[Closed] Kids climbing wall - back garden

Not done it yet but planning similar on our garden wall. House itself is listed so looking at the surrounding wall.

Was just going to attach straight into the stone wall. Boulder mats for protection on top of grass mats under the grass itself. Just waiting for the 2 year old to develop some sort of self preservation!

I did it !
Massive thing hung on hinges like a gate so it can be flipped over and the other side used
Do they use it ?
Do they bollox 🙂

Bolt it onto ply.

And make it steeper than you think is necessary. No, really, otherwise it has no training benefit and gets boring pretty quickly. Even for kids. Use the shape of the holds to create the interest. Put twice as many holds on as you think is needed, and plenty of ridiculously small ones.

We built one going up into a tree house - about 10' all in. They thought it was great when little, then we moved. 🙁

Do they use it ?
Do they bollox

This is because it is low level (less risk/apparent risk) and because unless you are into repetitive training, or can move holds lots, boring. It is the same reason why schools instal 'trim trails' at a cost of many £000's, only to find a term later they are barely used.

Bit of marine ply - drill a grid of holes and use m10 t-nuts on the other side. Perhaps make it overhang very very slightly.

[img] [/img]

This means you can move the holds around really easily to make it harder/easier and basically keep her interested. Also means you don't have to stud your brick wall with loads more holes.

Currently in the middle of one, great timing 🙂

My daughter is 7 but seems to be a natural so makes sense to have something for her to practice on at home. We have a local wall about 5mins drive away and she has 12mth membership so I don't really need anything too extravagant. Basically plan something to practise specific moves that she maybe struggles with at the main wall at height to replicate them at home.

There are hundreds of threads elsewhere about home walls inside but not too much about outside ones. I found a diagram with the hole spacings etc and this is what I plan.

Side of garage wall has clear space to about 11ft
2 x 3/4" marine 8x4 ply boards mounted to wall giving 8ft sq board. Mount that 1ft up so max height is 9ft and put a 1ft kickboard at the bottom for starts. 8ft sq section will be mounted on frame giving 10-15dg angle (Not sure yet how much).
I bought 50 holds and mounting hardware the other day for £93 delivered and plan to buy some more of them t nuts so I can basically move the holds anywhere I like.
I am having the boards and frame supplied FOC so I just need to buy the holds and fixings and then fit it which helps.

Am on the look out for old school crash mats but if I don't get one before its finished then its going to have to be a bouldering mat from go outdoors (I think they are about £70)

My only advice would be not to underestimate the weight of 2 sheets of ply, fixings, holds and child, especially if overhanging on the outside of a garage wall.

A couple of old mattresses would probably do the trick for mats.

Hope you don't mind the hijack on this. I am getting close to starting my build so if anyone wants to follow my build.

50 x holds purchased
3 x 8x4 3/4" marine ply sheets 'obtained'
Fittings for 50 holds purchased (More fittings required but not sure how many more until I have drilled the holes)

What I need to make/buy

1) The correct size drill bit for drilling holes for the M10 t-nuts
2) 12 x anchor bolts for the wooden frame I am getting made to anchor it to the wall (I do actually want to be able to remove it quite easily if needed)
3) Frame needs built (Joiner friend has offered to make it)
4) Some kind of paint finish for the wood. I think marine ply is fairly weather proof and the placing will limit the amount of rain it gets but I want something lasting. Any suggestions appreciated.

Will be downloading the holes guide tonight and make a start with the hundreds of holes I need to drill over the weekend.

Get some sandpaint on the boards,it makes a huge difference .

[i]Sand Texture Mixture. Use a ratio of about 10 to 1 paint / sand by volume. Add or subtract a little as necessary to get the texture you want. Sand settles to the bottom of the paint very quickly. Each time you dip the roller in the bucket, twist and plunge the roller to re-mix the sand / paint so the texture will be even.[/i]

[url= http://www.indoorclimbing.com/bouldering_finishing.html ]Linky[/url]

Is 3/4" about right do you all think? Watching with interst as I'm planning this for Mini B - he's mad for it, but our nearest indoor wall is a 60 mile round trip, nearest natural somewhat further 🙁

18mm ply is ideal. What's that in old money?

Just had to measure 18mm against 3/4". Must be the same thing. Its blooming heavy and will easily take any weight hung off it.

Will finish it in the sandpaint. Is it worth putting a coat of something on it to inprove waterproofing 1st?

