Backyard rink without a liner
It can be done. City rink guides build natural ice on a base of packed snow, with a snow border and a very thin first coat of water that freezes into the floor. It works best on level, frozen ground in a place that stays cold for weeks. On anything else, a liner is the easier route. This page lists what the guide asks for and works out how much snow a base takes.
What the guide says
- Packed base of 1 to 2 in. The City of Toronto's natural ice rink guide starts with "a 2.5 cm to 5 cm (1" to 2") base of packed snow" that acts as a barrier between the ground and the ice. It warns that flooding over 2 in or more of unpacked snow gives soft, lumpy ice and collapsing sections, and melts quickly in warm spells.
- Cold first. The same guide wants frozen ground and air at -4°C (25°F) or colder for at least five days in a row before flooding.
- A thin first coat. Tap water is warmer than the snow, so a heavy first coat melts the base. Toronto says to apply a thin layer, let it freeze solid, and only then add more. That first layer is what seals the rink against the ground.
- A snow border. The cheapest border in the guide is a mound of snow 3 to 5 in high around the edge. Check it while you flood and seal any gap with packed snow.
- A flat site. Small dips of a few inches can be evened out with snow. On a slope, the guide says the border has to be higher to hold the water at the low end, and calls a sloped site a poor choice.
Source: City of Toronto, Natural Ice Rink Operating Requirements Guide (October 2024). It is written for community rinks, and I have applied it to a yard.
How much snow the base takes
The base is the rink area times its depth. A 20 by 40 ft rink is 800 sq ft, and 2 in is one sixth of a foot, so the base is about 133 cubic feet of packed snow. Loose snow packs down to less than it started as, so you have to gather more than the figure shows. The table uses the guide's 1 and 2 in range. The last two columns show the liner you skip and the water you still need, using the same prices and formulas as the cost estimate and the water guide.
| Rink (ft) | Base, 1 in packed | Base, 2 in packed | Border length | Liner skipped | Water, 3 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 × 28 | 37 cu ft 1.4 cu yd |
75 cu ft 2.8 cu yd |
88 ft | $94 | 838 gal |
| 20 × 40 | 67 cu ft 2.5 cu yd |
133 cu ft 4.9 cu yd |
120 ft | $158 | 1,496 gal |
| 30 × 60 | 150 cu ft 5.6 cu yd |
300 cu ft 11.1 cu yd |
180 ft | $333 | 3,366 gal |
The liner figure is rough: $0.16 per sq ft from a single seller listing, for a rink 3 in deep with 2 ft boards. Water that soaks in or leaks through the border adds to the last column.
What one builder found
A West Nipissing, Ontario, article follows Éric Bolduc, who tried a packed snow base one winter instead of his usual liner. Flooding went much slower, and when he overflooded, the water broke through his snow walls. He ended up adding about an inch at a time, where a liner had let him freeze about six inches per layer. He was very pleased with the ice, but called the winter a lot of trial and error and planned to go back to a liner. One builder is one data point. It does show where the time goes. Source: Backyard rinks big boon in COVID times.
Liner or no liner
| Your yard | Packed snow base | Liner |
|---|---|---|
| Level, deep cold for weeks | Fits the guide, costs no liner | Also fine |
| Freeze and thaw all winter | The base melts in warm spells, and the guide relies on steady cold | Holds the water through a thaw |
| Sloped | Needs a tall snow border on the low side, which is hard to build well | Use boards, see rink on a slope |
| Lawn matters | Nothing to remove in spring, the base melts away | Take down on time, see grass under a liner |
The thaw and slope rows are my reading of the sources, so check them against your own weather. If you decide on a liner after all, the liner size chart and the draining guide pick up from here. The start date guide covers the cold stretch to wait for.