Dad turns patio into hockey rink for 5 yr-old son

Hockey dad hooks up son with his very own ice rink on back patio

Some dads build tree houses for their kids, put up a basketball goal or create a backstop for wiffle ball. If you’re Patrick Erlenbach of Columbus, Ohio you put in your own private ice hockey rink on your back patio.

Erlenbach’s 5 year-old son Mason, is die-hard fan of the Columbus Blue Jackets and loves to skate and play hockey. With this winter being brutally cold, getting outside for full recreation was a challenge. “He’s an outdoor kid, so the wintertime kills him. This was a good way to get him outside and get that fresh air,” Erlenbach recently said in an interview with DE Rosen at The Home Story.

Knowing his son loves hockey and the outdoors, Patrick saw his unused closed in patio and decided to do the obvious: flood it with a garden hose and make his kid his very own indoor hockey rink.

“I have this screened-in porch that’s flat, first off, and I’ve got boards up, and I’ve got a way to kind of contain a puck and contain my kid at the same time.”

Using insulation to keep the ice from melting next to the warm house, Erlenbach also has his own creative methods to give his home ice an improvised Zamboni treatment.

“I will go out with a hose and just lay down a layer of lukewarm water on top. I have a big T-square thing that I have from doing some other remodeling projects for drywall. It’s become this perfect ice scraper, and it kind of helps drag water across the area as well. It sounds ridiculous, but it works.”

Erlenbach says his son Mason loves the rink and having friends over to skate and play hockey. Every now and again Erlenbach and his wife join their son on the ice.

Neat dad. Fun family. Cool idea.

HT/ thehomestory, D.E. Rosen interview, Patrick Erlenbach photo

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