I am planning to build a bouldering wall in my garden and it is going to be inside a professionally built garden house. It currently is going to be a 8m X 5m building, internal height will be 2.2m to eaves and 3.45 to the highest point. The front will be 4m glass bi fold doors. (External heights is max for permitted development, I.E 2.5 to eaves, 4m to apex)
I cant find anywhere someone building an entire new structure like this to dedicate to a wall so I thought I would ask on here for any input/suggestions.
What I am trying to achieve is:
Climbing for kids (2+), intermediate adults and hard-core training area. Impressive climbing space that merges into garden (hence huge bi fold doors) Ability to set world cup/parkour style problems as well as long endurance routes/circuit. Number of different angles to replicate real life problems/crux. Pullup bar with height for muscle up Storage for ladder and holds. Open feel (not cramped boulder cave)
I thought Moon boards were 40 degrees not 45. I would have every thing on the back wall at least 40 degrees or steeper. You can make steep easier with big holds you can’t make short vertical that interesting. Kids will soon progress.
Thanks for response, I want variety hence the different angle walls, 24 feet of 40 overhang is a bit boring. I have considered making one of the angle double width so 16 feet accross but I think 8 foot is a nice width for a lot of problems.
You are right, I meant 40 deg for moonboard. Another mistake, the 20 deg wall will be 3.66m long, 3.45 is the height.
Vertical will actually go up to 3.8m for a small bit, similar height to my local wall which is plenty high enough for fun problems at v5-v7 grades.
I agree with webbo. Personally, I find vertical walls and slabs at best a waste of space, at worst an accident waiting to happen. The Depot in Leeds has a 30deg board with small slopey footholds which is rather good for fingery problems. That's probably the least steep wall I'd contemplate. On anything slabbier, the problems tend to be exercises in avoiding shin-scraping and impalement.
I've been building a very similar setup for the actual structure although I've made it 6.2 by 4.9 as permissive development is 30m2 I think (your dimensions make it 40m2)
I can only use half of it as a climbing wall but have decided on a 30 degree side and the rest of it 15 degrees which will work very well for arc training and for people playing who aren't hardened climbers (plus a small bit of vertical to mock up problems).
We built the shed ourselves (me with various fused spinal injuries and my 80 year old Dad) and it's gone together fairly well.
That looks amazing, I would love to do something like that myself but would take so long to learn and build for me. I am hoping the structure I am paying for will roughly add a similar value to the house as what it cost me, so in a sense its almost free. Would love to see photos of yours when finished.
The 30 square metre rule from what I have read is for building regulations, which is being sorted by the company I am using and included in the cost. So its still covered by permitted development as its less than 50% of garden space. If I am wrong lets not get into that here, loads of threads all over the net around this.
Common theme seems to be vertical wall is a waste of time and space, which I find surprising given it takes up practically no space and adds a bit of variety. I thought 23 square metres of overhang was sufficient. What is the alternative to the vertical wall? Replacing with an overhang would eat into the adjoining overhang, steeper it is the more would be lost.
I have a moonboard and I would recommend that you make the kick board flush with the adjoining walls rather than recessed. Quite a few problems start at the edges and the ability to stick your leg out flagging would be good otherwise you may find yourself really bunched up and unable to generate momentum due to you being right up against a vertical wall. Looks amazing, good luck getting it done.
Very good point and that is one of the reasons the moonboard is in the middle, assuming space allows I will do that. Originally design was based on 4m width so I wanted as much fall space behind the moon board as possible, hopefully now its 5m should be plenty. Thanks
> The 30 square metre rule from what I have read is for building regulations, which is being sorted by the company I am using and included in the cost. So its still covered by permitted development as its less than 50% of garden space. If I am wrong lets not get into that here, loads of threads all over the net around this.
I was concerned you were wrong here but a bit of investigating seems to say you are correct, there is no size limit on a building under permitted development, it's only limited by the 50% rule, crack on!
I currently have an enclosed bouldering shed with one wall as a moon board and the other three walls are vertical, this year i'm going to turn it onto one large adjustable angle board, the vertical walls really aren't very useful at all.
Although yours would be considerably taller than mine which might increase their usefulness a little, i'd still keep the vertical walls to a minimum is possible.
