Dan Replies:
Actually, this is Jay writing. Dear K.H. - It's a quick question but a long answer. I've tried a lot of ways and this works best and fastest for larger surfaces (our ponds ranged from 35'x 70' to 70'x 120'). For smaller surfaces, things may go a bit faster.
For clothes, we found a pair of waders, a water proof jacket - preferably with a hood (we used a snowmobile suit we found in a garage sale for $5), heavy rubber gloves with a pair of brown jersey gloves inside and a ski mask will be worth their trouble to round up. The waders needn't be leak proof as one might want for fishing but even an old leaky pair will go a long way to keeping you dry and therefore warm. Don't skimp on the rubber gloves - get a large pair for protection, then fit a pair of inexpensive brown jersey gloves inside for warmth. Make that two pair, keep the second pair on a warm air register.
Start with a good snow base - 6" to 9" is best. If you don't have a snow base, the dark ground/grass will absorb the heat from the sun and your pond will melt from the bottom up on a sunny 20 degree (F.) day. The snow blocks out the sun and insulates the ice and your pond will last longer.
Pack the snow down as best you can. A snowmobile does a great job but only if you can turn it around past the area of the pond. If you try to turn it within the area of the pond, you will get ruts that will take some work to get rid of. Alternatively, a plastic sled loaded with kids (or a mother) pulled by an adult works nicely.
Then begin to fog the snow with the finest spray your hose/nozzle will generate. Move about in a regular pattern (like a smaller oval path inside the larger oval of the pond) or better yet, if your pond is smaller, you may be able to spray the whole pond without walking on it. The trick here is to eliminate as many footprint in the snow as possible as they will need to be filled in later. Move as quickly as needed to allow as many droplets as possible to freeze as they hit the packed snow without laying or collecting in puddles on the snow. If the water droplets do not freeze when they land and collect or run, you are putting too much water down or you are not waiting long enough for the previous coat to fully set up. If you don't wear waders, you won't last long because the spray drifts if you have it adjusted properly and not all of it hits the pond. The rubber gloves get bonus points here, too.
A hint - holding the nozzle to direct the spray up allows some of the heat in the tap water to escape into the cold air and cool the water before it comes down. In no event should you allow the water to collect on the snow. Your goal here is to build an ever-thickening crust on top of the packed snow.
The best time to do this is at night when the temperature is lowest and there is no sun. Obviously, the colder the weather, the more water you can fog on and the faster your progress will be. We used to take one hour shifts beginning after supper and go as late into the night as mom would allow (2 a.m.?). After two nights of this you should be able to walk on the pond with breaking through the crust.
When the crust will hold you, the next step is to take a five gallon pail and fill it with fresh snow and then with water. Use this slush (let most of the water drain back into the pail before applying) to fill in the footprints you've made or places where the water insists on flowing through or any depressions or rough spots. Use this slush like you would use wet plaster to patch a hole in a wall - stick it down, press it in, smooth it out, and wipe away any excess water. Again, the rubber gloves are recommended gear.
Another night of fogging after the slush treatment and you will begin to see the ice surface develop and it will take on a mirror/sheet-like appearance. Do not be tempted to flood the pond - ever. With this method you are putting layer upon layer down. Like plywood, it will be strong and it will resist cracking. After the third night, the best thing you can do is skate on it. Skating will shave all the bumps and ridges.
Then each night after all the fun, scrape the pond, repair any damage with slush, and re-fog it, WITHOUT FAIL. If the weather should turn on you (to rain or a thaw) and you left the sheet dirty, and it freezes, your pond will be ruined. If you are diligent in this maintenance each night, it will make life easier for you, even for shoveling the next day if you get an inch or two of snow over night.
Some hints:
- This "fine spray" is best achieved using as much water pressure as you can muster coming out of the smallest hole in your nozzle. In other words, the valve at the house should be on full force and the nozzle making a mist or a fog of water.
- If you work facing a spotlight, you will be able to see/watch the interaction of the water on the surface and how quickly the water is freezing and how soon you can put the next coat on.
- You will find you have to be conscious of keeping your hoses moving. If at any place in the pond they remain in one place for any length of time, the heat from the water in the hose will melt down through your pond in the early stages. Just keep moving your entire length of hose if you can't keep it off the pond altogether. It can be a great leveler (trowel) if it happens to be snowing lightly as you're spraying.
- If you happen to pack any leaves into the snow, they will melt the ice around them with the first direct sunlight and make a hole. So leave the leaves out of the snow in your base.
- If it snows more than a dusting on the pond, you must scrape it off before you next fog. It's a big mistake to fail to do this as you will essentially have to start over to get that layer of now frozen slush fixed. Of course, if you get enough snow and can get it off evenly (like going around from the middle with a snow blower), it's a great material for dasher boards.
- Any cracks, leaf holes, or other damage is quickly fixed with a pail of slush used like plaster or cement. It works best if you let most of the water drain out before you lay it on at the beginning. If you have an inch of ice, this draining isn't so important.
- Painting lines in the ice is mistake as the color will attract the heat from the sun and you will have melting you don't want.
- With this fogging method, you don't need a perfectly flat surface. Our first pond had a slope of two feet from one corner to the far corner but with the fogging technique, the water freezes before it has a chance to run, so there are no rivulets, no melting through, and you get a mirror-like finish.
- If you can help it, don't lay your pond over a septic tank.
- I found a gun-type nozzle, opened to a fine spray, with the trigger taped down to the desired "squeeze" is a good idea. It prevents accidentally shooting a stream into the snow creating a hole that will come back to haunt you, and the children don't have to worry about what exactly you mean by a "fine spray" when they are doing this mind numbing, bone chilling endeavor hour after hour.
- To prevent your hoses from freezing, if you can't take them into a heated shed or garage, turn the flow down to little more than a running trickle and prop the hose (so it sprays away, not down) on the top of a fence and let it run. Your hose won't freeze and you will have a wonderful ice sculpture that will last well into April.
Reviewing this almost makes me want to go out in the yard and get a pond going again. As I write this, we've got about 9 inches of fresh powder and it's 15 (F) degrees. .......wait a minute! What am I thinking?????
If you have questions, feel free to email me at jbylsma@jaybylsma.com. Good luck. This is a lot or work, but I haven't regretted one moment of it. As we describe in the book, these were great family times and frankly, it's what got Dan to the NHL.
