By NiNY
Frame up. Check.
Tarp laid. Check.
Water in. Check.
One night's worth of freeze. Check.
Lessons learned:
*What you think is flat is maybe not so flat. Remember, I'm using 2x8s as the frame. On on end, there's about 7" of space between the water and the top of the board, on the other there's about 1". Ruh-roh.
But I decided I would fill until there was water covering the entire tarp. I suppose I could have filled the low end a little bit and let that freeze before filling in the rest so there'd be a base of ice in the deep end. That would probably have been smarter actually. I know there's going to be water under the ice on the deep end much longer than at the shallow end. I also know I may have fated that deep end to not freeze over, ever.
Maybe I can peel off the ice layers as they freeze at the deep end? I don't know.
*When my instant gratification addiction meets the crack dealer of Home Depot, and their blue tarps, hilarity ensues. Yes, I bought the only tarp they had at the store that was my desired size. Yes, there was a lucid thought behind it (I was afraid that if I bought smaller pieces of white sheeting that I wouldn't be able to duct tape (or whatever) them together in a way that would have maintained a necessary amount of water-proofification). But when my neighbor - who used to do a rink when his kids were younger - saw how dark my tarp is he was like "ooh....yeah....uh, that might be a problem." We'll see. I'm living and learning.
*Don't sweat the corners. I was worried about them, but once I got the frame up and the tarp on, when the water came in, there was no problem.
The issue now is the weather. I'm reticent to put any stock in any meteorologist's "forecast" but Accuweather.com is telling me I'm looking at hi/lo splits of 39/32 today, 46/39 tomorrow and 52/32 (with rain) on new year's day. Then it starts to get colder. But I'll be nervous about the ambient temps and the blue tarp conspiring to keep my water from freezing for the next few days.
3 comments:
Yeah. Watch out for rain. I hear that might cause problems for outdoor rinks. At least big ones that are designed for marquee events that season ticket holders are all but forced to buy with no choice in the matter and who will now be screwed after deciding to go because the NHL is a bunch of effing morons with no perspective or common sense or any kind of outside creative thinking that leads to situations like a current one.
Not that I'm suggesting yours isn't one of those.
Ha! I'm tryin' to make a rink....IN FRIGGGIN' SEATTLE!!!!Yeah, Seattle. And no, I'm not on drugs. But watching the weather tease close enough to make ice, only to be followed by day after day of rain and 40-something temps, it kind of makes you want to move the hell to Canada anywhere. But, a cold spell is coming this week, so maybe, MAYBE.... we'll see!
Good luck with the rinks, fellow hockey fans.
Well, Sea The weather geniuses say the high pressure and low pressure have conspired to make Seattle its usual balmy self in the "winter" here. So,once again, I have nothin' but....pond. Ug.
Post a Comment