Backyard rink boards: materials list
Enter your rink size and you get the lumber size, the number of boards and the number of stakes for a single course of boards on level ground. It is a shopping list to start from. For how tall the boards must be on a slope, see the board height guide.
Your list
- 18 boards, 10 ft long (180 linear ft) 6 per long side, 3 per short side
- 46 stakes, one every 4 ft or closer Perimeter 180 ft
- Lumber: 2x6 is the shortest size that reaches 5 in
Open this rink in the calculator for water, liner size and fill time.
How the counts work
- Each side is counted on its own and rounded up to whole boards. Leftover pieces from the cuts are not reused, so the real total may come out a board lower.
- Lumber sizes are actual heights: 2x6 is 5.5 in, 2x8 is 7.25 in, 2x10 is 9.25 in, 2x12 is 11.25 in. The list picks the shortest one at least as tall as water depth plus board above the water.
- Stakes are counted per side, so a corner can get one from each side. Add a few for corner bracing.
- One course of boards on level ground. A slope needs different heights per side (see the board height guide) and more boards.
Boards for 8, 10, 12 and 16 ft lengths
The same 60 × 30 ft rink with each common length. Longer boards mean fewer joints, but more waste when a side is not a multiple of the length.
| Board length | Boards | Linear feet bought |
|---|---|---|
| 8 ft | 24 | 192 ft |
| 10 ft | 18 | 180 ft |
| 12 ft | 16 | 192 ft |
| 16 ft | 12 | 192 ft |
Common sizes
With 10 ft boards, one stake every 4 ft (the denser spacing) or every 6 ft (the sparser one). Click a size to open it in the list above.
| Rink | 10 ft boards | Stakes at 4 ft | Stakes at 6 ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 × 40 ft | 12 | 30 | 22 |
| 30 × 60 ft | 18 | 46 | 30 |
| 40 × 80 ft | 24 | 60 | 42 |
Stakes or brackets
The guides I opened do not agree on spacing. Pwice, a rink kit maker, says to drive stakes 2 ft into the ground every 4 to 6 ft around the marked area, and lists 3 ft concrete stakes or rebar. In its FAQ it says every 6 ft. It also says commercial brackets accept your own lumber and give you engineered corners, and that extension brackets help with grade differences up to 18 in. For corners it suggests diagonal supports or metal L-brackets.
The Reviewed.com build, a 12 × 24 ft rink from 12 ft 2x10s, uses galvanized L-brackets at the corners and recommends three stakes per board, driven at least a foot into the ground. Three stakes on a 12 ft board is one every 4 ft, which is why the first column above uses 4 ft. The 6 ft column is the sparse end of Pwice's range.
The Iron Sleek kit page only says its kit saves you the measuring and counting of brackets and hardware, so it gives no spacing to borrow. Whether you use stakes or bracket kits, treat the stake count above as a place to start; none of these sources sets a required number. I have not tested how well any spacing holds up once the water is in, and none of the pages gives a load rating.
Next: what it costs, in the cost estimate. Then the liner size for your boards, and what size rink fits your yard.