Build a Backyard Ice Rink for under $100!

Welcome to my backyard ice rink information site.  I created this site to give back to the many who have helped me create a fantastic play area for my kids over the last few years. 

A little about me.  I grew up in southeast Michigan near a lake.  I learned to skate when I was about 5 years old, but skating and hockey really became a part of my life once I entered junior high school and was able to get to the ice skating rink on my own (and get my own skates on, etc.)  The kids in my neighborhood and myself would rush home after school, get our gear and head right out onto the ice rink.  Our Moms would make us come in for dinner, but right after we'd run out again for another session until bed time. 

I have three kids now, ages eight, five and one.  Three years ago the oldest, a girl, started to show some interest in ice skating.  She had been a few times at my parent's place.  They still live near the lake.  My Dad was telling me during one of these skates that his Dad had built him an ice rink in their backyard when he was growing up.  This sounded great to me and I decided right then and there that I'd be putting up a rink the following winter.

There was one problem.  Like most families with three kids (ok, we only had two kids at the time, but we had a dog, too,) we didn't have a lot of money to spend on extras.  I managed to get my wife to agree to a $100 limit on ice rink expenditures for that first year.  It was a challenge, but with the help and advice of many on the Internet, I was able to come up with the $100 backyard ice rink.

Over the following three years I've expanded the rink and put in many improvments.  I've tried to photograph and document the little things that you can do to make creating a backyard ice rink fun, easy and inexpensive.  These are the items you'll find on this site.

Be sure to contact me if you've got information you'd like to share, or post it in my backyard ice rink message area.

Finally, there are many other web sites, news groups, email groups and other sources of information about ice rinks on the Internet.  Take a look at my links page for some of my favorites.