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Despite Temps in the Teens, My Rink Won't Freeze!

We have had temps in the low 20's and teens for 4 days, and yet my rink doesn't freeze solid.

I am just south of Chicago and we had 6 inches of snow (which fell when the rink was all water) and it looks frozen but as soon as weight is applied (I tried to shovel off the extra snow this morning) it cracks all over and water seeps to the top.. Now I have uneven cracks all over the rink and I am not quite sure how to proceed.

I have about 5-6 inches of water in the deep end and about an inch in the shallow end due to a 4 inch slope in the yard.

I would have thought that 4 days with well below freezing temps would have been enough to freeze it strong enough to hold weight, but in stepping out on it this morning, boy was I wrong!

I am not sure if I should apply a layer of water over the top and hoe that freezes to try and build up the depth or if having the water below the ice will be an ongoing problem.

My son is so sad, looking out the window wondering when we will actually be able to skate on the rink we spent the majority of the fall and winter building.

Can anyone give me any suggestions?

I know it's been a brutal winter for rink builders, temps way above freezing, but now that it's actually cold for a stretch, I was hoping we would be skating by today. :(

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Permalink Reply by David Niles on January 17, 2012 at 10:55am

I think that many people had this issue due to the very mild winter so far and the ground not being frozen s o that is what was keeping my rink from freezing solid, I kept doing layers to build the top surface up and found my ice built up much quicker.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel robitaille on January 25, 2012 at 4:40pm

You need 3-4 inches of ice for a kids to be able to skate on it "IF THERE IS WATER BELOW"

keep mom and dad off till it solid

(think Lake Ice)

To test grab a drill an with GREAT care dill a hole in the deep end

Add water so you have 3 inches in low end

If the ground was 100 flat then you only need 1-2 inches of solid Ice for skating

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Permalink Reply by Karen Noto on January 29, 2012 at 12:23pm

Finally got the rink to freeze, but we only got 4 days of skating out of it before the temps went back into the 40's and made it a slush fest. Not to mention the 8 inches of snow we also got that didn't help matters much. Now, it just isn't cold enough during the day to keep it frozen and things are going to get worse as temps are supposed to be in the 50's for three days next week before returning to the upper 30's. What a brutal year for trying to make ice!!