So you have built your rink. Your neighbors or loved ones might think your crazy, but that’s just because they haven’t caught rink fever yet. Filling your rink and laying your liner down should go hand in hand. You don’t want the liner down for a long time without water in it, as you could be inviting problems like animals running across it, or worse the wind!
The key to this process is obviously the weather. You need to watch it like a hawk. You are shooting for a time frame where you have a minimum of three days of both daytime and nighttime temperatures below freezing, preferably well below freezing and not just on the cusp of it. In addition you want little to no snow and wind if possible. These are the keys to a successful fill of the rink.
The reason for no snow is that the snow will just mess with the ice trying to freeze. As we know snow is an insulator and can cause the ice to melt. With regard to wind, this is for trying to lay a liner down easier.
Trust me on the wind issue. My rink is 30×60 and the liner is a huge pain to manipulate while you have wind consistently lifting it.