Home Climbing Wall

[Wopper]

I am thinking of building a bouldering wall in my garage and have approx. 10-12 feet with 8 foot ceilings. I have never built one before. Any "lessons learned" before I get started? I was going to buy a how-to book, any recommendations on which book?

[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: Wopper ]

[Cpt.Caveman]

Wopper I know a dude with a killer wall. It has varying\changeable width cracks and all. If you want to check it in person out send PM.

[Marcus_Engley]

Wopper...

I've got a garage that's about the same size. I put in a wall about 2 months ago, and it's great fun. Here's my advice, for what it's worth:

Make the effort to put in some good steep walls. You'll get more out of the 8 foot ceiling that way, and vertical gets real dull fast.

If you've got 12 feet, split it in half and put in a 45 and a 20, or a small roof/cave. Get as creative as your framing ability allows you to, and it'll pay off big. We built a strong brace across the top of the garage, and hung a 45 and a 20 off of that, with a small, angled transition panel in between.

Buy a little extra plywood and cover up the studs on the side, to give some extra vertical warm-up space. You can add a lot of length to your problems and it's pre-framed.

The last thing we did was throw up a big extension of the top of the brace, reaching up and out to the roof peak at about 65 overhung. A nice cap to the wall...

Put in lots of T-Nuts per sheet, and get some crappy mattresses-- you're all set.

Good luck! Drop me an email if you want any other info-- I had a fantastic time putting up my wall.

mengley@martenbrown.com

Check out this site too - http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Trails/9640/index.html

[Matt]

I recently built a home climbing board in my garage. I browsed the "how-to" books at REI but didn't think it was necessary to bring one home. My wall is simple. I framed a 4'x8' piece of plywood and attached it to the wall with heavy duty hinges at the bottom and adjustible chains and eye bolts at the top so the angle of the wall can be changed. I like the chains because I can let it hang out at 130 degrees for good work outs, and then pull it back flush to the wall when I'm done so it doesn't hog all the space in the garage.

I suggest the Metolius website for basic guide lines: http://www.metoliusclimbing.com/howto_buildwall.htm

Like this:

Good luck!

[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: Matt ]

[Dru]

Only put jibs on the lower 3-4 feet of the wall. jibs kick ass!

[offwidthclimber]

whoohoo! tonight, me and a couple of my frosty friends are going to put up the first 2 panels of my home wall.

the stairway for the bonus room my wife and i had added to the floor plan left a perfect 12 foot, 50 degree overhang in the garage, plus ample room in a recessed area for more overhangs and vertical sections. i'm starting with about 60 square feet, but will hopefully end up with about 450 square feet when all is said and done.

no more climbing-deprived weeks when it's snowy and cold. and no paying $13 a pop and driving 35 minutes each way for the gym in spokane

[Marcus_Engley]

OW - Nice! Post some pics if you get a chance. I always need new ideas to fill in the rest of the garage...

m

[chelle]

A former climbing partner and I built a small wall (3 4'x 8'plywood sheets) in his living room about 5 years ago. We used a system similar to what Matt described, hinged panels with the top one roped through eyebolts in the exposed beams in the ceiling so we could adjust the overhang. It was really fun to build and use.

Although it may have been the beginning of the end for him and his girlfriend. She wasn't too happy about having the wall in the apartment...

[offwidthclimber]

m,

i'll be sure to post a pic or two after i get the wall up and climbable. can't wait to get started.

cheers,

[Scott_J]

Although it may have been the beginning of the end for him and his girlfriend. She wasn't too happy about having the wall in the apartment...

You know some people just don't understand. For instance besides having a climbing wall in the house it would be nice to have ONLY the nylon light weight aluminum lawn furniture. That way when you move it folds up nice and small, does not cost a fortune, you don't spend a ton on moving expences, PLUS it serves a duel purpose. My wife and daughter shot that idea to hell and gone. They looked at me like I was a fuckin' cave dweller.By the way, that wall Caveman is talking about...its fucking nicer than any gym I've been to.

[ 12-03-2001: Message edited by: sisu suomi ]

[pope]

I built a 12X12 a couple of years ago, and I'm pleased with the results. Seems like I framed with 2x8 on 16" intervals (to tie in with the trusses above the garage), and I've got a warm-up wall that overhangs 2 ft in 12, and a wider, serious wall that overhangs 4 ft in 12. Hot tips from the pros:

1. Buy T-nuts by the 100 at a fastener retailer/wholesaler. If you're interested, I could find the name of the guy who sold me my nuts....uh, you know. They came out to about $0.07 each! I got the kind that are secured with three little screws instead of teeth....pretty damn tedious but quite secure!

