Backyard Ice Rink Cost: What You'll Pay Besides the Liner

A backyard ice rink costs more than the liner, and the rest of the bill is what catches most first-time builders off guard. The liner is one easy number. The frame, the water, the patch tape and the flooding tools are where budgets quietly double.

Quick answer: besides the liner, budget for a frame (included in a tube kit, or lumber you buy locally), about $25 to $55 of city water to fill, $25 to $260 to protect the liner, and up to $330 for flooding tools. A 20' x 40' liner build runs about $280 to $540 plus lumber.

TL;DR

The liner is the smallest surprise. Everything around it is where the money goes.
Tube kits include the liner and frame, so the box price is close to the real price.
Lumber builds look cheaper but you buy boards, stakes and screws on top of the liner.
Water is a real cost on city water. Budget it.
Liner protection and a patch kit are cheap insurance against a mid-season leak.

Start With the Liner (It's the Easy Number)

RinkMaster liners run from $121.99 for a 20' x 25' to $2,199.99 for a 65' x 150', with free shipping across Canada. A common 20' x 40' rink on 2x10 boards needs a 24' x 45' liner, which is $214.99.

Your liner has to be bigger than the rink because it climbs the boards and laps over the top. The rink liner size calculator works out the right size and price in about 10 seconds, so you can lock in that number and move on to the rest.

Backyard Ice Rink Cost at a Glance

Here's every cost besides the liner, with real prices where RinkMaster sells the item and a note where you'll price it locally.

Cost	Typical price	Do you need it?
Frame (tube kit, liner included)	$339.99 to $639.99	One frame option is a must
Frame (lumber build)	Price locally	One frame option is a must
Water to fill (20' x 40')	About $35 to $40 on city water	Yes
Patch tape	$14.99 to $51.99	Yes, keep some on hand
Liner protection strip	$59.99 (25') or $99.99 (50')	Strongly recommended for hockey
FloodMaster resurfacer	$329.99	Nice to have
Lights	Price locally, low running cost	Nice to have
Netting	$79.99 to $159.99	If pucks are flying

The Frame: Your Biggest Cost Besides the Liner

Every rink needs sides to hold the water. How you build them decides most of your budget, and how much time you spend at the lumber yard.

Tube Kit: One Box, One Price

A backyard skating rink kit runs $339.99 for 15' x 20' up to $639.99 for 25' x 40'. The box includes the liner, the frame tubes, clips, four corner sets, a liner patch kit and instructions. No wood, no cutting, so the price on the box is close to what you'll actually spend.

The tubes are no-break polypropylene, not rigid PVC, so they won't crack in the cold. They telescope too, which helps if your space is a bit smaller than the listed size.

Lumber Build: Cheaper Looking, More Line Items

Building your own frame means buying boards, stakes or brackets, and screws on top of the liner. A 20' x 40' rink has 120 feet of perimeter, which is about ten 12-foot 2x10s before you add anything to hold them up.

Lumber prices move a lot, so price your list at a local yard before you decide. The upside is that a good lumber frame lasts several winters, so the cost spreads out over time.

Hockey Rink Kit: Brackets Plus Your Own 4x4s

The backyard hockey rink kit pairs Canadian-made TojaGrid brackets with 4x4 lumber you buy locally. A 20' x 40' starts at $2,599 for the Basic system (brackets, screws and a liner), and lumber is not included.

Choice adds puck board and a decal for $3,349. Deluxe adds a kickplate, a FloodMaster and two pond hockey nets for $3,999. You'll also want a chop saw or circular saw and an impact driver for setup.

Water: The Backyard Rink Cost Nobody Budgets For

If you're on city water, you pay for every litre that goes into the rink, and in most cities you pay a wastewater charge on it too. In Guelph, where RinkMaster is based, 2026 water and wastewater volume charges are $2.63 and $2.33 per cubic metre, about $4.96 combined.

