When to Build a Backyard Ice Rink (Full Breakdown)

There isn't one universal date to build a backyard rink.

In fact, there are four different phases to successfully building a backyard ice rink:

1. The buying phase.

2. The assembly phase.

3. The ice making/use phase (or the fun phase when all your work finally pays off!).

4. The disassembly phase.

We’ll use our expertise as an NHL-licensed backyard rink manufacturer to explain this four-season framework in detail so you can make the most of your precious ice time this season.

The 4 Seasons of Owning a Backyard Ice Rink

Just like the yearly cycle of seasons, owning a backyard rink has four notable periods.

However, they come much quicker and can be more unpredictable than spring, summer, fall and winter.

Let’s start with what we’re calling “Buying season”. 

1.    Buying Season (Summer-Fall)

Buying season is a crucial time, especially for families purchasing a new rink or upgrading their existing system.

The best time to buy a backyard rink is the late summer-to-early-fall range.

Here’s why:

• Rink kit manufacturers tend to start running seasonal promotions around this time. For example, we commonly run sales on our YardRink products in the July-September range. Other manufacturers like EZ ICE and NiceRink have also run promotions around this time range.

• Popular sizes/configurations can sell out. This is not just marketing-speak. Last year, we sold out of all our YardRink products, and we are breaking sales records every month. The earlier you buy, the better chance you have at securing your ideal rink size.

• It gives you plenty of time to compare rink systems or DIY options. Depending on which option you choose (DIY vs. rink kit), this could be thousands of dollars or many hours of hard planning/labor (more on this later). You should conduct plenty of research before finalizing your decision. 

• You have plenty of time to assess your yard and make necessary preparations. Choosing your rink’s location, measuring your yard’s slope (*see the video below; this is a very important step) and clearing the area of debris can all be done before the assembly season starts. 

• You don’t have to worry about delayed shipping/delivery times. If you wait too long into the season to order, your rink might still be in transit at the time you should be assembling it. Some manufacturers (YardRink included) will store the rink for you and ship closer to the season, if desired. 

Even if you have an existing rink, you should purchase replacement parts or upgrades sooner rather than later.

Since the assembling and ice-making seasons are typically the most involved, having your rink purchased and ready to go well before it’s time to assemble ensures you're prepared.

If you’re comparing rink systems, check out our objective analysis on the three best backyard ice rinks to buy this year.

A YardRink kit, assembled and providing countless hours of outdoor fun.

2. Assembling Season (Late Fall – Early Winter)

The assembling season should ideally start after the last of the leaves have fallen but before the ground freezes solid.

This window is the ideal time to assemble because:

If you assemble too early… your tarp (which goes down as part of assembly with a YardRink, unlike some other brands where it's added after the walls go up) ends up exposed to wind and blowing/falling debris for longer than necessary, which can shorten its lifespan before you've even filled the rink. 

If you assemble too late… you risk having to drive stakes into ground that's already frozen solid, which can make setup more difficult, but certainly not impossible. See the video below for instructions for hammering stakes into frozen ground: 

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It’s not the end of the world if you assemble too early or too late. You just might have to account for certain difficulties, like extra tarp cleaning if you build too early, or driving stakes into harder ground if you build too late.

The only time when you might want to wait until next season is when there is not enough consistently cold weather remaining to make it worthwhile to assemble. We’ll cover this more in the When to Start Filling Your Backyard Ice Rink section.  

DIY vs. Preassembled Rink Kit Assembly

Beyond timing, the other key element of assembling season is whether you’re building your rink from scratch or setting up a kit. 

This choice will affect how much time and effort you need to account for in the assembly process.

We wrote an entire guide on how to build a backyard ice rink that we highly recommend checking out for the full picture, but at a high level, DIYing your rink involves:

• Choosing your site, sketching out a design plan with precise measurements/ calculations and gathering all materials. This is a tedious process that you have to get right to ensure a successful assembly.

This is an example of a DIY rink plan, courtesy of Mama. Pappa. Bubba.

• Building the walls (or the backbone) of your rink. Since 80% of hockey is played within three feet of the boards, this is an essential element of the construction process.

