Backyard Rink Boards

A synthetic backyard rink in Ontario, Canada with hockey boards

Hockey boards for synthetic ice rinks

We get asked a lot about boards for home synthetic ice hockey rinks and commercial synthetic ice rinks. The commercial rinks frankly are easier because there are some great companies out there making high quality perimeter arena board systems. They range from molded plastic to high end NHL style pro systems with various upper containment options. But when it comes to a safe, durable, good looking system for inside or outside home applications – frankly the industry has come up short – until now.

Installing durable hockey boards on a backyard rink

Recently we installed a 48 ft x 30 ft synthetic ice backyard rink on a raised wooden platform. The area was very uneven and it was more cost effective for the owner to build a platform than to put in retaining walls and pour concrete. So we had very little margin for error in this job and we wanted to be able to maximize the usable space. So we challenged a fabricator to come up with a super strong but lighter duty board system that would stand up to 20 years of backyard hockey abuse.

What they came up with was the ProLite hockey board system. The frame on this system is incredibly only 1.5 inches thick but its welded aluminum and is very strong. Its cladded with a 1/2 inch TPO material which is especially great for outside installations as it has minimal expansion and contraction due to weather variances.

For lateral stability ProLite recommended using a dipped galvanized steel stabilizer that connected to each eight foot section and was easily bolted together with stainless steel hardware.

There was a total of four gates in this rink. The owner’s plan was to use two for player bench doors and then one at the end for snow blower access and then a general access door opposite the players benches. Each door was 36″ wide and was attached using heavy stainless hardware mounted to the aluminum frames.

Finally we placed netting around the rink so that the neighbours would be safe from flying pucks!

All in all this is an impressive “light-duty” system that will last decades in reality and should easily withstand any family or community rink application – indoors or out.

Thinking about a synthetic ice rink for your home? Contact us here.

 

 

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