suggestions for building bouldering wall

Post by **sumdog** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:12 pm

i'm building a bouldering wall in my basement. the ceilings are a little over 9 feet high. i was going to put a 15 degree on one side and a 45 degree on the other wall connected by a roof section. any suggestions(such as types of materials) to make this dream a reality would be great. also, if anybody knows any good websites on building bouldering walls would be appreciated! thanks everybody and see at the red soon!!!!!!!!!

Post by **michaelzr2** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:07 pm

check out metolius' website. they seem to have some good information on building walls.

http://metoliusclimbing.com/HowtoBuilda ... ngWall.pdf

Post by **SikMonkey** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:31 pm

3/4-inch plywood, 2x6 wall studs, SCREWED...not nailed...construction, LOTS of T-nuts and bolts, holds, some carpentry skills (I built one, so my guess is that pretty much any nut job that can hold a beer in one hand and a saw or drill in the other can put one together too).

Mj

Post by **Artsay** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:31 pm

If you come to Lexington, give me a holler. You're more than welcome to come check out ours and I'll help you out as much as I can.

~Michelle

Post by **ReachHigh** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 4:46 pm

Be carefull when putting in the T-Nuts to have them sqare in the hole and test them before puttin up a wall that you can not get behind easly. Also a little glue on each T-Nut helps also.

Post by **TradMike** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:23 pm

I have the identical wall you are looking to build in my basement. I could email you some photos or you can have a look if you need ideas.

Post by **Crankmas** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:23 pm

I'm with Reachhigh here, I had trouble with someT-nuts not being set properly and found that using a 7/16" bit and and then placing the T-nuts on the board and actually pulling them into place with a hex wrench and a board with oversized washers got me better results than hammering in the T-nuts, I hope this doesn't sound as confusing as it does writing it.

Post by **TradMike** » Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:35 pm

Put the sheet of plywood on a flat concrete floor when you hammer in the T-nuts. They drive much easier that way. And don't buy the cheap T-nuts. I had three different kinds of T-nuts and the Metolius T-Nuts were by far the easiest to hammer in. Sort through the pile and pick out the best sheets of 3/4" plywood at the store.

Post by KD » Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:41 pm

Crankmas wrote:I'm with Reachhigh here, I had trouble with someT-nuts not being set properly and found that using a 7/16" bit and and then placing the T-nuts on the board and actually pulling them into place with a hex wrench and a board with oversized washers got me better results than hammering in the T-nuts, I hope this doesn't sound as confusing as it does writing it.

Another technique is to use a holesaw tod cut out circular peices of plywood then drill these and put the tnuts into. Then fasten these to the back of your 3/4 ply. Align the holes up before fastening. If you have a problem with stripped tnuts you can replace them without hurting your 3/4 ply.

Youe are also welcome to look at my wall if you are in louisville.

Post by KD » Fri Feb 17, 2006 5:45 pm

TradMike wrote:Put the sheet of plywood on a flat concrete floor when you hammer in the T-nuts. They drive much easier that way. And don't buy the cheap T-nuts. I had three different kinds of T-nuts and the Metolius T-Nuts were by far the easiest to hammer in.

Use screw-ins if you can afford them. I use cheap pound-ins but they have held up okay. I also periodically lubricate and tap the threads on tnuts and bolts to keep things fastening smoothly. I still strip out every-once-in-ahwile though.