Personally I'd just make sure the exposed top edge has a bit of flashband or similar on it to stop it being tempted to delaminate. If it's decent marine ply then this will help. Mine was indoors though, so i'm no expert on that.

Built a climbing frame / fort with 2x 8x4ply sheets with holds for the 8 year old and an internal ladder for the 4 year old and a slide for both of them.
All built out of standard wood sizes (plus holds and plastic slide) and it will morph as they get older. Fireman's pole has already been requested.
The two ply sheets are at 90 degrees so the 8 year old has to go round the outside of the corner while 3-4 feet up - just hard enough to test him. The upper deck and slide gives him a target.

Found this for the holes plan

If it's a traversing wall, though, it may be possible to put in fewer t-nuts at the bottom and use screw-on footholds instead. If your kid gets better, then much smaller footholds will be the order of the day anyhow.

I built one last year up the whole height of our house. I used 18mm plywood screwed to the walls and used 100’s of T-nuts drilled and fixed from behind at 150mm centres similar to a commercial wall. I painted it with home-made paint comprised of industrial floor paint with sand added. I also added petzl bolt hangers at around 4ft spacing and a chain / screwgate topout so the kids can lead climb up it. My 4 year old daughter used it loads last summer and hopefully will start again now the weather is getting better. The holds we bought were in the shape of the alphabet and numbers 0-10 which we used to play games on helping her learn her numbers and letters.

Got 3 8x4 sheets marked out over the weekend. 70+ holes per sheet to drill.....

The frame is nearly made up (Thanks to a friend. Decided to make 3 separate frames which will be bolted to the wall and then offer the ply up to the frames.

Next job is to drill the holes. Anyone know what size bit I need for M10 t nuts??

I used a 10mm drill. The t-nuts wouldn't push in but went in fine when tightened in with a bolt. And that way they won't come out when you don't have a hold attached to them.

I keep coming back to this thread for pictures.

WCA would have had this thing built, climbed and the X-Ray photos up by now! 😉

I was looking into one of those auto-belay devises to make a proper height climbing wall...at £2k per device, the lad can just fall out of the tree...

DrP

I was looking into one of those auto-belay devises to make a proper height climbing wall...at £2k per device, [s]the lad can just fall out of the tree[/s]learn to manage risk for himself...

Anyone know what size bit I need for M10 t nuts??

12mm at a push but ideally 13mm spade bit.
10mm won't allow the body of the T-nut to pull into the hole you've drilled - think about it - there's 1mm of steel all the way around the bolt. 10+1+1 = 12mm
Have built dozens of walls over the years and we always use a 13mm bit.
2lb lump to put them in from the rear and the tech-tip is from the front BEFORE use - have a buzz gun with a 13mm socket and a 10mm hex bolt with a repair washer to wind it up nice and tight.
Make sure though you are really really careful when you buy your holds/t-nuts as many manufacturers actually supply old school imperial thread bolts - especially where they need a long/shanked body/cap head.
Make sure you check otherwise you end up with a wall with lots of "M" and "I" marks next to the holes.....

Thanks hammy. Had done a bit of googling and came to the same conclusion. Seem to recommend a 13mm brad point bit.

Pics will be another week or so. Holes to drill this week. Frame will be ready this week. Unfortunately my weekend is full so it will be a project for the evenings.

I pulled 12mm outer diameter nuts into 10mm holes in hardwood ply no problem at all.

A drill tends to cut slightly bigger than its nominal size and wood is slightly plastic (as opposed to elastic)

I did look at my 13mm bit but it would have been a little large.

To be fair I doubt I could have hammered them in cleanly.

I used a 12mm bit, whacked them in from the back, then used a block of wood with an M10 bolt through it to pre-tighten them from the front (you MUST do this or your t-nuts might just pop out and spin helplessly behind your wall the first time you try to put a hold on).

Do it properly 😉

Some say 12mm, some say 13mm. I say try a 1/2"

Still no pictures. I don't know how to put them up.

In now have

Boards all marked out
13mm brad point drill bit
150 tnuts
50holds
3 x frames built
6 x 12mm steel threaded rods to go through the wall of my garage.
12 x steel plates
12 x nyloc bolts

Builder friend is coming over next week and it will be up. If someone shows me how to post up pics I will do so

If you've got a flickr or a photobucket account, you can upload them to there, then get a direct link you can post here.

You sound better organised than I was.

Latest update.....
Spent last night hammering the TNuts into the holes I have drilled. 140 of them 🙁 My wrist was knackered by the end of it.

