The Best Way to Install a Synthetic Ice Rink

Have you been thinking about installing a synthetic ice skating rink in your home? If you have been, you aren’t alone. Hockey players and ice skaters all over the United States and the world have been interested in this technology. This type of hockey flooring provides an easy and relatively affordable way to practice ice skating at home, no matter the reason you might need to practice. Whether you plan to play hockey or you’re a figure skater, being able to get high-quality practice in the comfort of your home is a game-changer. 

With that in mind, it’s very important to make sure that you’re installing your at-home ice skating rink properly. It’s a simple process, but it’s important to make sure that you know what you’re doing so you can have the highest possible quality ice skating experience in your home. Today we’re going to go over our comprehensive guide on this topic so you can feel more confident that you’re doing everything correctly. There’s a lot to think about during this process, but we’ve got your back and by the time you’re done reading this article you’ll be an expert at this entire process. 

Your Very First Steps

Before you do anything else, you’re going to want to do some research into your artificial ice. What brand do you want to go with, which companies do you trust, and potentially if hockey flooring would be better suited for your situation than artificial ice. This part of the process is pretty easy, all it takes is a few searches online and a bit of time. You have a few options to choose from as far as vendors go, so take your time and find the best one for you. This step is crucial. 

Think about where you want to put the rink. Is this going in the garage, in a spare room, or even outside? This is important because it can change what you need in the tiles. If it might ever be outside, you’ll want to make sure that the tiles are weatherproof. In our opinion you want your tiles to be weatherproof anyway because that’s going to allow you more flexibility in the future. Maybe you plan to have it in a room but your circumstances change so you have to put it in the backyard. It makes things a lot easier if your tiles work out in such a way that they’re flexible. 

During this step, once you’ve selected a vendor, you’re going to want to figure out the size of the tiles that they sell. This is going to be important for the next step. Pay close attention to the measurements because they will be coming back later. Most companies measure their tiles in inches or feet, so if you’re reading this from a country other than America you can multiply the feet by 12 and then multiply the whole thing by 2.5 for a good estimate. 1 inch is equal to 2.5 centimeters if you want to be more specific. 

Before You Order

There is one thing you’ll want to do before you order and that’s measure out the space where you want your rink to go. This can be done easily enough with some measuring tape. We recommend setting out chairs at the corners so you can really visualize the rink and be sure that you like where it is. Thinking long and hard about where you’re going to put the tiles is very important because it can save you a lot of hassle in the long run. 

Setting up your rink using artificial ice tiles is pretty easy, but it can get pretty laborious if you have to set it up then take it down just to move it and set it up again. Think about the foot traffic in the place you’re setting it up and how much you’re willing to give that space up entirely for this project. Remember, artificial ice is very slick so you don’t want people to have to walk over it all the time. It might feel different than ice on skates but you still have to be careful when you walk on it so you don’t slip. 

Once you know exactly where you want it to go and you’ve had the space measured out, you’re going to have to do a bit of math in order to make sure that you’re getting the right number of tiles. Let’s say that you have a 12 foot by 8-foot space you want to use, and the company’s tiles are 12 inches by 12 inches. A 12 by 8-foot space is 90 square feet, so you’d need to get 90 tiles to make sure that your space is filled. This equation is easy, but be prepared for a bit of trickiness occasionally. 

Once Your Tiles Arrive

Alright, you’ve done all of the preparing work. Your tiles arrived in the mail, you brought them home from the sporting goods store, and you’re ready to get everything set up. It’s not quite time to get your tiles put together so you can start skating yet, you have a little bit more work to do before it comes to that. Fortunately, you’ve already completed the hardest parts and everything from here is mostly just some light and easy physical labor, other than the first thing you have to do for this step. 

Measure out your area once again and set up markers on the outside of your measurement. We recommend using chairs at each corner because it makes everything a lot easier. This allows you to be sure that you’re putting the rink where you want it to be so you don’t have to move it later and is absolutely critical. You can have a friend help you or you can do it alone, but this part should only take a few minutes to do properly so it doesn’t matter if you have someone to help you or not. 

After you’ve done that, you’re going to want to lay out plywood. It doesn’t have to be one solid piece, but your rink needs a foundation that is both flat and sturdy. The biggest thing is that you can fit the pieces of plywood together flush so it doesn’t cause any issues. We would also recommend getting the plywood cut in such a way that the seam doesn’t line up with the seam of the tiles. So, back to our example, if your space is 12 feet by 8 feet, you might want to get 8 1.5 food by 8-foot pieces of plywood. 

Once your plywood is down it’s the fun part, actually assembling your tiles. You can really do this in any way you think is best. We like to take the jigsaw puzzle approach and do the border first and then fill in the center but you could also do the typewriter approach or really any way that works for you. These tiles have 4 sides that interlock so it’s really just like putting together the world’s easiest jigsaw puzzle. Depending on how big of a space you want to fill it can take anywhere from half an hour to an afternoon to get all the way set up. 

Finishing Touches

Nothing is complete until the finishing touches are done. The first finishing touch that you’ll want to do is inspect the rink to make sure that everything is lined up correctly. Make sure that the placement of the rink is correct and, most importantly, make sure that all the tiles are flush. This is crucial for ensuring that everyone skating is doing so as safely as possible. If any of the tiles are sticking up it can cause one of the skaters to trip and that’s not good. 

After that what you do is really up to you. If you bought decorations or extras for the rink like a goal net, cardboard cutout goalie, or anything else you could set those up right now. Otherwise and after you’re done with that, you’re ready to skate the night away. This is undoubtedly the most fun part of the whole process unless you just really liked the putting together of the rink. After it’s set up you don’t really have to take it back down unless you want to, so you should be good to go. 

An Exciting New Beginning

Getting your at-home artificial ice skating rink set up at your house is definitely something that’s exciting. You’ll have unlimited access to all the ice skating fun your heart could desire year-round, no matter the weather. You could even invite friends over to skate on your ice skating rink, depending on how large it is. Whether you’re installing this for leisure or training, it’s definitely worth celebrating that you have your rink all set up and ready to be skated on. It takes a bit of time and work, but once you have your tiles laid out it’s definitely worth it.