2. Have a wall-warming party and tell your buddies to each bring a hold. Invite 50 guys and hire a stripper (it'll be cheaper than the grips).

3. DO NOT BUILD YOUR WALL NEAR A FRIDGE! More than one "send-the-sickness" fest was abruptly terminated when I reached for the fridge and grabbed a coldy, right in the middle of a wicked "piano" move (Heh? Bet some of you kids didn't think I was hip to such sport-speak!).

4. Don't invite Dwayner to your work-outs. He's notorious for tucking his T-shirt up through the neck, baring his midriff, and dancing around the "iso-simulation" station while monopolizing the ghetto-blaster with his Rocky-Horror and Jesus Christ Superstar soundtracks.

[Matt_Anderson]

Put a lot of time in on the planning. It pays off. Check out a lot of other home walls in person and grill their owners on what they like/don't like. Climb on the walls for an evening, if possible. Most people who put time into a decent wall are jazzed to show it off.

Re: books - there's a little how-to booklet you can probably find at most gyms, I forget the name and don't have the time to check on it. Email me if you can't find it.

My present wall takes up all of the typical Seattle one-car garage; My last one took up 1/4 of my last apartment's living room; so both sound similar to what you're gonna be working with. Give me an email and I'll write/call back. I'll be off line much of the week tho', so it may not be for a couple of days. matt

[freak]

Get good holds, pusher if you can afford it

Ebay has good deals on holds too

this one metoluis set looked like a good starting point to me, check them out. nic

[epb]

Listen to Marcus. Putting up some steep walls is a must on a wall that size. You'll get much more out of a step wall than you will with a vertical wall. Oh and litter it with holds (good holds, get a variety of brands as well...I did), so you have plenty of variation. Every companies holds are of a different material and texture, so if you buy from a few it's kkind of like climbing on a variety of rock.

Building a wall is a lot easier than people think, as long as you have the right space. WHen I was 12 I built a monster of a wall in my parents garage. On one side of teh garage the supports were exposed on the main wall and the roof. So all I had to do was just screw a bunch of 3/4" plywood, with plenty of t-nuts allready pounded in, onto the wall and I was set. The wall was a monster for a home gym. The main wall was basically 16x16 and had two roofs, both started at 8 feet, one was completely parallel to the ground and ran out about 15ft and the uper roof went straight to the ceiling at about 120 degrees or something. It was sick. Had it riged with ropes and everything. Living in central Ny at the time it was he only place to climb for hours. To bad the new owners of the house destroyed it .

[ 12-08-2001: Message edited by: epb ]

[sexual_chocolate]

I didn't realize so many people have home-walls! Wow.

So you have 10 to 12 feet width-wise, with 8 foot ceilings? Is the ceiling available for use? Sounds like you have enough space to make it interesting. I'd personally think about perhaps making a section of it adjustable in angle; your space isn't huge, and if you fix all the angles, it just makes your climbing more limited. (Perhaps make one 4*8 panel adjustable, whilst fixing the others into a variety of angles.)

The second-most important aspect by far, I think, is having a big variety of holds tighly packed. I have an 8*6, fully adjustable, and on that small a space I have 110 hand holds and about thiry-five foot holds. And I made all the holds myself out of wood! They were fun to make, and cheap. Really skin-friendly too. That was actually my main reason for making the holds myself; wood lets me climb longer.

So multi-angular (make sure ya gots steeps!) with tons of holds and foot jibs; ya can't go wrong.

[jordo]

Another tip: I found that painting your wall with a mix of enamel paint and coarse coffee grounds gives an excellent, durable grit. Some people told me that wallnut shells work well, but are tough to get ahold of in bulk. I found that in the PNW wallnut shell grounds will pop off in the changing humidity and freezing levels, but coffee grounds "suck" into the wall much better and don't scrape off. Talking with the fellow who built a couple of walls for the Edge and the new one at Coast in West Vancouver, he reccommends the metolius paint, if you can afford it. Build the thing with screws too! More $$, but you can take it apart when you move to a new shack.

[jordo]

Oh yeah, have a chat with your local gym owner and see if they are getting rid of any old holds anytime soon. The Edge sold me a ton of holds for about 50cents ea.

[ 12-08-2001: Message edited by: jordo ]