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russman
Jan 24, 2001, 8:00 AM
Post #1 of 3
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Registered: Nov 2, 2000
Posts: 2848
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Hey Bob
I just finished building a climbing wall in my garage. I have approx 150 sq. climbing feet. I just used all the unfinished wall, put up braces every 2 foot and jsut basically framed it like a carpenter would frame anything...then used 3/4\" CDX plywood. There are books that you can buy proably from your local climbing store. I am having lots of fun with mine...good luck
The Russman
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wandt
Jan 25, 2001, 12:37 AM
Post #2 of 3
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Registered: Jun 3, 2000
Posts: 341
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Hey,
I built a wall in my back yard too. Its a bit different from building one indoors in that the wood is obviously quite affected by moisture. (At least here on Canada\'s Wet Coast it is) I built it under our porch so rain isn\'t a factor. For the studs I spent the extra coin and used pre-treated 2x4\'s. Depending on your overhang you should put them 18-24\" apart. The more overhanging it is, the closer together. Also, the higher the wall is, the closer together the studs should be. For the paint itself I used outdoor all weather house paint. 3 coats front and back. I think its oil based. Easy to clean, in any case. I don\'t recommend using that funky grit-paint that the hold manufacturers use as it will rip the hell out of the back of your knuckles and your tips. Also, not having as much of an easy smearing option forces your footwork to get better. fast. My last tip to you is for budget holds. There are two methods to acquire holds without breaking the bank. 1) Go to a factory hold maker\'s head office/factory and ask about factory rejects. Here in B.C., Nice Factory Holds sells their rejects $2 CDN per hold. That\'s like $1.30 US. 2) If you don\'t have one, buy a hammer drill. They\'re about $100 CDN ($60 US?). And a masonry bit. Then find fist-sized rocks that would be cool holds, drill them so the bolts can fit through easy, and screw those on. 3) For lots of good crimpers and tricky foot holds, buy some moulding. Cut it into smaller chunks and screw it on. This creates some really positive crimpers, small, flat edges, or vicious sloing crimps/footholds.
If you have any more questions feel free to email me. nwaber@hotmail.com
I\'m adding an extension with an adjustable overhang soon. When thats done I\'ll be able to tell you how to make an adjustable overhang wall.
Good luck climbing. -Nick
magicbobert (Bob Somers) wrote:
>Hey! I\'m new here so forgive me if this question was already asked, but here goes.
>
>My father and I are planning to build a rock wall in our backyard. Where we live, you have two options about where to train for rock climbing. 24 hour fitness and their pitiful conveyor-belt rock wall, or go to another gym that has a very small rock wall and charges a fee. Both places are rather far from our home.
>
>I guess what the meat of my question is is that has anyone here built a rock wall before? What surfacing materials did you use? Where did you buy the materials needed to construct the rock wall?
>
>Thanks for any response!
>
>--Bob Somers
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wandt
Jan 27, 2001, 9:26 AM
Post #3 of 3
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Registered: Jun 3, 2000
Posts: 341
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NOOOOOOOO!!!!
Those things will be your ruin!!! The whole concept behind modular holds is being able to switch everything around often, in escence making one small area the equivalent of many large areas as far as variety goes. First of all, those textured things don\'t have nearly enough bolt holes to accomodate a large number of holds. Second, they have difficulty taking nice big hold (you can totally forget about ever using the large, Pusher, specialty holds on there) and third, since they are textured, they have all sorts of... well... texture. It makes your footwork easy and your climbing boring. They are a great novelty really quite nice aesthetically, but for true improvement of your climbing skills and (unless you have tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars at your disposal and a VERY large area) are not cohesive for long-term fun and excitement. If there is a gym in your city, they probably have at least one texture wall. go there once or twice a month for your dose of textured climbing. There\'s my advice, take it or leave it.
(To add some authority to my nay-saying, I should let you know that in Germany, the climbing gym we went to bi-weekly, in Frankfurt, had only texture walls. Great at first, but after the fourth week it really started to get monotonous.)
-Nick
magicbobert (Bob Somers) wrote:
>Thanks for the tips! One more question though. Has anyone used or looked at those presurfaced rock sections? I\'ve seen these 4 x 4 foot square sections that are presurfaced and have holes for securing holds. Has anyone used them? How much do they run? Where do I get them?
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>Thanks.
>
>--Bob Somers
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