A Complete Guide To Maintaining Your Outdoor Ice Rinks

Everybody loves to skate on the ice rinks during the winter season. Especially people living near the polar regions build separate rinks near their homes. These rinks are the most crucial gathering spot and fun places for the entire family. Maintaining outdoor ice rinks provides skaters with a hassle-free skating experience.

When there is frequent cold weather, the ponds and lakes become frozen. These frozen areas become the best place for skating when it is made ready using Zamboni and other specific arrangements. Even small rinks are made near most homes with the help of a garden hose.

Sometimes you may require a hand to snowplow a pond to convert it into a smooth skating ground. Many reputable service providers offer excellent service in making rinks. These professionals provide timely service without delay and may even offer equipment maintenance for your snowplow, Zamboni, and others. Some also provide periodic maintenance of rinks at your home, along with a status report. Besides utilizing professional services, it is essential to know how to maintain your outdoor rinks.

Understanding Ice Formation

Everybody learns skating, but before that, you should know everything about the thickness and formation of ice. The fall of the winter makes the pond cool down and makes the water heavier. This process makes the heavier water at the top flow downside, and the warm water at the bottom moves upward and cools down. The cooled warm water creates thick ice layers, leaving the heavier water to remain liquid.

Clear The Surface

Usually, the surface is full of snow and dust. So the surface needs to be cleaned periodically. To clean the snow surface:

1. Use a flat shovel, a broom, and an ice scraper.
2. Remove all the snow by sweeping it out because they cool down and creates uneven rink surfaces.
3. Check for rough surfaces and fill in some water to make them more even. If there are holes and dips, do the same to make it look more, even if the water does not fill out and keeps flowing when you pour inside the pit. Cover with snow and make it even. The snow cools down the water and closes the holes.

Rink Flooding

Rink flooding is another method to make the rink surface look more even. After skating, more pits, scratches, and holes are formed over the rink surfaces. The uneven surface is covered using the rink flooding process. Water spreads more evenly over the surface and makes the surface smooth. Avoid using sprayer nozzles for flooding. The water from the nozzle hits the surface hard and may make the surface uneven for skating.

Using a hose for the flooding process covers the surface more evenly. Maintaining outdoor ice rinks using warm water makes the process easier, correcting the imperfections on the rink surfaces. You can either use bathtubs or buckets to fill the rink surface with warm water. You can even use a thermostat-controlled hose to spread the warm water over the rink surface for flooding.

Repair The Cracks

Sometimes, the rink’s surface cracks due to more pressure on the ice. It can be repaired using ice mortars. With the help of snow, you can make a mortar and fill over the cracks. Heating the snow a little will help you get the consistency of the ice mortar. With the help of a shovel, fill up the gaps and smoothen the surface.

Bottom Line

Learning how to maintain the rink near your home is more important than making one. These processes of maintaining the ice rinks, from understanding the ice to resurfacing them, create a wonderland during the winter. If you are a skater or a curling competitor, you must know more about maintaining the ice rinks.