LINER LINQUISTICS PART TWO

About lines and face off circles………
a common question is do our liners have lines? The answer is 'no' but you may be able to purchase them seperately and we will get to that later. In the meantime, if your rink is in a full sun area , read on. 1.) If you have any experience with building rinks you know what happens when a leaf or other dark object freezes in the top of your ice. The sun is attracted to the dark object and heat is generated and a hole is melted and sometimes as deep as 3 inches in a day. Imagine your rink now with blue and red lines or face off dots. In a perfect rink world, the sun would not come out and melt those areas but we love the sun and the sun loves to shine and not being able to use your rink on sunny days would be a travesty. In short the slushy areas would be many and your skating surface would be ruined. 2.) In our area, almost without fail, while the water is freezing there is some snow falling. This snow, then is absorbed into the rink water and surface area, turning it white. If your liner had lines or dots then chances are you would not see them as they would be obscured from view.

So now the only real opportunity to add lines, is if your ice surface is shrouded in cloud or in a treed area with minimal exposure to the sun. Of course you can always add them after your freeze, in thin layers, on top of your main pad and this has proven to be a viable red line, blue line and face off scenario. They are available on our order page.  Instructions included.                                                                                                1

About limbs………
We have touched on leaves and how a leaf in the ice surface will “burn” a hole and the same applies to bark or pine needles or any dark object. Always best to wait for awhile till all your surrounding trees have shed, or set your rink up early as we do, so all, that does fall, becomes waterlogged and sinks to the bottom. Remember every yard and rink site is different. You will learn what is best for you!

Back to liners or replacement liners for a moment…………
Our liners are strong and the 6 mil and possibly the 4 mil could be used for 3 years or more if you are using the Liner Protection System. Remember that you will be positioning this liner next to or within fractions of inches to skates and pucks and shovels and snow blowers. If you wish to save your liner then you need to protect it with a dasher board or frame guard.  It is located in a very busy, high traffic and dangerous area. Look for the section (with picture) called "liner protection system"  from cuts and nicks, shovels and snowblowers etc.  If you want nitty gritty details on assembly and how to do it all, we have a comprehensive new section in our amazing e book called you guessed it.............Liner Protection System

We have saved our liners in the past but remember these following points to ponder. Rink liners and replacement liners come in rolls or folded neatly. When you are done with them for the season they are hard to fold up small and store as they were when you received them. While in storage they are susceptible to other forms of damage like mice eating holes or cats/dogs or children playing near them. Make sure they are stored properly and many years are probable when using the L.P.S.  We have had a mouse chew a hole through our liner while stored improperly and have had many a story relayed to us the same. Here is the scenario if you have an unsuspecting puncture or tear. 1) Set up frame. 2) Lay your line or replacement liner . 3) Fasten all your dasher boards or frame guards. 4) Turn on hose and fill. 5) 15 hours later wonder why rink is not filling. 6) Wade through water with shoes off (very cold) to locate hole. After finding or not finding hole(s) decide to replace. Repeat steps 1 thru 4 again. You decide what works best for you!

In conclusion…………. Here are the positive points to using a 4 mil liner or a 6 mil liner.
1)they are less expensive to purchase. 2) they are less expensive to replace 3) they are less expensive to ship because they are lighter. 4) they are lighter to move around and or fold up and store. 5) they work, as is proven by the number of repeat customers we have yearly. Neighbors ordering for neighbors and many of our rinks can be found on the same streets in towns and cities just like yours. We have used a 6 mil liner for 15 years and enjoy the ease of use and workability 6) they are guaranteed against cold cracking 7) they are U.V. protected . 8) they have a stretch factor built in for covering lumps or bumps in your yard surface. We do recommend running your water and allowing the liner to settle before fastening to your frame.We also stock and highly recommend our liner clips as they hold your liner in place while it is settling. Remember the heavier it is the harder it is to work with and when and if you drop it or drag it

the greater possibility of damage. These liners are very worthwhile when trying to save and re use for following years with the L.P.S. (liner protection system)

SUMMARY:  It doesn't matter how thick your liner is if you don't have a way to protect it from skates, pucks, snowblowers, Zambonis, figure skate pics, shovels etc etc etc. The Liner Protection System is the answer.

