Getting a woodie

[plexus]

After talking about it for three years, I'm finally going to build a woodie in our bedroom. We are renting an apartment and have a 7 1/2' x 8' wall to work with. Going to go with an overhang (30-40 degrees) wall tied into the exisiting studs. Pretty much looking like a right-sided triangle on its head.

 

Have a rough idea for the design but would still like any ideas and suggestions. My biggest concern is having too much torque on the upper supports that form the top of the wall. Thinking about piggy-backing them to the climbing wall and attatching them to the real wall with brackets. Also throwing in some wedges in there for some more support. Curious if this will be enough.

 

Also is it worth it building your own holds. Wood holds are probably relatively easy and having access to a full range of tools, I could almost get artistic with it.

 

I also have a recipe for bondo holds. Has anybody ever made them ? Good or no?

 

Thanks for the help

[plexus]

Got the woodie up (insert viagara joke HERE ) on Sunday and put the final sheet of plywood on Monday. The good news is the wall hasn't fallen down. Actually it turned out pretty good.

 

The only mistake made was when drilling holes and inserting the T-nuts for the top piece, I put a whole bunch where I thought the top would be, but wound up being the bottom. So I have just three holds at the top (jug, sidepull, crimp). Going to go back and add about 8-10 more holds towards the top to take care of that dearth.

 

Had three T-nuts get messed up (stripped threading and not straight with the drilled hole). I would suggest to gradually pull the T-nut into the wood by tightening a hold on the other side than the Cpt. Caveman method I used of just whacking them with a mallet .

 

So the question is, how long before I get bored with it?

[sexual_chocolate]

With the number of holds you got? Tonight.

 

I made my own holds out of wood. Used trim and molding mainly- various sizes- for pinches, crimps, underclings, side-pulls, gastons, etc.. Even drilled out some monos and bidoigts in the larger pieces, and I think the wood lets me climb longer, due to its friendlier texture. Plus it's fun and cheap to make 'em.

 

Couldn't tell from your description how you supported it. Ceiling and rim joists?

[allison]

Actually get the T-nuts started with a light tap of hammer, and then tighten them with a bolt (from the other side) and a ratchet. T-nuts are handy, but they kind of suck.

[plexus]

SC,

Maybe you misread the second post...going to ADD 8-10 more holds. I have around 60 up there now. I only bought seven of them and got the rest gratis!!

 

It's supported with a frame tied into the existing 2x4s on the other side of the drywall with three horizontal and four vertical studs. Then the top has three 24" pieces coming out from the top 2x4 perpendicularly (all tied together with brackets) Then three more 2x4s heading from those two-foot pieces down to the middle horizontal board. I angle cutted those studs to fit in and also bracketed them. I also installed three wedges underneath the top three small pieces for extra support. Figure you can't get too beefy.

 

Also I changed my orginal design with the first 4 feet being vertical and then the final four feet being overhung at 23 degrees.

 

The biggest problem was cutting the angles on my circular saw. It pivots to 45 degrees. Had to take the backguard off to be able to cut at a 25 degree angle for the 2x4s and just eyeball it. Thankfully it all lined up correctly.

 

I also got a free can of texture paint (with silicon in it). Is it worth putting on, meaning does it enhance the wall?

 

I have a 16 inch gap in the left corner that is going to also go vertical all the way to the ceiling (need the clearence to open up the closet). And then close the other end to make an arete. Also thinking about adding a small roof (three feet deep) on to it later on if things begin to get stale.