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Outdoor home wall advice.

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 paul wood 16 Jun 2014
I am thinking of building a home training wall in my garden for me and my children. Something for us to get an hours training on regularly rather than battling the traffic to get to an indoor wall and when we don't have the time to get to the crag.

Has anyone built one outside?

If so would treated timber be better than plywood?

My current thinking is a treated frame with plywood sheets that I replace when they rot away. Sounds pricey but 3 lots of indoor wall entrance adds up too.

Any advice/pictures etc would be great.
Thanks

Paul
In reply to paul wood:

I looked into it before, worked out a good solution was a treated frame and marine ply, then putting the whole thing under a pitched sheet of polycarbonate to keep the rain off. You want to think about sheltering it in some way and using good quality plywood over timber etc. will leave you with fewer spinning holds when the temperature changes.

Other option was building a super sturdy shed with climbing on internal and external walls, bit more invasive in your garden mind.
OP paul wood 16 Jun 2014
Cool thanks,
Would live to hear from someone who has one and thinks its worthwhile.
Simos 16 Jun 2014
In reply to paul wood:

Was curious about the same thing....
In reply to paul wood:
I built one up the side of my house. Consisting of three metre square boards, and one one metre by 70cm board. All 1cm ply, mounted on 3X2 timber. It's now disassembled and in my hallway (divorce led to relocation). It's complete with T Nuts and approx sixty holds, and I am shortly putting it up for sale. I can send photos if interested.
Cash on collection. £100 for the lot. OVNO.

PM me for more info.
Post edited at 14:33
OP paul wood 16 Jun 2014
Cool thanks,
Would love to hear from someone who has one and thinks its worthwhile.
OP paul wood 16 Jun 2014
Where are you Dispater?
In reply to paul wood:

Leicester.

 David Coley 16 Jun 2014
In reply to paul wood:

I have one. It was worth the effort. The kids have played in it for years. And spent many nights camped in it.

See my profile picture.
OP paul wood 16 Jun 2014
Wow that looks great. I've got too many questions so better ask wisely.
How is the outside protected from the weather?
Would you use the same shape if doing it again?
Where did you get the mats?
ok I better stop. Shame your not near the Wye valley as I could have picked your brains over a pint
Thanks
Paul
In reply to David Coley:

That's a climbing centre!
Very impressive.
In reply to paul wood:

I've just uploaded a shot of mine to my profile; it'll take a while to be approved.

It's four full metre squared panels, with a fifth slightly cut off one. Finished in masonry paint mixed with rough sand.
 David Coley 16 Jun 2014
In reply to paul wood:


> How is the outside protected from the weather?

The inside is a sheet of ply, the frame timber with metal strengthening, the outer skin OSB with roofing felt. Basicly it was a series of A-frames.

> Would you use the same shape if doing it again?

No, the steeper side is too steep.

> Where did you get the mats?

Local university - they throw them out often

> ok I better stop. Shame your not near the Wye valley as I could have picked your brains over a pint

Pop in when you are climbing on Dartmoor or Torbay.
cb294 17 Jun 2014
In reply to Dispater:

Are you not worried about having built an instant burglar ladder?

My house has timber cladding on the outside, so I would only have to bolt the holds in place, but so far I have only dared to put holds on the underside of my spiral staircase indoors.

Let´s hope this winter will be colder, as I am planning to build a training wall for ice climbing. The downpipe pipe which drains the flat roof of both halves of our semidetached house freezes shut and overflows in cold winters anyway. Most years I therefore I get a pretty, 50cm diameter ice pillar on my terrace. I have even climbed it once, before my wife got worried about me ripping the drainpipe out.

This autumn I plan to string some hemp ropes from the roof to the terrace, to give the whole thing stability.

CB

OP paul wood 17 Jun 2014
In reply to cb294:
>> Are you not worried about having built an instant burglar ladder?

Yes it looks like you need to set that a bit harder to keep the youths out.
F7a+ should reduce the numbers getting into your bedroom
markwynneuk 17 Jun 2014
In reply to paul wood:

I have one at the end of the garden and have used it for 3 years. I think this summer I will have to change the ply boards for the winter but I haven't had to do any repair work until now. I used marine ply and gave it 3 coats of weather proofing stuff. For the support beams I just bought pretreated 2x4 and it is still looks like it did when I bought it. The wall just stands there in all weather and there is no cover on the back. The wood and fixings came to about £150. I bought a set moon holds for £100 so I could download problems from the moon climbing website and have loved it. I estimate that I have saved about £3000 worth of climbing walls enrty fees in the last 3 years. The only downside is the weather but rarely have I gone a week without being able to use it at least once. He is the link to mine and have look at some of the others as there are many outdoor ones on the website. http://www.moonclimbing.com/moonboard/page.php?page=MM:11
 TonyB 17 Jun 2014
In reply to paul wood:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=219874

Here is my wall. Since the photo I put a roofing felt over the back of it and it now stays pretty dry in the rain. For mats I have one futon mattress and three boulder pads. One of the bouldering pads is in atrocious condition and would really only be suitable for the bin.

The wall is 30 degrees. I have a 80 degree slab that can be fitted in space that my three year old uses, although it's a bit easy for him now. The sheets are 18mm marine ply. It's only a year old now but in good condition. I opted not to put vertical sides on it as it allows the air to circulate and it is pretty fast drying if it gets wet. It also means that it is easier to light on a winters evening. It's positioned so that it gets the quite a bit of sun. It means that in summer it's only really usable in the early morning/late evening on a hot day but it allows me to use it year round. I think it supplements indoor climbing. The problems I set are nowhere near as good as those at the local wall and I'm limited to certain styles of climbing.

If I was building it again I'm not sure I would do much different. For pure strength I might have gone steeper, but this lets me do some longer 20-30 move circuits which seems to be the business for sport climbing.
OP paul wood 18 Jun 2014
In reply to TonyB:

Thanks guys.
Your photos and advice have been amazing.
Im going to start building in about a week....I can't wait.

The only down side is I'll struggle to limit my kids access (10 & 12) so they'll no doubt burn me off.
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