Roller skating is a cool and exciting hobby and sport. You must know how awesome it is if you’ve been skating for a while. Skating has tons of benefits, including physical and health transformations. You also get to socialize and create valuable friendships.
Sometimes, it’s impossible to go roller skating at your local skate park or rink. The park or rink is probably a long drive from home, or you don’t feel like going out. The good news is that you don’t have to hang your skating boots because of the inconveniences.
You only need to learn how to make a roller skating rink at home! I’ve put together this guide to show you all your options and the step-by-step approach. So, let’s get to it!
How to Make a Roller Skating Rink at Home
Roller skating from home is fun. It’s best for when you don’t want to leave home for whatever reasons or when you have friends coming over.
There are three primary areas you can roller skate in while at home. These are; the backyard, driveway, garage, or an unused room inside the house.
Depending on personal preference, and weather elements, you can opt for indoor or outdoor roller skating. For example, the sun may be scorching, making it hard to skate on a hot afternoon.
Also, it could be raining, making the surfaces slippery and unsuitable for skating.
Equipment and Supplies You’ll Need to Make a Roller Skating Rink
Here are the equipment supplies you’ll need to make a roller skating rink. It’s best to make them available before commencing the project. Most of them you can find at your local store or online from Amazon.
- Laminate Flooring
- Plywood
- Wood Screw
- Drill
- Paint or Varnish
- Measuring tape
- Portable roller skating floor
How to Make a Roller Skating Rink at Home | Step-by-step Guide
Now that everything is ready, it’s time to hit the ground running. Below is the step-by-step guide on how to make a roller skating rink at home.
The process is fun and shouldn’t take you more than an hour to complete. Let’s dive in!
Step 1: Decide Where You Want to Put the Rink
You can set the roller rink in two primary areas—indoor or outdoor. An indoor rink is best when you’re looking to shield yourself from weather elements like rain, snow, or scorching sun.
On the other hand, an outdoor rink is best if you love the outdoor and its fresh air. Both options have pros and cons, and you’ll have to decide on the one that works best for you.
If you decide to put an outdoor rink, you can have it set up on a driveway, backyard, or car parking lot. But if you want your rink indoors, you can have it in your basement, garage, or unused room.
You have plenty of choices. You’ll want to put the right foot forward to make the right call. If you get this wrong, your roller skating experience may not be so good.
Step 2: Ensure the Location is Flat and Leveled
Roller skating is best done on smooth flat surfaces. You want comfort and safety while skating, which you can only find on a smooth, flat, and leveled surface.
You’ll want to ensure your preferred rink location is flat and free of anything that enables falling. These could be seams, rocks, pebbles, twigs, and soil.
For an outdoor rink in the backyard, you’ll want to clear off rocks, pebbles, and twigs from the surface. The same should apply to the driveway and the parking lot.
The basement, garage, or an unused room inside the house may have an uneven floor. Sadly, leveling the floor may be a hurdle most of the time. But not to worry about it because there’s a solution.
Step 3: Decide Roller Rink Dimensions Based on the Available Space
Get a tape measure and measure your preferred location to determine the area you’ve got. The recommended roller skating rink size should be 8ft by 16 ft or 16ft by 40 ft, depending on how many people use the rink.
The 8ft by 16 ft rink should serve you well if you need a home rink for a few people. The 16ft by 40 ft rink works well if you want to host friends and family for a skating evening.
Measuring the available room should help you decide what rink size you can set up in your home.
Step 4: Sketch the Roller Rink Plan
Next, you’ll want to sketch the roller rink plan. A plan is essential as it maps out the outcome before starting the project. It helps visualize the end product, which can be motivating and satisfying.
You can think of several designs when designing a roller skating rink. Depending on the available space and personal preference, you can do a square, rectangular, ovular, or circular design.
Step 5: Set Up the Rink
Below, I’ll take you through setting up the roller rink, depending on your preferred location. I got you covered whether you prefer indoors or outdoors.
1. Convert a Garage, Basement, or other Unused Room to a Roller Skating Rink
Here’s how to convert a garage, basement, or other unused room in your house into a roller skating rink!
- While you can roller skate on the floor as it is, sometimes it’s not a good idea. Making a roller skating floor goes a long way to maintain the floor in good condition, especially renting the place.
- By now, you know the size of the room after measuring it in step 3 above. Next, you want to get ¼ inch plywood. It can cover the entire floor space or a portion of it.
- Some people lay the plywood, apply some varnish, and start roller skating, which is still okay.
- But you can take it a notch by getting interlocking laminate flooring and laying them on top of the plywood. If you decide to go this route, you’ll need to drill ½ inch wood screws into the laminate and the plywood to stick them together. You don’t want them to be moving sideways while skating.
- Another alternative is to lay portable roller skating flooring on the plywood. This is easy and doesn’t take long to be ready.
- Your roller skating rink should be ready for use in about an hour.
2. Convert a Driveway or Car Parking lot to a Roller Skating Rink
Here’s how to convert a driveway or car parking lot to a roller skating rink!
- By now, you know your driveway or car parking lot size and how much of that area you want to convert to a roller skating rink.
- You can use the driveway or car parking lot as it is if the surface is smooth enough.
- Alternatively, you can use plywood or a portable roller skating floor.
- Lay the plywood on the surface, then apply polish if you want to. But it’s not entirely necessary. Remember to let the polish dry off completely before starting to skate.
- Alternatively, you can lay the portable roller skating floor on the driveway or car parking lot. Setting them up is pretty quick and straightforward Since they’re interlocking.
- The driveway or car parking lot should be ready for skating in about an hour.
3. Convert a Backyard to a Roller Skating Rink
Here’s how to convert a backyard into a roller skating rink!
- Mark out where you want to use for roller skating in your backyard.
- You can use plywood as it is or add another layer of portable roller skating floor.
- Lay the plywood on the surface to cover your preferred area for roller skating.
- Apply varnish and let it dry off completely before starting to skate.
- Lay pieces of portable roller skating flooring to cover your preferred roller skating area. This is quick and shouldn’t take you more than an hour to be ready, depending on the area.
How to Make a Roller Skating Rink at Home | FAQs
1. What type of floor is best for roller skating?
Concrete and asphalt floors are the best. They’re slicker. Sturdier, and don’t wear out quickly. They’re the best for jamming, performing spins, and other roller skating tricks.
Also, concrete floors are cheaper than wood floors, making them the best option if you’re on a budget.
2. Can you roller skate inside your house?
You can roller skate inside your house, provided there’s enough room, and you have a smooth surface.
Your garage, basement, or an unused room with concrete, tile, laminate, or linoleum floors are a good fit for roller skating inside the house.
3. What kind of wood is used for roller rinks?
Roller rinks use maple hardwood. They’re sturdy and don’t wear out quickly. Also, they aren’t susceptible to marks from roller skate wheels. So, they remain in their perfect condition after an extended use time.
4. What surfaces can you roller skate on?
You can roller skate on wood, concrete, rubber, plastic, asphalt, and plastic surfaces. These surfaces are smooth, sturdy, and safe, making them the best for roller skating.
5. How many square feet should a roller rink be?
A roller rink should be between 14,000 square feet and 21,000 square feet. Depending on the available space, you can stick to this range or go outside of it.
How to Make a Roller Skating Rink at Home | Wrapping Up
There are at least four options for making a roller skating rink at home. You can use a room inside the house, the backyard, driveway, or the car parking lot.
Whichever option you decide to go with, this complete guide is what you need to get started. I hope you found this guide helpful. Happy roller skating!