Here's what that looks like on a 20' x 40' rink, using an average depth of 4 inches as an example:

First fill: about 7,550 litres (7.55 cubic metres), or roughly $37.
Each thin flood after that: about 240 litres, or a little over $1.
A season of about 30 floods: roughly $35 more.

A sloped yard needs more water at the low end, so your number could be higher. Check your own city's rates, and if you're on a well, your cost is mostly time and pump wear.

Protecting the Liner (Cheap Insurance)

A single hole can drain water under your ice and leave you with weak shell ice. A few small purchases protect the biggest one.

Patch tape: Vinyl Super Patch is $14.99 for 1 metre, $24.99 for 3 metres or $51.99 for 10 metres. Keep some on hand all season.
Liner protection: a 6" high strip along the base of your boards that keeps skates, pucks and shovels off the liner. It's $59.99 for 25' or $99.99 for 50'. Covering a full 20' x 40' (120 feet) takes two 50' rolls and one 25', about $260.
Kickplate: a 6" strip in 50' lengths for $109.99. It works as a lower board for an arena look, or as liner protection on a lumber frame.

Flooding and Upkeep Tools

You can flood with a garden hose you already own, and plenty of people do. The cost there is a hose that won't crack in the cold and a way to drain it so it doesn't freeze solid.

If you want smoother ice with less effort, the FloodMaster ice resurfacer is $329.99. It's aluminum with brass fittings, so it won't rust, and replacement flooder cloths are $29.99. Add a good shovel or scraper for snow, which most Canadian households already have.

Extras That Add Up Fast

These are the costs people forget until the first night they want to skate.

Lights: skating after work in December means skating in the dark. LED floodlights are the way to go. Natural Resources Canada says ENERGY STAR LEDs are up to 90% more efficient than incandescent bulbs, so running costs stay low.
Netting: $79.99 for 10' x 10' up to $159.99 for 10' x 30'. Worth it if there's a house, fence or car behind the net.
Nets and pucks: a 72" pond hockey net is $249.99.
Skate mats: $29.99 each, to protect blades and floors at the door.

Hidden Costs: Time, Slope and Doing It Twice

The biggest hidden cost is buying the wrong size liner and buying again. Being short by a foot causes real setup problems, so measure twice and size from your boards, not your rink.

Slope is the next one. A yard that falls a few inches needs taller boards at the low end and more water to fill, so both your frame and water costs go up.

Then there's time. Plan on a day or two to build, then a few days of flooding in steady cold before the ice is ready, plus a few minutes most nights to keep it good.

Three Sample Backyard Ice Rink Budgets

Starter Rink for Young Kids (20' x 25' Tube Kit)

Kit with liner, frame, clips and patch kit: $399.99
Water to fill (about 4,700 litres): roughly $23
Total: about $425, plus a hose

Family Skating Rink (20' x 40' Liner on Lumber)

24' x 45' liner: $214.99
Patch tape, 3 metres: $24.99
Water to fill: roughly $37
Lumber, stakes and screws: price locally
Total: about $277 plus lumber, or about $540 plus lumber with full liner protection

Backyard Hockey Rink (20' x 40' Hockey Kit)

Basic kit: $2,599, or Deluxe with puck board, kickplate, FloodMaster and nets: $3,999
4x4 lumber: price locally
Water to fill: roughly $37
Netting (optional): $109.99 to $159.99 per section

Key Takeaways on Backyard Ice Rink Cost

The liner is only part of the cost. Frame, water, protection and tools often add as much again, or more.
A tube kit is the most predictable price because the liner and frame come in one box.
Lumber builds need a local price check, but a good frame lasts several winters.
City water for a 20' x 40' rink runs about $37 to fill and around $35 more over a season (Guelph rates).
Patch tape and liner protection are cheap compared to losing a rink to a leak.
Get the liner size right the first time. Buying twice is the most expensive mistake.

Ready to price yours? Start with the ice rink liners and the size calculator, then add the pieces above that fit your yard.