23

Patching and fixing…….
Every one of our liners comes with a patch kit which is a dry type of tar in sheet form that when heated grabs on to the liner and forms a very secure bond. There are other ways of repairing and fixing liners too! There is a very aggressive tape that works for small patch jobs but seaming long seams is not the best as the wind plays a roll in the success as does the straight of your tape. If your tape is not perfectly straight down the entire seam then you end up with creases in your tape and the potentiality of leakage is very probable. There is caulking and a plastic patch or wet/dry tar roof patch which is also a remedy for repair and maintaining your water level. Finally one of the most ingenious methods is as follows. This method is …..take two pieces of wood and place on opposite sides of your area that needs to be patched. In between the liner with the puncture or tear or rip, sandwich a wet cloth between the wood pieces and screw together in several places. You now have in order, wood plate, wet cloth, liner and another wood plate all screwed tightly together. Screws should be at least 2 " from the edges of the wood and more to the inner section of the hole or tear. Allow to freeze. The wood sandwich protects the frozen cloth from thawing and acts as your patch. Then fill your rink liner up and allow to freeze as per. You decide what works best for your particular scenario.

We are very proud of the information compiled on our site after 18 years and believe it to be unparalleled in the industry. Hope you like it and happy rink building.

4and5
    

                                                                                         This rink is incomplete and ineffective due to the gap

                                                                                          between the boards(do not build your rink this way)

As you have noticed there are several styles of rinks on this page. The esthetic number 1 ($30,000 with built in cooling system) and #2 (our rink) #3 beside our rink with lines and no boards, and the #'s 5 and 6 just above, they all use 4 mil or 6 mil poly liners and have great success. Some liners are placed outside the frame and some liners inside the frame and some randomly over the top. But when it finally freezes we all skate, play hockey and tag, frolic in the snow banks, use our saucers and magic carpets and just have fun. That's the way to enjoy what winter has for us all !  Cheers!

Customer Quotes: 

I MADE A BIG MISTAKE  this year. I had a gift certificate from one of the big box stores. I went and bought a liner and installed it. After running my water for 14 hours and seeing no change in the water level I realized it was full of holes. I called you guys because I know your liners are quality and they work and your service is amazing...........  Ryan Nobes,  Collingwood On.

YOU GUYS ROCK....Once I get the liner I 'll tell everyone about you guys. I've got about 15 friends that build rinks down here and its not easy.  Thanks for the great service. 

                                                  Dennis Golden   Mass.

AMAZING SERVICE and great products. I used your Ultimate Flooder last year and I was done in 5 minutes with a surface that was as good as you get for an outdoor rink.           Gord   Waterloo On.

AWESOME PRODUCTS........I am so glad I did it. Thanks for the advice and the awesome products and fast shipping. Love the flooder and the puckboard corners too!                                 

                                                              Jim         Lethbridge  AB.

                                                                                                                                           6

LOVE THOSE J-Braces........... you guys are quick!!! we just received our J-Braces.       Rob and Hallie

THANKS for the quick turnaround every year. Nice to see you have 6 mil white. 

                                                                            Paul,         Burlington

I JUST WANTED you to know how impressed I am with the timeliness of my shipping year after year. The liner clips are a great idea being as my rink is in a wide open space. They save me time, staple holes and worry from the wind .                  Geoff.      Durham. On.

I MUST SAY this is an impressive looking kit. I ordered the extras like the L.P.S, the nets and the flooder and I am glad I did.  I absolutely love the video. After seeing you guys build a rink it all makes sense now. Very helpful!! ...and the ice maintenance section is a huge bonus.

                                                               Jeff.                Red Deer  AB.

YOU GUYS come highly recommended!!!        Patrick.      Williamsville  N.Y.

It was sooooooo nice to see an awesome website and product from Canada!! 

                                                   Alicia Martens

It was a pleasure dealing with you guys. Thank You.   Tom Watson.

YUU HAVE RESTORED MY FAITH in customer service.  Awesome.   Cheryl Bulmer

JUST WANTED YOU TO KNOW that your rink was used 24/7.  It became the place to be.  Barbara Harding    Maine

GREAT PRODUCT....   We ordered from you last year and we recommend it to all our friends. Here is our order for this year.        Linda Donaghy  Ajax

We LOVED our rink last year. Great choice of sizes! we have 7 children and tons of room to skate. Great service too!

Walter and Linda Weycamp     Oakville

GOOD QUALITY, great delivery and product.   Dave Harris     Milton

I HAVE A RINK EXPERIENCED FRIEND and he says your liner was comparable to ones he has seen at twice the cost.              Keith Jameson Mi.

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN Your liner saved the day. My dog jumped off the porch and it held. No Punctures.

GREAT TIPS ON YOUR SITE. It really made it work. The monofilament catch mesh is awesome. Thanks for Growhoski Arena            James Grohowski   Ma.

YOUR PRODUCTS ARE well thought out, functional and reasonably priced. Thanks for making it all happen for us!

I CANT BELIEVE IT ...OUR DOG JUST JUMPED OFF THE DECK AND RIGHT ON TO THE LINER. NO PUNCTURES ..........AMAZING. !!!