is the most important part of your backyard rink. The plastic is what keeps the water from seeping into the ground before it freezes. You want to use 6 mm clear industrial plastic. You should be able to get sheets that are 60 feet by 100 feet at your local hardware store. You may need to custom-order your plastic if you want anything larger than that. You should avoid using multiple sheets of plastic because this makes it more difficult to contain the water. The plastic does not stand up to tough wear and will likely need to be replaced annually.

    Wood

    • Wood is important if you want to have boards around your rink. Boards are not necessary if you will be using the rink primarily for skating, but if you will be playing hockey it is good to have something to keep the puck in play. You can make your boards out of 3/4-inch plywood, supported with four-by-four beams for posts. Your boards may be an expensive investment, but they will last for several years. You probably will want to use larger sheets of plywood behind the goals in order to keep stray pucks from flying out of play.

    Garden Wire

    • Garden wire can be used to put the finishing touches on your backyard rink. Garden wire, suspended from four-by-four posts behind the nets, will add an extra few feet to keep high shots safely within the rink. This can be an important feature to prevent injuries to bystanders or damage to your property or that of your neighbors. Be sure to use garden wire and not chicken wire. Although they look similar, garden wire is much stronger, which is important since you want it to stand up to high slap shots.