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Climbing Holds on breeze block

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zakmacro 13 Aug 2012
I want to put up a small bordering wall in a Breeze Block constructed wear house, I have done some googling and found terms like expanding bolt and resin anchors but it doesn't really mean anything to me as I'm not really a DIY guy.

Has any one done it, how did you do it, and where did you get the stuff from?

Thanks

 Reach>Talent 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:
Proper breeze blocks, as in slightly harder than Weetabix or do you mean a light/medium density concrete block? In my experience putting an expanding anchor in soft blockwork is asking for trouble as it expecting it to take any sort of outwards pull.

What sort of bouldering wall are you thinking of: Slab, vertical, gentle overhang, steep or a full on cave?

zakmacro 13 Aug 2012
In reply to Reach>Talent: its "proper" breeze block in an industrial wear house!

Im just looking at a flat wall at the moment- maybe with some overhanging sections (it can't take up too much room away from the wall though!)

The wall is flat, 4m high and 7(ish)m long!
 Reach>Talent 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:
I suspect you'll need to use glue in bolts or through bolts to fix it to the wall unless you want to end up wearing it Can you put in spreaders or legs to support steeper sections?
 Lord_ash2000 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro: What you want are these http://www.climbingwall.co.uk/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_...

and if the blockwork is hollow you may want the sives too.
 Reach>Talent 13 Aug 2012
In reply to Lord_ash2000:
Surely you want to bolt on a plywood face rather than individually bolting all the holds to a breezeblock wall? At £2 a pop and a fair bit of faff I'd have thought ply wood and t-nuts works out cheaper for a reasonable area of wall!
 Lord_ash2000 13 Aug 2012
In reply to Reach>Talent: Yeah, depends how he wants to go about it. Although they are still ideal to anchor into blockwork. Or use threaded bar and bolt the beams into that.
zakmacro 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:
So it terns out that the Breeze blocks are air filled! Is it still doable?

 Reach>Talent 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:
Do you have the option of drilling right through and putting a spreader on the outside?
zakmacro 13 Aug 2012
In reply to Reach>Talent:
Nope, nextdoor is some one else unit!
 Reach>Talent 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:
I think you may have problems then. If the mortar between the blocks is good then perhaps gluing bolts into there to fix plywood to?
zakmacro 13 Aug 2012
SO, fix ply wood to the wall with the glue in resin bolts, and the climbing holds to the ply with T nuts?
 Reach>Talent 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:
I'd probably fix a wooden frame to the blockwork and then screw your plywood onto that. You want a bit of space behind the wall for some air flow (reduces the chances of it rotting) and space for the bolts for the holds to stick through a bit.
 Reach>Talent 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:
SO, fix ply wood to the wall with the glue in resin bolts, and the climbing holds to the ply with T nuts?

Yes

 zoobizooretta 13 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:

They should be fitted with resin in anchors, because the length of bolt varies coming out the back of the hold, you can't use expanding fixings.

these sleeves
http://www.hilti.co.uk/holuk/page/module/product/prca_productdetail.jsf?lan...

with the right resin for the type of wall
http://www.hilti.co.uk/holuk/page/module/product/prca_catnavigation.jsf?lan...

or drop in anchors
http://www.hilti.co.uk/holuk/page/module/product/prca_catnavigation.jsf?lan...
zakmacro 16 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:
sorry to bother again, but would something like this work?

http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/drop8/drop-in-anchors-m8/dp/FN01478

I have an account with CPC so anything of there is slightly cheeper for me!
 Quaidy Quaid 16 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro: i got some hold s off e bay and just used some screws and wall plugs and my drill its worked fine
 nik king 16 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:

Just use concrete screws. The thread is hardened and will self tapp into the block. 6.5mm drill bit for a 7.5 concrete screw. You might need some washers to stop the heads of the screws pulling through the holds. Alternativly, ask a Joiner.
 JSA 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro: Can you take a photo of the wall, preferably quite close up the post it on here. Sounds very odd to me that breeze block has been used rather than the usual 7n concrete block, especially in a unit.
zakmacro 17 Aug 2012
In reply to JSA:

will do! Im also contemplating fixing the ply to the I-beam frame?
 zoobizooretta 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:

yes, but use M10 not M8
 ollieollie 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro: Resin bolts are not required here!! M10 shield anchors, timber frame, ply on top, don't need the over kill
 Reach>Talent 17 Aug 2012
In reply to ollieollie:
Expansion bolts in breeze block, really? If the OP is correct and they are 'proper' breeze blocks then you wouldn't hang your coat on an expansion bolt never mind a bouldering wall!
zakmacro 17 Aug 2012
Here is a picture of the blocks

http://picpaste.com/photo-lT2g3EKG.JPG

and the space

http://picpaste.com/photo-1-C3Nb54Va.JPG

thoughts?
 ollieollie 17 Aug 2012
In reply to ollieollie:
> (In reply to zakmacro) Resin bolts are not required here!! M10 shield anchors, timber frame, ply on top, don't need the over kill

They are solid cons

 ollieollie 17 Aug 2012
In reply to Reach>Talent: Read further into post, i have never seen a commercial unit built in breeze block! that would make the job of theives alot easier
zakmacro 17 Aug 2012
In reply to ollieollie:

That would make life a lot easier! I'll drill a hole this afternoon to make sure!
 ollieollie 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro: easier and cheaper. i couldn't even guess how many solid cons i've layed in my life but i assure you thats what they are
Wonko The Sane 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro: I would be a little wary of this. Probably perfectly safe, however, an internal lightweight block wall may not have been designed to give any kind of side loading to speak of. If it were me, I would drill a couple of holes in the mortar, at three consequetive beds and see if it has tramlines in it for 'crowd loading'

Also, is the wall stable?

I personally would not trust expanding bolts taking a dynamic load in lightweight block since they could come loose over time.

I would fix plywood or timber rails to the wall using chemical anchors and fix your holds to that.

But.... all this is looking at it from the ppoint of view of engineering it so as to be perfectly safe.
You'd 'probably' get away with less.
 Reach>Talent 17 Aug 2012
In reply to ollieollie:
They look like solid blocks from that photo, I've never seen an external wall in breeze blocks but I've seen a few internals and partition walls.
Wonko The Sane 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro: Ooops, didnt see the pictures. Ollie is right. They are solid concrete blocks and you can use expanding bolts on those quite safely. Wall appears sound too..... however, I'd still check that it's tied in at the ends.
 ollieollie 17 Aug 2012
In reply to Wonko The Sane: its tied in a sense being that its built into the beams either end, the wall is about 5 mtrs(beam to beam), his wall will be fine on that
 ollieollie 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro: for peice of mind dont build it all the way to the top, 3 mtrs maybe
zakmacro 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:

thanks for all the help guys!

The plan it seems is to attach a timber frame to the wall with expanding bolts and cover it in ply! Any advice as to how much space I need between the ply and the wall?

I'll put up some pictures when I start building it, if you don't hear back from me, its all gone horribly wrong! :P


Thanks again!
zakmacro 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:

the wall is going to be 12x12ft which is 3.6ish meters! Not bad for a "home" wall!
 JSA 17 Aug 2012
In reply to zakmacro:

They are 7n concrete blocks, you'll be fine fixing straight to the blockwork.

The reason I asked for a photo is because I thought it strange that an industrial unit, breeze aren't fire rated like the solid concrete blocks.

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