Indoor Rink - Blog #2 - instructions and cost

My poor daughter will soon be able to get rid of her cardboard rink box once I finish up the basement rink! The rink should be finished in a week or two (once my contractors finish insulating the walls and sledge hammer the concrete overhang that is about 2 inches longer than the wall framing). Right now I am finishing up my cutting and screwing. All that's left is bolting and laying the tiles!! Below are the basic plans I used to start this project...

materials/Item Cost/Item Total Cost
(for 15'X15' basement rink)
1/2" X 4' X 8' spruce plywood X 8 $18.00 $144.00
2" X 4" X 8' boards X 35 $2.00 $70.00
3" deck screws box 200 (2x4 to 2x4) $25.00 $25.00
2" deck screws box 200 (plywood to 2x4) $20.00 $20.00
3/8" X 5" bolts, nuts and washers X 16 (corners) $1.00 $16.00
Roller Hockey Tiles got a deal online $300.00
Goal $100 $100

TOTAL $675.00

TOOLS USED:

- bottle opener
- drill
- electric mitre saw
- circular saw
- wrenches
- Robertson drill bit
- 3/8" long drill bit
- safety goggles are a good idea but not always used
- basement


The Corners
Three pieces creates a corner that is a good trade off between good curvature and build-time. Two pieces would help save considerable build-time and will be used on my “door side” where the entry is to the rest of my house. The magic angle is 15 degrees (see pics attached). This creates a full 90 degree total angle on a 4 foot radius. The side and end boards that attach to the corner will NOT need angle cuts!
1. Cut plywood on angle the panels are based on 18" X 4' where the plywood meets the 2" X 4" framing (minus 3 inches for beer rail around entire rink). Thus, the plywood face attached to the framing needs to be 18" and so does the "inside" framing itself. Rip the plywood to 18" (no angle) and then cut the 15 degree angle afterwards with circular saw. This means the inside edge of the plywood will be slightly less than 18" as a result. I did the cutting on the basement floor on top of a few 2X4s to keep the blade clear of the floor.
2. Cut corner framing (2X4) 18" wide (short side) at 15 degrees on BOTH ends (see pics).
3. Screw top and bottom framing to plywood use the 2" screws.
4. Cut and attach vertical pieces (2X4) measure the distance between the top and bottom pieces you attached in the previous step. IMPORTANT - attach these vertical members flush to the plywood with NO angle cuts - this helps the bolts pull the corners nice and tight (see pics)
5. Cut and attach middle cross brace (2X4) measure and cut (I did not put in a middle brace for corners since this is a kid rink and indoors).
6. Repeat the above steps to create three identical panels.
7. Bolt panels together with long flat 3/8" drill bit make 4 holes then counter sink the nut side with a 1" flat bit.


How to make the end and side panels
The sides and ends are full 4' X 8' sheets of plywood framed on the backside. Bolt and mount to concrete basement wall.

total cost approx. $550 (with beer)
build time approx. 40 hrs (just a guess based on my stolen plans since I have not finished it yet)




*These plans are stolen from the web and adjusted to suit my needs.