I then rigged up on of the bolts to some washers and a block of wood and tightened all the tnuts up to ensure they were square and tight.

One more board to do then I will undercoat and then paint.

Just planning to use and outdoor undercoat plus a general (Cheap) household matt paint for the top coat. It will be quite nice to allow my daughter to draw on it if she wants then repaint every so often.

Any issues with this for painting? Climbing centre said it wasn't worth putting sand in paint etc as any smearing done with the feet would be pointless on a sloping wall

Just had a flashback to building our climbing wall (commercial one in the midlands) - we had a nice pile of ply that needed T-nutting - all in all about 400 sheets of ply with 80 holes in each - took us 3 weeks solid to do - nearly drove us all mad

Personally I would sand paint any wall, makes it easier to smear and so more fun - we used Coo-Var with emulsion over it, works really well but it isnt cheap, although we were indoors so slightly diff kettle of fish

Getting really close with this now. Have a few pictures to show but I don't have a flickr account (It asks me to make a yahoo email and I don't want one). Think I may be able to do something on Youtube when I get 5 mins.

Anyhow, 2 frames are now fixed to the outside garage wall by way of threaded bolt though the entire wall (Including a double brick thickness section). I ran out of plates and nylock nuts so the 3rd frame will be fitted Tuesday evening. I can hang off each frame quite happily so using 3 of them should spread the load perfectly.

2 boards are now fully tnutted and I have nipped all 140 of them up using holds and bolts to ensure they are pulled straight and tight. Painted them both with outdoor undercoat (White) and once I get a couple of strong blokes to help me lift them into place I will screw them to the frame with decking screws. I can just about lift a board to move them around, no way will I be able to lift one 5-6ft off the ground.

After that it will just be a case of setting the holds of which I have a starter pack of 50 holds which should be ample for 8ftx8ft

Made this 2 years ago. He still uses it.

[img][url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8895/17333052548_6ecbe70fbd_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8895/17333052548_6ecbe70fbd_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/spEqDA ]IMG_0928[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/13146208@N08/ ]100%of thetime60%ofthetime[/url], on Flickr[/img]

8x4ft sheet grafted to the bedroom wall. I don't think I would have got that past the wife tbh. Would be ace having it as the way to get to my daughters high bed 🙂

If anybody is in the Guildford area, Craggy Island (indoor climbing wall)have just thrown lots of fibre glass climbing wall sections into a skip. They've probably still got the 'T' nuts in them. A couple of sections bolted to some fence posts in the garden would make a great little climbing wall 😀

You are kidding me.... Someone is selling 4 of them panels on ebay at present for £100 each.

I am too far away to get them but I would have them in a heartbeat

Oh, our local wall gave lily a present last night for her new wall. A huge Core (brand) Love heart shaped hold. Cant wait to get this thing finished. I could have gotten a house built quicker

You are kidding me.... Someone is selling 4 of them panels on ebay at present for £100 each.

They're throwing out the crash mats as well 😯

Arrgh NOOOOOOO!!! They sell for even more.

I have spent a packet buying stuff not even half as suitable as the stuff going in that skip. I am at the other end of the country 🙁

Arse I'm not that far from Guildford. certainly would have driven there.

If I wasn't training in Torquay right now. 👿

I went as far as getting a phone number for them but then decided it wouldn't be worth it in the end. I noticed a post up on UK climbers giving a heads up on it too.

built my own wall in my garage last year, for myself not for the kids, wasnt rocket science really, some pretty strong wood beams to support the overhang and ton of thick ply, lots of T nuts and then a mix of ebay old used holds and some new purchased ones. As others have said the hard bit was the crash matting. I managed to source mine from a wall doing a refurb as I only have a couple of boulder crash mats so not enough to cover the area under the full wall.

The bigger question will be how much they use it. Even as a keen boulderer I was using it 3 times a week but then injured my shoulder doing something different and it hasnt been used since jan. I'm not sure if i built one for my kids they'd use it. Its a fun DIY project but it might never get used much.

I knew I should have gone at lunch time - but I dropped by Craggy island after work and all the good stuff had gone - spoke to a couple of guys who were doing the work and they said a lot of the staff had taken stuff for their homes.

So avoided an argument with the wife 🙂

ps the glass fibre was all there still.

ti_pin_man I am pretty sure its gonna get the use otherwise I would just have slapped the boards onto a flat wall and saved myself a hole heap of work. I mentioned this to my daughter 6mths ago and I get reminded every other day she is waiting for her wall.

