Flooding Rink

By flooding rink with water, you can build the ice depth during the early months of the winter season.

I try to flood my rink a minimum of twice per week.

I always plan my flooding around weather conditions and temperatures that are appropriate for rink flooding. Flooding your rink on nights when the weather and temperature are appropriate for flooding produces the best results.

I prefer flooding my backyard ice rink when the weather is at least (almost) -10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) and when it is not snowing and not windy. This type of weather provides the best results and produces a ripple-free ice surface. Always flood when the weather is on your side!

A useful website for forecasting weather temperatures and conditions is www.weather.com. I visit this site to plan my ice rink flooding.

You must remove all the snow from your ice rink in order to flood. You will need shovels. Having a snow blower makes this part of your job much easier!

At the beginning of the rink season when you will be first building your ice base thickness, build it within a three to four day period of cold temperature (with suitable weather conditions). This will allow you to build a very thick layer of ice quickly and easily.

Your ice base is the most important part of making ice. I find 3 to 4 consecutive nights where the temperature is ideal (this is where weather.com forecasting helps!) and I flood my rink with almost 1/2 to 1 inch of water every night for 3 consecutive nights. For me, this normally occurs during the last week of November.

Light flooding is preferred to heavy flooding. Over-watering or flooding when the temperature is not cold enough creates a shell of ice on top of the water. Ice that is only frozen on top is not suitable for skating, since the shell breaks when weight is applied on it.

You need to make sure your ice is completely frozen before re-flooding your ice rink.

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