Odd question: Help mounting a 4'x8' rock climbing wall in my living room

[Luke McFadden]

It's been a while since I've posted, but I'm needing help from the SMC hivemind. Here is what I'm working with (problems with the pictures, they are at the bottom).


So the wall itself is very simple. I'm going to round all the edges and texture paint it. And my 128 t-nuts should be in on Monday. But, I want to mount this in my living room in a semi-permanent and if possible, adjustable way. The wall it is going on is an interior wall: drywall, sprayed texture, and paint. My living room has a vaulted ceiling, so the ceiling line against the wall is a hair over 8'.

So I have two ways that I would like to accomplish this, and they are in order of priority.

(1) Simply mounting it to the wall in such a way that it won't move. If it needs to be leaning up against the wall a little, that is fine too, but I need it as flat as possible.

(2) I'd really like to be able to mount it flat, but be able to lean the top of the wall out, so I could have a medium overhang to work with. I'm really not sure how to do this simply without destroying the textured wall.

I'm moving within a year, so I want it to stay simple, and to do as little damage to the wall as possible. I don't mind patching some screw holes at all. But I don't want to have to replace the drywall, paint, and re-texture it.

I've had several thoughts about how to attach it to the wall. (1) Screwing some 2'x4's to the wall that would fit right inside of the outside frame of the rock wall, and then bolt them together. My mind keeps coming back to this idea.

I'm open to any thoughts and ideas. I know that the ideal way would be to build onto the existing wall, but that just wasn't an option for this project right now. This is primarily for my son (under 50 pounds), but my wife and I (I'm just under 200 pounds) will probably use it a lot as well.

If I need to take some more pictures I'd be happy to.

Thanks!

Luke

[Brad Naylor]

This is primarily for my son (under 50 pounds), but my wife and I (I'm just under 200 pounds).

Your WIFE'S going to let you put a climbing wall in the living room???!!

[nic obie]

Your WIFE'S going to let you put a climbing wall in the living room???!!

Heshe

[Luke McFadden]

Your WIFE'S going to let you put a climbing wall in the living room???!!

We are young! And it was her idea to bring it in!

[George Summers]

I know what a rock climbing wall is, I understand you are young, I understand that your wife is in accord with the idea, but, I don't understand how you climb an eight foot tall rock wall. At 6' I can reach the top of the 8'. By the time my feet get two foot off of the bottom, my head will hit the wall. How do you climb any further up than that?

George

[Lars Thomas]

Moving within a year and installing a rock climbing wall sounds like a bad combo to me.

[Luke McFadden]

The goal of the wall isn't to scale it as fast as possible, but rather to train oneself. There are 128 different holes for various holds. So, I usually start out rather low, and work my way up and down. I know it sounds odd, and it can be extremely easy, but climbing up and down it with really small holds is very difficult.

This isn't the ideal situation, but it is all we have for right now, when we move we plan on expanding the wall, but right now it is all we have.

Anyone have any suggestions for mounting this?

[John Lucas]

If you are going to do it at all, create a separate wall. Studs on 12" centers. Make the wall 4' X 8' and it can rest on the floor and be mounted in some easy way to the real wall and you can make it hinged so you can have different angles. I suggest you keep it as an accessory to the real wall with minimal "damage" to the real wall.

[Don Abele]

Two years ago when I bought my 50" plasma, I did research on the pull-out strength of lag bolts. I found some data from the American Wood Council that had pull-out strength for 3/8" lag bolts in standard joists. Amazingly, it was over 200 pounds per inch of actual threads in the stud. Additional points were that they needed to be used with flat washers to distribute the pull over a larger surface area and the bolt needed to be centered in the stud.

In your application, I would use 3" x 3/8" lag bolts in each of the three vertical studs you have on your rock wall. To the lag bolts I would use large fender washers and attach a 3/8" thick chain to all three. On your wall, I would mount three 3" x 3/8" eye hooks into the studs on the wall. Hook the chain onto the eyes - that should give more than 1200 pounds of pull-out strength. And with the chain you can adjust the out-angle to give you an over hang.

I can't think of a way to attach a hinge at the bottom, but you defintely need something to anchor the bottom and stop it from sliding side to side or kicking out. Maybe box the bottom in with some 2x4's to act as stops, but still allow it to angle out from the top.

Disclaimer - this is only my two cents, and that's all you'll get from me if it fails and your wall squishes you like a grape

Hope this helps - Be well,

Doc

[Dave Morris]

Lemmee get this straight... you're going to be climbing up this thing in various positions, using foot/hand holds held on by T-nuts imbedded in that plywood? Meaning all your body weight will be supported by one or two T-nuts as you change positions?

How thick is that plywood, what grade and how many layers is it, and what size T-nuts are you using? (scratches head thinking Luke is gunna land on his if the plywood isn't strong enough)

If you are bound and determined to do this, here's one way. I'd make dang sure I had a thick piece of 8" wide oak to serve as a two-sided French Cleat, anchored to at least three wall studs using 3/8" lag screws and washers, two screws to each stud so the oak is supported across it's width as well as it's length. That way you only have to fill small holes in the drywall when it's time to move. Capturing the oak cleat from both the top and bottom sides will not only keep the plywood from falling off the wall, but also from "lifting" off the cleat as you changed positions. You'll need to add correspondingly strong components to the backside of the plywood climbing wall to capture the cleat, positioned so the wall is fixed in place but still resting on the floor. Top piece is fixed, bottom piece can slide up and down in slots cut into the plywood. Climbing wall is set on top of the cleat using the top piece, and the bottom piece slides up to capture the cleat, then tightened using bolts and fender washers to spread the load on the plywood. Just be sure to add a couple lags to the studs, and through the plywood, near the bottom of the wall so the whole thing is solid top to bottom. Overkill? Not if you're planning on hanging in a position where, if this thing comes off the wall, you land on your head.