• Reinforcing your rink with stakes or brackets to secure the perimeter for adequate safety/durability. 

• Placing the liner (or tarp) over the surface. Most DIY owners will also need to invest in liner clips or foam bumper caps to keep the liner intact and steady in high winds.

• Filling the rink, which we’ll discuss more in the next section and which applies to both DIY and rink kits. 

This seems fairly simple at a high level, but a DIY rink can take several long weekends of labor. 

If you mess up or miscalculate anything, there’s a chance of ending up with a low-quality, ineffective rink once it’s time to make ice. It can increase the chances of deformed walls or bowed/broken boards, like below:

Photo courtesy of human cannonball on Reddit.

Some rink owners enjoy and embrace this process, but many don’t have the time to build a top-notch DIY rink.

This is why rink kits are appealing for families that don’t have the time or desire to build a rink from scratch.

Rink kits like YardRink can be assembled in 1-2 hours with relatively little effort or planning needed. 

Here’s a quick assembly time-lapse of an earlier version of a YardRink kit - the core steps still apply:

Once that ideal time of the year hits (after the last of the leaves have fallen but before the ground freezes solid), it’s time to go out and set up the rink.

Even though rink kits like YardRink often come with a higher upfront cost than building a rink from scratch, they are significantly easier to assemble and typically much more effective at delivering a realistic hockey experience for serious players.

For YardRink specifically, this is primarily due to the tarp being on the outside of the rink, which allows the ice to run all the way to the wall panels (the only brand to offer this) and smoothly curved panels for large rounded corners that optimize smooth puck flow. 

What Should You Do Before Assembling?

Here’s a quick checklist of items to run through before assembling your rink:

• Choose your rink's location and measure the available space to make sure it fits comfortably.

• Check your yard slope (aim for 10 inches or less) and sun/shade exposure of that spot before committing to it.

• Identify your water source and confirm it's accessible from where the rink will sit.

• Clear the area of leaves and debris so nothing damages your liner once it's down.

• Make sure you have the necessary tools and equipment on hand before assembly day.

• Inspect your rink components as soon as they arrive, so you can catch any issues while there's still time to address them.

3. Ice-Making and Use Season (Winter)

Ice-making season is simultaneously the most exciting (because you finally get to use the rink!) but also the most challenging for many rink owners.

In this section, we’re going to break down when to start filling your rink to make ice, when to start skating and how long the rink ice may last. 

When to Start Filling Your Backyard Ice Rink

The key to filling a rink is to wait until the high temperature is below freezing for at least three consecutive days.

If you don’t live in an area that experiences sub-freezing temperatures for multiple days in a row, you likely won’t succeed at getting consistent ice for a backyard rink (consider a street hockey rink instead). 

You can build the initial ice base by filling in multiple thin layers of water, allowing each layer to freeze before applying the next layer. Some opt for a single, carefully timed fill instead. Either option can work. 

When Can You Start Skating?

Your goal with filling a rink is to aim for a minimum ice thickness of four inches at the shallowest point.

Be patient!  Skating on ice that is still not fully frozen can lead to cracks in the ice surface, resulting in more maintenance and an unreliable surface throughout the season. 

Here’s a helpful chart that illustrates the approximate growth of ice in inches over 24 hours across various freezing temperatures, courtesy of Lake Ice:

Once you get to four inches of ice thickness, you can test it, like Coach Jeremy did in the video below using a YardRink: 

How Long Can Skating Season Last?

The duration of your skating season depends on where you live and the year-to-year weather patterns. 

The last two seasons (2024/2025 and 2025/2026) have seen an average of 55 skating days based on research compiled by YardRink from customer survey data. 

However, in years like 2026/2027, where a Super El Niño could bring warmer weather to parts of the U.S. during skating season, the number of skating days could fluctuate. 

Thankfully, the Farmer’s Almanac predicts that, across much of the West, northern Plains, Upper Midwest, and Great Lakes, temperatures should average near normal overall. Fast-moving clippers, sudden cold snaps, and brief snowy periods are likely.

