How to Build a Roller Skating Ring

Commercial roller skating rink floors are built out of either wood, particle board or concrete and covered with a special coating designed for skating rink floors. Wood rink floors are very expensive and difficult to build. To cut down on costs and difficulty, this article gives instructions to build a concrete roller skating rink.

Things You'll Need

• 2 x 4s
• L brackets
• Screws
• Screw driver
• Square ended shovel
• Concrete
• High pressure hose
• Mop
• Roll-On floor coating
• Roller paint brush (long-handled)
• Heavy duty portable wall partitions
• Door hinges
• Backyard gate latch
• Velcro
• 3-inch round metal piping for railing
• Bracket clamps for metal piping
• Thick padded material
• Heavy duty thread
• Sewing machine
• Breathing mask

Instructions

1. Choose an area to build your roller skating rink. You can use an inside or an outside area. Roller skating rinks come in many different sizes and shapes. The average roller skating rink is 70' x 150' and oval shaped. However, a rectangular shaped rink is easier to build.

2. Level out the area to be used as a roller skating rink. The area should be as level as possible. If you are building the rink outside, you can level the area using a shovel. Dig and scrape the outdoor area with the shovel until it is flat as possible. If you are building the rink in an indoor area, the flooring should already be level.

3. Line what will be the outside edges of your skating rink with 2 x 4 pieces of wood. Once you have the 2 x 4s set in place where you want them, screw in L brackets to the adjoining edges of the wood.

4. Pour concrete into the skating rink area inside the 2 x 4 area. Spread the concrete flat using a square edged shovel. Allow the concrete to dry for one to two days.

5. Clean the concrete rink to remove any dirt or debris. To clean an outdoor rink, use a high pressure hose. To clean an indoor rink, use a mop and water. Allow the rink to fully dry. If the weather is moist or cold, the concrete may take several hours to dry.

6. Pour Roll-On roller skating rink coating across the middle of the rink and spread evenly using a long handled roller paint brush. This job is best done using two people. One person pours, while the other person spreads. Allow the Roll-On to dry for one to two days. The Roll-On provides a smooth surface to skate on. Wear a breathing mask to reduce inhalation of Roll-On fumes.

7. Build a wall around the rink for safety. If the rink was built indoors, a wall should already exist. If the rink was built outdoors, a wall will need to be built. The easiest way to build a rink wall, is to put up sturdy portable wall partitions around the rink. Join all of the wall partitions except one by screwing L brackets into the top and bottom of the adjoining wall edges. The remaining unscrewed wall partition will become the door to enter and exit the rink. To make the last partition into a door, attach one side of the door to the joining wall partition using door hinges. Attach a backyard gate latch mechanism to the other side of the partition and its adjoining partition. To attach the latch, screw it into the partition material. Attach Velcro pieces around the latch mechanism and cover the latch with a swatch of thick padded material. This is done to prevent injury in the event that a skater falls against the latch.

8. Attach metal piping bracket clamps to metal piping. One clamp should be attached at each end of the pipes. The metal piping will be used to make safety bars that are attached to the walls. The safety bars will run along all of the walls.

9. Cut and sew thick padded material to fit around metal piping. Leave a hole at each end of the padding to allow the clamps to poke through. Sew the padding a little loose, so that it can be slipped onto the pipes and over the bracket clamps.

10. Slip the padding onto the pipes. Make sure that the clamps stick through the holes in the padding.

11. Attach the metal piping by screwing the metal piping bracket clamps into the wall. Install the pipes at height that will be easy for all skaters to reach. You don't want the pipes too high. The purpose of the pipes is to have a place that skaters to grab onto to prevent a fall. Two people will be needed for this job--one to hold the pipes up and one to screw in the clamps. The pipes should run along all of the walls. Screw the pipes in close to each other so that there is no space in between them.

Tips & Warnings

• Read all of the directions before starting construction of your rink, to gain a better understanding of the process. The Roll-On rink coating will need to be reapplied once a year.

• Before allowing the roller skating rink to be used, check the rink walls to make sure that they are installed securely and check the whole rink to make sure there are no openings in which a person can fall and get injured. Always do a safety check of the rink before it is used to check for needed repairs that could be a safety threat. These instructions to build a roller skating rink are for informational purposes only. Although the writer has done her best to provide accurate building instructions, there may be errors in the instructions. It is impossible to foresee all possible building scenarios for every location. Skating rinks are complicated to build and using a home built rink can expose skaters to safety hazards that could result in injury or death. Follow these directions at your own risk.

Resources

• Roll-On roller skating rink coating