This is the girl who refused to miss team training because she was ill then proceeded to be sick mid climb......

It will get used 🙂

All the frames are up and I have just one more coat of undercoat to go on the boards tonight. Got a friend coming around to help me lift the boards onto the frames on Thursday night.

This gives an idea. Ends will be boarded and it's going to be another colour

Nice work. Are you sure that she can't clout her head on the top of the fence if she takes a flyer from up high?

I suppose technically she could if she dynos a move at the top of the wall and completely misses it she could. Its deceptive as the fence doesn't run parallel. I dropped from the top a couple of times and landed about half way between the wall and the fence so there is a bit of slack.

A bit of awareness doesn't hurt, especially as when we go outdoor bouldering she isn't going to have much choice 😉

It's worth thinking about and making sure she's aware of though, there's a lot of moves that can spit you out backwards bouldering. I pinged off a barndoory crimp move at rothley recently and ended up flat on my back about 8 feet from where I started...

edit: looks good but I'd look for some smaller footholds btw.

Weve had a good chat about it. Not worried about her hitting the fence and don't plan on putting any moves that would encourage it. Its primarily for fun so she can get stronger without actually training. She can leave big moves for the climbing wall which she is a member of and is 5mins away.

The layout is completely mishmash of holds. I was told to just throw them at the wall, let her enjoy it and then if she wants to start fiddling then encourage her. She has already made some suggestions and I have a few spare holds (Small) ready. There is also a kickboard going at the bottom plus I plan to get some (Small)screw holds to compliment.

Thanks for the concern guys 🙂

30 mins of her telling me where she wanted the holds and I was quite impressed with her results

Nice. Some good little problems there, especially that black

Thanks. Glad you noticed the black. I had a quick go and couldn't even start it (told ha i was rubbish)

Nice wall.

As someone who dabbles in building and competitions, a couple of comments:

A kickboard (vertical section at the bottom) would give one or two extra moves at the start of problems - in your vid most problems start with a high step off the ground.

Similarly, in comps most problems are going to have two marked start footholds (and skipping one of them means an attempt is counted). Not sure if this is done in UK youth comps, but it certainly is in the european comps.

Not much variation in hold types - everything seems to be long moves on flat holds apart from the one yellow(?) hold that is cupped with the right hand. I guess some of this is due to wanting to have no chance of pinging off into the fence, but a few undercuts and pinches would mix it up. As your daughter set the problems herself, it's probable that those long reaches from flat holds are the kinds of moves she's good at (which is why she should be trying other kinds of hold orientation!)

Are kids supposed to do stamina/endurance training? Not sure, but if she's doing routes and not just bouldering then you could set some superb circuits on that board - around, around, up, down, across. If she's doing leading comps you could even get her doing clipping practise by trailing a short piece of rope and having a couple of quickdraws hanging from the board (or from a long sling from the top to replicate those difficult long clips that swing around).

I would have loved a board like that as a kid - it's excellent (just don't let her over-train!!)

Wow tim, thanks for that. TBH most of it isn't anything new but it shows you know what you are talking about because its absolutely bang on.

Kickboard - In the garage waiting to be drilled and mounted. I needed help mounting the big boards so got them done 1st. That's why the wall is 1Ft up to begin with.

We have competed this year in the YCS and although 2 hand holds are marked, in most cases no foothold is indicated so one foot start is allowed. However, she needs to work on her feet anyhow (She compensates with hand strength) so I will be ensuring that 2 feet are used.

Its a set of holds which is just to get going. We aim to purchase another set of smaller holds which just screw into the board. At present we are basically just using the smallest holds for footholds.

You are bang on with the long reaches, she loves them. Again, we will be getting some variation in the near future.

We do endurance training at the team venue and we lead climb at penrith wall so that's pretty much taken care of, although she is breathing heavy on the wall if we go like that and do 1 after the other plus she has been doing 'circuits' of the board as well. TBH the wall is hers to just play on really so that she is training without thinking he is training. If she doesn't want to 'work' on it I don't have any issue with that

The clips were an idea I had thought about. She does lead climb and any practice for that would be great. There is scope for putting a mount on the middle frame and hanging a long quickdraw from it to practise clipping.

Sorry for going on but there doesn't seem the 'chat' about climbing elsewhere like STW and as a complete newcomer I am trying to learn as much as possible

One of the things kids often struggle with is open hand strength. Getting some slopers/more rounded holds or making them yourself out of wood offcuts is a great way to get her out of her comfort zone.