In seasons where skating days might be more scarce, it’s important to remember that backyard rinks are multi-year investments.  Much like a backyard swimming pool, where some summers are better than others, every day of swimming is a great one. 

Even if one season doesn’t bring as many skatable days as the last, the return on investment comes from your kids training and having fun for multiple seasons. 

Most families are thrilled if they can get just a few weeks of active winter outdoor play where their kids are away from screens at a typically indoor time of the year. The season-to-season fluctuation is just part of the game.

Here’s a quote from a YardRink family that touches on this point:

“When the days got shorter and winter set in, we just wanted a way to keep our kids active and outside. What we didn’t expect was how much they’d love YardRink. They spent the winter skating every chance they got, getting better, and bringing the whole neighborhood together. It turned the coldest, darkest months into something they actually look forward to.” 

-Ben M, Colorado, YardRink owner since 2024. See their full story here.

Besides assembling under a shady spot and resurfacing often, you can use our Extra Skating Days (ESD) method to help maintain skatable ice for longer periods. 

It only requires a garden hose and a battery-powered water transfer pump. See the video below for steps on how it works:

4. Disassembly Season (Later Winter/Early Spring)

Cue the sad violins. Once the temperatures rise and the ice melts, it’s time to disassemble your rink for next season.

The best time to disassemble is after the final thaw of the season, before spring lawn care begins.

Generally speaking, you’ll want to adhere to these points to achieve a proper takedown of your rink: 

• Slowly drain the rink water, being careful to direct flow away from any structures. 

• Take out all stakes or brackets from the ground. 

• Remove the liner carefully, let it dry and fold it properly to prevent mildew or damage while in storage. 

• Disassemble your boards or panels, stacking head-to-toe for efficient storage. 

If you own, or are interested in, a YardRink, you can find the disassembly instructions here. You can also watch the YardRink disassembly video from Coach Jeremy below:

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We recommend letting all components dry before packing them away. You can also power wash or wipe down panels, brackets and stakes to remove dirt, debris and residue. 

See video demonstration of power washing a YardRink panel here.

You’ll then want to store your rink components somewhere cool, dry and out of direct sunlight. A garage or shed is likely going to be your best bet. Keep the liner out of reach of mice – they love to chew holes in plastic. 

For DIY rinks, if you didn’t do this during the assembly process (highly recommended), label each panel through a color code or numbering system (e.g., Side A - Board 1) before storing. 

Also, ensure all hardware is bagged and labeled before storing. This can be laborious, but you’ll thank yourself every skating season after.

The 4-Season Backyard Ice Rink Recap 

To recap, here’s a snapshot of the timeline to owning a backyard ice rink:

• Summer/Fall → Buy your rink, or the parts to build one. Purchase any upgrades or replacement parts necessary for existing rinks. 

• Late Fall/Early Winter → Prepare your yard by choosing the right spot, measuring slope and clearing the area.

• After the leaves have fallen and before the ground freezes → It’s time to assemble. 

• 3 days straight of sub-freezing temperatures → Fill your rink. 

• 4"+ ice → Get the skates on!

• January/February → Prime season for outdoor rinks. Make sure to maintain it properly.

• Later Winter/Early Spring → Time to disassemble, store and get ready to make more lifelong memories on the ice next season.

Ready for a Successful Skating Season?

Any rink owner will tell you: the process of getting there can be a pain, but the moment you and your family run out to a skatable rink the first time, there’s absolutely no thrill like it.

We hope you’re gearing up for a fun-filled season ahead.

Check out the resources below that expand on some of what was covered in this article:

• Will My Backyard Work for an Ice Rink? Everything You Need to Know

• How Much Does a Backyard Ice Rink Cost? (Honest Analysis)

• YardRink User Stories (Check these out for firsthand experiences from real rink owners)

Also, sign up for our email newsletter (go to our contact us page and scroll down a little for the sign-up form) or check our social media accounts (@yardrink) for the latest YardRink promotions this season.

We’re breaking sales records every month, so don’t wait too long if you’re considering YardRink!