Andre Besso's 2003/04 Backyard Rink - Howard's Corner of the Web

"This was my first rink. I started thinking about doing a backyard rink for our two oldest boys - Nathaniel (Age 5) and Tyson (Age 3) back in September. I happened upon your site doing some Internet research. Fantastic, and especially by someone with Newfoundland weather experience !!!! I couldn't count the number of times I have referred to it.

My plan was to use a white tarp purchased from Canadian Tire (20ft wide x 28ft long). I framed up the rink in late November (pictures attached) using 4 - 2x6x10's, and 4 -2x6x12's. I cut a foot of each of the 2x6x10's to fasten all boards together to make a rink 18ft wide x 24ft long . This was a slight error in judgement because when I started to fill the rink, the width of the tarp was not quite wide enough and it sank a little. I should have allowed for a two foot overlap instead of just one. Oh well - first lesson learned I figured. The tarp did hold strong to get the rink going however, and the cold weather and snow at the start of January helped cover up my mistake.

You will notice that in my November photos that one end of the rink also has a bunch of leaves. This is where my back yard dips a little. I simply raked up the leaves that had fallen to the ground around my house and dumped them into this spot. Every few days afterwards, I would walk around on the leaves to pack them down. By the time it came to lay down the tarp, they were all stuck or frozen together and it worked perfectly. It really helped level out the area. In the spring, I'll just pick up the leaves with everything else.

With the cold weather and snow in early January, I was able to get the ice surface into pretty good shape. The few mild spells we had didn't ruin things too much and with a little quick work afterwards, we were back on the ice in no time.

Nathaniel learned to skate (without falling down every 10 seconds) and Tyson, started to get the hang of it as well ... with a little help. (Pictures attached). So overall, I consider this first backyard rink season a success. I'm hanging in there a little while longer hoping it will last another few weeks, but I guess the end is almost here for this year. I'm already looking forward to next winter at which time, our youngest, Colby (currently age 1) will hopefully reap the benefits of my experience ..

Again thanks so much !!"

Great job Andre. Thanks for the pics.