Hi All - Long time reader; first time poster.

Has anyone successfully constructed a woodie in their apartment?

I am in a multi-family apartment building in NYC, built in 1911, with high ceilings and long hallway free of obstructions. It is a blessing to have this in a city, and if any of you are from NYC, you know there are only about 3-4 gyms to pull plastic on. It takes me 75' to make it to the closest one.

Is there a way to make woodie that is:

1) Safe and non-damaging/minimally damaging to the walls when I move out?

2) Possibly modular so I can take it with me to my next apartment?

I was thinking of something free standing, weighted on bottom, with simple anchors into the ceiling to keep it from swaying too much. It would be a simple vertical wall about 8-12' long and 9.5' tall -- not overhung -- since I can't drill into every single stud and beam and make it safe.

The wall the woodie would be against is built solidly, with drywall over standard framing. I imagined carpeting the back face every 8'-10" with a spacers, both to allow room for the bolts to come through and to disperse the load across the drywall. If it is built properly, most of the force should be directed into the floor. (Floors are hardwood, but beneath them are 12" of concrete -- no need to worry about weight or jumping down onto a mat. I'm not an architect but I was told the building was totally over engineered in this respect.)

Essentially, I'm looking for any advice on making a free standing woodie for someone who lives in a city. Links, stories, and pictures are welcomed.

Thanks to all.

TL;DR: I need to build a woodie in my NYC apartment. I have the space, but need some advice on how to do it successfully.

How about a slightly overhung wall, as tall as the hallway. At the top, stabilize it with horizontal joists that meet a 2" x 10" on the opposite wall to distribute the load.

The steep wall rests on the floor, against one wall. The 2" x 10" rests on the opposite wall, and can be held in place with 1-2 long screws per stud; this would be your only wall damage, and easy to repair.

By going slightly over vertical you create space behind the wall for bolts to protrude. You could get by with 5/8" ply (3/4" would be better) over 2" x 4"s. Maybe even put a panel on the underside of the horizontals, but I doubt you could get creative enough setting-wise to make it worthwhile.

The only suggestion I might make is that instead of running the joists from the wall to the ledger horizontally (parallel to the ceiling) I would attach them at a 90 degree angle to the wall and move the ledger slightly lower on the opposite wall. That would put your frame into pure compression which is a slightly stronger option; maybe not necessary, might not give you the clearance you need to walk through the hall, but I think it would "feel" more solid.

I don't think the added stability would be noticeable, and definately not worth the trade off in terms of headroom. This is, after all, a hallway that I assume gets regular use.

Assuming the floor and opposite wall are solid, then the climbing wall with a horizontal joists would basically be triangulated. Plus, by keeping the joists horizontal it places the ledger board at the top of the wall, closest to supporting framing in the ceiling of the hall.

Hell, for that matter, place the ledger board flat against the ceiling and run your studs from the floor direct to that.