UKC

I'm in the process of building a home bouldering wall and now looking at the options for matting. I could use my normal bouldering mats, but thought it would be good to permenantly mat the area. 

Does anyone have suggestions of where to get matting from?  I tried contacting core climbing, but they were wanting nearly £1k to mat an area 3m x 2.3m!

Are used mattresses not the go to option?

The age old problem. For the last 12 years I've used old mattresses with bouldering mats over the high fall areas. Unless you want to pay mega bucks.

EDIT: remember though that mattresses don't really provide much protection. More about putting something between you and concrete.

I recommend these on my wall builds... search Implay Mat on feebay..

In general, foam mattresses are great - two stacked are perfect for falls from our wall (about 4m). Sprung mattresses can be all but useless.

Search the Internet for school gym mats... I got some 3m x 2m x foot thick ones for not much more than a bouldering pad.

You could put a request out on freegle / freecycle for old foam mattresses. I had one knocking about for a while I wanted to give away for just such a purpose but couldn't find anyone to take it. It was no good for sleeping on anymore but it seemed like a lot of expensive heavy material to just chuck in the bin.

Ive got a variety of old rugs and carpet, layed on top of an old futon (not the wooden bit), which is layed on top of an old mattress. Works ok, and i fall on my backside quite a lot nowadays.

AV in Dundee are selling some of their old matting. Might be worth giving them a call - 01382201901

Might be worth asking if anyone's got an old bouldering mat that's gone too squishy for safe outdoor use and that they're looking to dispose of -- mine went to a good home under someone's home wall.

Assuming your home wall is the usual short-but-steep type, old mats could be fine for cushioning short falls.

What happened to beer towels?

You can get a 4mm yoga mat at Decathlon for 6 quid. You'd need about 16 of them to cover your area... 

More seriously, you might be able to get old gym mats from local schools.

Otherwise, yes, new climbing mats are expensive - https://www.sporenco.com/tapis-et-matelas-de-chute-escalade/842-tapis-de-ch.... I am also looking to build my home wall and I wonder if I will be able to afford difficult problems (although the holds for harder problems are less expensive)...

Ask at climbing walls, often you see old matting stacked up in storage and they might want to let it go

otherwise I used beemats for my garage wall

https://www.newitts.com/beemat-crash-mats

they seem to be a bit more expensive than when I bought mine but maybe check for ebay (maybe also ask gymnastic centers for any old mats too)