I spoke with the owner of a climbing gym that shutdown on the closing day after my last session at the gym. She was going to be liquidating most of the climbing holds, so I ended up purchasing a few bins of various sizes. The intention was to build myself a wall in my basement. I had seen some friends purchase walls or ramps for their kids with climbing holds. In true DIY spirit, I took it upon myself to source all the required fasteners, tools and supplies to assemble my own wall.
It was a worthwhile project that my older daughter really enjoys using. She is already ready to change the orientation to 8′ high x 4′ wide. My youngest daughter who is just learning how to walk is already standing next to the wall, moving her hands from hold to hold and trying to get her feet up on the foot holds.
Below are most of the supplies, tools and steps I used. With the help of blogs and tutorials, I put together the wall in the pictures that follow.
Supplies/Tools
- 1 x hammer
- 1 x measuring tape
- 1 x pencil
- 1 x level or long straight edge
- 1 x broom
- 1 x sanding disk – fine
- 1 x sander
- 1 x Roller handle and roller brush
- 1 x 5/16 Balldriver T-Handle
- 1 x 7/32 Balldriver T-Handle
- 1 x sheet of 3/4″ ‘good one side’ plywood
- Chalk board paint
- 2 x 4’s
- 2 x 6
- 72 x 3/8-16 T-Nuts SS #31
- 1 x 7/16″ Spade drill bit
- 1 x Drill
- 72 x 3/8 Socket head/Button head SS bolts (various lengths and combos depending on climbing hold selection)
- 72 x climbing holds
Sand good side of plywood until smooth
2. Cut 2 x 4’s to fit around the perimeter of the plywood. This will act as a frame on the back side of the plywood
Roll primer onto good side
Roll chalkboard paint (or desired colour and finish) on top of primer
I used Atomik Climbing Hold T-nut layout as an example
Hammer T-nuts into drilled holes on the face of the wall
Cut and drill 2″ x 6″ to use as feet. Cut and drill 2″ x 4″ to use as supports for feet
Prepare climbing holds
Start route setting with socket and button head bolts.
1″ bolts seemed to be the more popular size
Finished wall