To adjust the angle of the wall from straight, just make whatever "base" you design to hold the plywood to the cleat a few inches thick. That will kick the top part of the plywood out from the wall. Make a couple of them of different thicknesses so you can unscrew the climbing wall, change "bases" and screw the wall back in place at a different angle. PITA? Maybe, but it will be solid to the wall each time, and give you a good, stable place to grip with hands and feet.

Actually, putting up a climbing wall sounds like exactly the kind of thing I'd have done in our first apartment almost 30 years ago, if we'd have known about such things. Sounds like fun. I just hope the builder nailed the studs in that interior wall nice and strong at the top and bottom when he built the place, or you may have the whole wall come crashing down. (don't laugh, I've seen walls that only had a single nail on each end of the stud. Don't ask me how they passed inspection)

[Per Swenson]

Actually, putting up a climbing wall sounds like exactly the kind of thing I'd have done in our first apartment almost 30 years ago, if we'd have known about such things.

30 years ago? In my case, I just find that hilarious.

Only because by day my climbing was commercial construction,

and by night out the third story balcony, chased by her dad with a shovel in

his hand. Never mind high hedge hurdles...

Anyway, back to the topic.

Lot a wisdom in what Mr. Lucas sez.

Per

[Luke McFadden]

If you are going to do it at all, create a separate wall. Studs on 12" centers. Make the wall 4' X 8' and it can rest on the floor and be mounted in some easy way to the real wall and you can make it hinged so you can have different angles. I suggest you keep it as an accessory to the real wall with minimal "damage" to the real wall.

This is what I have done. The pictures show that I have a 4'x8' wall already built. I'd be interested on your thoughts as far as mounting it and mounting it with a hinge.

Lemmee get this straight... you're going to be climbing up this thing in various positions, using foot/hand holds held on by T-nuts imbedded in that plywood? Meaning all your body weight will be supported by one or two T-nuts as you change positions?

Yes, I'm using 3/4" ACX with 3/8x16 4 prong t-nuts. I've been testing it out for some time in the garage, and this is how most people build theirs.

If you are bound and determined to do this, here's one way. I'd make dang sure I had a thick piece of 8" wide oak to serve as a two-sided French Cleat, anchored to at least three wall studs using 3/8" lag screws and washers, two screws to each stud so the oak is supported across it's width as well as it's length. That way you only have to fill small holes in the drywall when it's time to move. Capturing the oak cleat from both the top and bottom sides will not only keep the plywood from falling off the wall, but also from "lifting" off the cleat as you changed positions. You'll need to add correspondingly strong components to the backside of the plywood climbing wall to capture the cleat, positioned so the wall is fixed in place but still resting on the floor. Top piece is fixed, bottom piece can slide up and down in slots cut into the plywood. Climbing wall is set on top of the cleat using the top piece, and the bottom piece slides up to capture the cleat, then tightened using bolts and fender washers to spread the load on the plywood. Just be sure to add a couple lags to the studs, and through the plywood, near the bottom of the wall so the whole thing is solid top to bottom. Overkill? Not if you're planning on hanging in a position where, if this thing comes off the wall, you land on your head.

To adjust the angle of the wall from straight, just make whatever "base" you design to hold the plywood to the cleat a few inches thick. That will kick the top part of the plywood out from the wall. Make a couple of them of different thicknesses so you can unscrew the climbing wall, change "bases" and screw the wall back in place at a different angle. PITA? Maybe, but it will be solid to the wall each time, and give you a good, stable place to grip with hands and feet.

I've never used a french cleat before, so that took me a moment to visualize. I actually really like this idea. Thanks for your suggestion.

In your application, I would use 3" x 3/8" lag bolts in each of the three vertical studs you have on your rock wall. To the lag bolts I would use large fender washers and attach a 3/8" thick chain to all three. On your wall, I would mount three 3" x 3/8" eye hooks into the studs on the wall. Hook the chain onto the eyes - that should give more than 1200 pounds of pull-out strength. And with the chain you can adjust the out-angle to give you an over hang.

This sounds the easiest, but if it is at an angle, it needs to be immobile. Training on this will be jerky at times. So, whatever the distance of the chain, I'd hate to make the wall move straight up, and then come back down into the angled position with my 200 pound body plus the weight of the completed wall (300 pounds) put that much stress on the system. Well, and that it would probably throw me on the floor.

I'll have "crash pads" to protect us from falling, and my son will be repelled from a safe place. So, if the wall should fall, he would have a good chance of swinging out of the way.

I'm working on some drawings to show an idea I've been thinking of. I'll post them soon.

L

[Luke McFadden]

Here are the pictures I've got so far. This will not allow the wall to be angled. If I really wanted to angle the wall with this method, I could build some triangle frames to bolt to the wall instead of a single board. I'd much rather have something that would easily allow angle adjustment thought.

Attached below is what I have so far.

The first image shows the boards mounted to the house wall, and the rock wall with frame.

The second images shows the rock wall attached to the boards on the wall with bolts.

Any thoughts?

As far as the design of the boards on the wall. I was thinking about attaching a 2'x4' to the wall on its 1.5" side. Meaning that the board would stick out from the wall 3.5" since that is the direction of the boards on the rock wall. Would this be ok? Or should I construct the wall mounts differently?

Thanks, Luke.

[George Summers]

Me again - Maybe its my old age brain or maybe I'm just plain stupid, but, I still cannot visualize how you can climb higher than two feet off the floor on this thing.

George

[Steve Clardy]

Three lag bolts with washers.

Patch three holes when you move.