It's much better for them to learn this early on, reduces the risk of injury later (too much crimping is bad for you!), and forces them to improve body position and core rather than just finger strength and flexibility.

Visiting one of the better bouldering centres will give you some ideas about setting for less positive holds.

Big slopers are ace, and it's actually quite easy to make triangular volumes from offcuts (although they can push the climber out from the wall quite a bit which might not be ideal with your fence).

For clipping practise you can just screw a bolt hanger into any of the T-nuts and put a quickdraw on it - hangers only need to be fixed into the supporting structure if they're going to take lead falls.

Recent bouldering comps I've done have pretty much been 90% problems with big holds/volumes/3D weirdness and 10% pulling on small holds, but Martins suggestion about going to a proper bouldering wall for that sort of thing is a good one, you'll have trouble setting that kind of problem so it's probably best to keep your wall simple.

At that angle a set of screw-on holds is great for feet, but look for some which aren't positive. Some of the sets of screw-ons have very good edges that make them easy for the feet. Something like this is harder to use: http://www.jegrimpe.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_32&products_id=2552&osCsid=3030faeb76e97473a32470dcbdd558d2

If you need more advice then ukbouldering.com is a good place - various wall owners and people who know a lot about national and international comps post there (the atmosphere is a bit like here, it can be a bit tough for new people, but it's essentially friendly!)

timb - big thanks. Have been looking up slopers etc and found a bolt hanger on ebay.

Our local wall is part owned by Dan Varian (Beastmaker) and its a volume, woodie, sloper whatever dream.

That link for the footholds is great. They would make the starts much more interesting. Thanks for the help

great work.

My only feedback is set up some routes that need her to do things like drop knees and Egyptians. Both essential for climbing efficiently. Climbs that force her to go up again with the same hand. I see you already have some that have rock overs, good work.

Set some that go across as well as up. Not just a traverse but ones that go across then up. Variety is the spice.

As said, some bigger slopers will mix the routes up. I found that over time, once I was looking out for holds I began to spot some cheap sources.

Good work.

See now you are using terms I struggle with 😉

Rock overs?

I know what a dropknee and Egyptian is but I have no idea how I would intentionally set for doing that.

Again, how do you force her to go up again on the same hand?

rock over is essentially a foot hold where her knee actually rocks over past the hold. It pulls her body centre of gravity over, it rocks over. Usually you might force her to do that to reach a hold past the reach. forces her to pull with her foot. good technique.

same hand sequence - just make sure she cant get to the hold any other way, that she cant reach through with her other hand without coming off.

Basically play around with the routes and watch her climb, soon you'll be thinking toe hook and heal hooks.

Good route setters for indoor walls are worth their weight in gold - - sadly for them, most are skinny little things with no weight at all.

Will have a search on google tonight. Thanks for the help guys.

If anyone wants any pictures emailed or list of parts used let me know

TheLittlestHobo - Member
Oh, our local wall gave lily a present last night for her new wall. A huge Core (brand) Love heart shaped hold.

http://www.edenrockclimbing.com

TLH... If you want to post some photos send them to me and I'll do it for you 😀
PS..can I bring the Wee man round for a go? He's in his school club now and they go to Sands Centre.

I just thought, the most important factor? Fun. The rest is nice to have. Make it fun for her and friends to play on. The rest is bonus. Creating some games might be good. Sweets or prizes if she climbs a route. Maybe some old insulation foam tubes taped onto the board for her to traverse through, games games games.

Aye Trekster, your lad is welcome anytime. Lily would love a pal who climbs as well. Bring him around and we can have a coffee (While spotting them of course). Sunny day and I might even throw in a Barbie. Could his grandad not shout him a little climb at eden rock one evening? Lily is a member so any day except Wednesday we can do.

Yeah it was Mickey who gave her the hold. Its obviously too worn for their walls and they were using it as a bookend but lily can hang off it so its still got some life in it.

Tipin yep fun is the best way of teaching. We have cuddly toys with magnets in the paws that you can hang from holds which works well.

Trekster

Pic from TLH of his/daughters wall
[url= https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/378/18511690435_356424d2d2_z.jp g" target="_blank">https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/378/18511690435_356424d2d2_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/ucPfCt ]image[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/27084274@N08/ ]john_henry_mtb[/url], on Flickr

Thanks JH