"We live in a small community called Hammonds Plains which is just outside of Halifax Nova Scotia. Our winters are not very condusive to back yard rinks, therefore, ours has become the envy of the neighborhood. I have been building a rink for the kids for about 6 years now. And like many parents, I have had to deal with wild temperature swings which can kill your rink in a hurry. A typical winter storm in Halifax can start off at minus 15 Celsius, drop 10 to 15 centimeters of snow, warm up to plus 5 to 10 degrees Celsius, rain for a few hours, then drop quickly to sub zero again all within 24 hours. Depending on the timing of all of this it is
extremely difficult to clean your ice before mother nature ruins it!!!."

"About 4 years ago I was standing beside our mini barn looking for a level place to build a bigger rink when the light came on. We don't use the barn for anything all winter!!!" 

"The hardest part of the job was putting the lawn mower, rotor tiller etc up into the loft to make way for the rink. I then put a ring of 6x6 around the outside perimeter on the cement floor, put in a thick plastic liner, and
second ring of 6x6 to hold it in place. Finally I put in skirt boards to protect the liner from pucks and skates and join all the 6x6 together to keep everything secure...hang our collection of Hoceky Jersey's for effect (Wayne Gretzkey has autographed the Rangers jerseys, and Johnney Bauer has signed the stick on the wall)...tape down creases, red lines and blue lines and add water. We are on a well so I use garden hoses to direct water off of our roof onto the rink."

"You can imagine the beauty of our rink. Dad no longer has to get up at 4:00am to remove snow before it freezes and ruins the surface, I no longer have to deal with rain storms that flood the rink and then quick freezes and cold winds that freeze everything into a bumpy mess."

"Not pictured is a small sofa, where my wife and I have enjoyed many a hot drink while watching the kids play on the ice. On particularly cold days, I open the curtains and with the sun shining in, it does not take long to improve the comfort level. We also have lighting so many "Stanley Cup finals" are played well after dark and sometimes past bedtime (much
to Mother's dissatisfaction)."

"The barn is insulated and the cement slab floor makes it freeze slower, but once it is solid, it keeps it in place through very long mild spells, one cold night with the barn door open and we are back in business. Last year we skated from Dec 25 to, believe it or not, the second week of April."

All I can say is ... wow!!!  Thanks Doug for the pic and the info.