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tigre
Mar 19, 2013, 5:06 AM
Post #1 of 7
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Registered: Mar 19, 2013
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Hey guys, yeah it's another newbie posting about their garage woody plans. For a couple of years about a decade ago I went climbing nearly every weekend, trained on my garage woody several times a week, and so on. But life kinda got ahold of me and I quit. Been missing it a lot lately, and we've been planning a wall in our garage for a couple of years but just haven't gotten to it. Then I picked up a new climbing guidebook a couple weeks ago and have been kind of obsessed since then. Not a huge amount of outdoor climbing around here due to chossy rock and short summers, but there are some sport routes developed locally and some good climbing within weekend trip distance. I just got a bouldering pad in the mail today and am hoping to develop some stuff around here this summer. Anyways, all that is to say that this wall isn't so much designed to train for serious climbing, but something to have fun with and generally improve my strength, balance, and agility. Our space is 15' x 15' with a 13.5' ceiling. Not bad, I think. We will want to use the space for other projects sometimes, and my boyfriend's Ram 2500 needs to fit in there for occasional maintenance, but there aren't really any other limitations. The scale drawing looks like it'll work. My steepest angle is 30 degrees, and I think it might be nice to have something steeper, but I also don't really believe in jugs, so there's that. Anyways, I'd love it if anyone would give me some feedback on the design so far (this is the eighth draft, so I feel like it's fairly dialed). Also, some advice on floor padding for a wall of this height would be great. We were thinking about a top rope or bolt hangers, but with good enough padding we might go without. We're in Alaska, so shipping can be a problem, but I was thinking about picking up some memory foam mattresses in the "selling-all-my-stuff-and-leaving-this-frozen-wasteland" garage sales this spring, and then fashioning some covers for them.
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climb4free
Mar 19, 2013, 2:10 PM
Post #2 of 7
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Registered: Apr 11, 2007
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Looks awesome! I am jealous of your available space. I really like the obtuse angle on the right wall and the feature straight ahead. I would reconsider the mini roof section though. Unless it is large enough to pull through fully onto the headwall (including feet), it will leave you with awkward finishes with feet swinging and chest hitting the lip. Plus the additional construction demands... I agree that a homewall should still be fun, or else you won't use it to its fullest value. Would love to see progress photos! climb4free
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tigre
Mar 19, 2013, 8:27 PM
Post #3 of 7
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Registered: Mar 19, 2013
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climb4free wrote: I would reconsider the mini roof section though. Unless it is large enough to pull through fully onto the headwall (including feet), it will leave you with awkward finishes with feet swinging and chest hitting the lip. Plus the additional construction demands... Yeah, good thoughts on the mini roof placement. I originally had it on the far right, lower on the wall, where it was a more vertical section with a small roof that met up with the adjacent steeper section. When I moved it I was planning it as a volume rather than part of the larger framework. I could just leave it out, but I do think it adds something. Here's a new drawing with it lower on the same wall, and another where I removed the column feature in order to make the left rear wall steeper.
In reply to: I agree that a homewall should still be fun, or else you won't use it to its fullest value. Would love to see progress photos! Yeah, for sure. Our town has one crummy little wall (mostly vertical) at the junior high and that's it, so I'm excited about having a good wall for us and our friends to hang out and climb on. Maybe work up to some informal competitions. A backyard bonfire, some homebrew, and a big ol' climbing wall in the garage: sounds like a good party to me.
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climb4free
Mar 20, 2013, 2:43 PM
Post #4 of 7
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Registered: Apr 11, 2007
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Yes, I like that a lot. Based on having built 3 homewalls and consulted on 3 others, your bottom model looks the most valuable. Although that column feature would be very cool; it would take quite a bit of intricate construction. One other thing to think about is the plywood cuts. Minimizing these is key. It looks like your 15' is divided evenly at 7.5' each wall section. Maybe consider having one at 8' and one at 7'. Then you would only have to cut 12" off of half of your panels rather than 6" off all. Anything to simplify will be more than worth its weight in "blood, sweat, and tears"
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tigre
Mar 20, 2013, 9:12 PM
Post #5 of 7
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Registered: Mar 19, 2013
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climb4free wrote: Yes, I like that a lot. Based on having built 3 homewalls and consulted on 3 others, your bottom model looks the most valuable. Although that column feature would be very cool; it would take quite a bit of intricate construction. Yeah, I was hesitant to take up so much of the back wall space with steep side walls, but I do get it back in the form of a cool overhanging arete that I think will be more fun than the column.
In reply to: One other thing to think about is the plywood cuts. Minimizing these is key. It looks like your 15' is divided evenly at 7.5' each wall section. Maybe consider having one at 8' and one at 7'. Then you would only have to cut 12" off of half of your panels rather than 6" off all. We'll definitely do that, have whole sheets on the panels further from the back wall, and doing our cuts on the rear panels (since we'll have to cut those at an angle to accommodate the moderate overhang of the back wall anyways). I'm still up in the air (heh) about the roof. It seems like we should just put a roof in, and I suppose we could attach it to the ceiling joists (?), but I think it would be reserved for juggy traverses from one wall to another. I don't think I want anything too difficult on a roof that high. We have a couple of good friends who are skilled carpenters, so we should be alright in that regard. Still looking for some insight on flooring. I think foam mattresses are the way to go, but would be happy to hear other thoughts. My boyfriend's mom is handy with a sewing machine so making covers and handles wouldn't be too hard. In addition to being able to cushion a pretty good fall, we need to be able to get it out of the way fairly easily when we're doing other projects, hauling firewood inside, and so on.
(This post was edited by tigre on Mar 20, 2013, 9:14 PM)
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lena_chita
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Mar 21, 2013, 6:15 PM
Post #6 of 7
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Registered: Jun 27, 2006
Posts: 6087
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tigre wrote: climb4free wrote: I would reconsider the mini roof section though. Unless it is large enough to pull through fully onto the headwall (including feet), it will leave you with awkward finishes with feet swinging and chest hitting the lip. Plus the additional construction demands... Yeah, good thoughts on the mini roof placement. I originally had it on the far right, lower on the wall, where it was a more vertical section with a small roof that met up with the adjacent steeper section. When I moved it I was planning it as a volume rather than part of the larger framework. I could just leave it out, but I do think it adds something. Here's a new drawing with it lower on the same wall, and another where I removed the column feature in order to make the left rear wall steeper. In reply to: I agree that a homewall should still be fun, or else you won't use it to its fullest value. Would love to see progress photos! Yeah, for sure. Our town has one crummy little wall (mostly vertical) at the junior high and that's it, so I'm excited about having a good wall for us and our friends to hang out and climb on. Maybe work up to some informal competitions. A backyard bonfire, some homebrew, and a big ol' climbing wall in the garage: sounds like a good party to me. it looks really good! One thing I noticed is that the vertical sections (for example on your left wall, where you have wall panels of two different steepness side-by-side), gets very little use. If you can, angle it, the way you have the sides of that column in the back angled, in the first of these two drawings. Same goes for the side panel of the little roof, if you leave it there. But IMO, it would be better to make couple large volumes and move them around, instead of putting that little roof in permanently. I like the column on the back wall, otherwise it is just flat vertical space. Unless you have little kids, the vertical wall won't get much use. OTOH, if it is flat and not used for climbing, you can bolt on some hooks and use it to hang/store gear. Sounds like your flooring options are limited, bc you need to be able to fit the car in there sometimes, so your only options are removable pads. Gymnastic pads get expensive, but IMO with the walls this high, you will be happy that you have either high-quality large crash pads, or gymnastic mats.
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csiebsen
Apr 10, 2013, 7:14 PM
Post #7 of 7
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Registered: Apr 30, 2012
Posts: 53
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You might think about adding an adjustable wall section. This gives you the flexibility to lower it to a steep angle, yet you can raise it up for the kids. or to just get it out of the way. See the bottom of this thread for an example http://www.rockclimbing.com/...d;page=unread#unread
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