|
Post by jetjackson on Nov 21, 2017 0:06:07 GMT -7
We finally moved into a house with a massive garage, so it's time for me to build a climbing wall. It is a rental, so I will need to get the landowners permission if I need to make structural adjustments - I've thought about freestanding before and posted about it in the past, but it just seems a real pain to try and do that. I've not got a huge amount of headroom, but I think I can work with it. 8.5 feet to the roof at one section, but with beams that come down to about 7 feet, so I need to work around those. Pictures below. Going to work up some designs, but thinking a 35-40 degree wall. My main purpose with it is to set up a LBC for power training - that's what I have the most trouble training with the gyms that are within driving distance of my place. I'm thinking maybe a 35 or 40 degree wall that's 3.2m wide that maxes out the 8.5 feet of vertical height. I'm looking at the beams though, and they look like they might need some reinforcing if they are going to support the weight of a woody and dynamic climbing forces. I need to determine the best way to attach to the existing structure with the least possible modifications in order to appease the landlord. I'm thinking 3200mm wide, and with the headroom I have I could do; - 3200mm length, 40 degrees - 150mm kicker. - 3200mm length, 35.6 degree - no kicker. - 3400mm length, 40.1 degrees - no kicker
|
|
|
Post by Charlie S on Nov 21, 2017 7:10:11 GMT -7
Kickers are really nice. I don't really know what "m" and "mm" are, but a 6inch kicker (150mm) is enough for a single row of foot chips. I'd probably put them higher than halfway (say like 3.5-4 inches off the ground) to allow for some heel drop.
What's going on with the lighter colored wood? It looks like the main structural member is the darker, and the lighter wood is simply holding the floor/roof in place?
A lot of the online discussions and tutorials suggested 2x6 or 2x8 (or more!) on 16 inch spacing. I found this overkill. All of my walls (including the 40 degree Moonboard) are on 2x6 with 24" spacing. I did add some struts on the steeper walls from about 60%-75% up out and back to attach to rafters.
All that to say, it doesn't look like building a wall here would cause any permanent structural damage. Remove maybe 500 screws and it's done?
|
|
|
Post by Chris W on Nov 21, 2017 18:56:00 GMT -7
I built a wall in two different rentals, and in one of them I even asked permission. Once you take out all the screws, as long as you're judicial in placing them, you can't even tell they were there.
|
|
|
Post by jetjackson on Nov 26, 2017 16:38:03 GMT -7
With regards to the property, I will need permission for anything that could be noticed when we leave - even wood screws. We have to get permission at rental properties in Australia just to put up hangers for hanging photo frames on the walls in the house. Tenant rights are changing here at the moment, but it's pretty strict. I'm confident if I pitch it right to the landlord, that I'll be able to do it - just need to make sure I can do it in a way that minimizes impact to the existing structure.
Going to put some designs together today, and pop them through.
Last night I sprayed down the entire garage for spiders - as you may have heard, Australia has some nasty spiders.
I'm settling in on putting the kicker in based on your feedback, thinking 6 inch kicker with a 40 degree board running 3200mm or 10 foot of travel - enough for 2-3 moves.
|
|
|
Post by jetjackson on Nov 26, 2017 20:34:25 GMT -7
So here is my first design idea. The width dimension is 3m aka 3000mm with 2x4 beams running every 600mm. After thinking a lot about the area, I think I would rather have the wall facing the other direction so I don't need to install lighting, even if it means I'll lose a couple of inches of height. I need to confirm the exact sizes when I get back into the shed, but I think this should be fine. The things I'm chewing over more are - how do I have the bottom of the wall resting on the ground, with a small 150mm (approx 6 inch) kicker on the bottom, but still have it as an actual panel, so I can use T-Nuts. As you can see, I intend to 'hang' the board from the cross beam, as there is no ideal way to attach the top of the roof to the cross beam without losing a foot of height. To hang it from the roof, the intention is to use steel brackets (red boxes) and 3/8 inch fasteners to attach the 4 beams on the board to the roof beam. I have not worked out how to anchor it on the ground yet - possibly a couple of cement anchor bolts. I need to go in and do some more measurements but there is this huge red-back spider hanging out there that didn't seem to get killed off by my spray down yesterday, so I need to go and get some stronger spider killer, apparently the stuff I used wasn't good enough. So current design would result in 8 x 3/8 inch holes in the roof beam, plus a dozen or so wood screw sized holes, and potentially a couple of cement anchors - I think I can convince the landlord to let me do that.
|
|
|
Post by MarkAnderson on Nov 27, 2017 10:35:54 GMT -7
Another thing to consider RE: orientation is sun aspect. If possible, it's nice to put the wall in the coolest location, which I guess in your case would be the southern-most part of the garage.
And if you can get permission, bolting into the concrete slab is really easy and secure.
|
|
|
Post by jetjackson on Nov 27, 2017 15:02:56 GMT -7
Yeah, the garage has apartment buildings on the East that block the morning sun, and then the west gets the sun in the afternoon so it will get hit there. In winter in Melbourne it shouldn't be too bad. Just when we get those 40 degree days in summer that it will be really hard to train in there.
I'll most likely be building a bubble for the summer.
|
|
|
Post by jetjackson on Nov 29, 2017 22:22:00 GMT -7
Buying ply on the weekend. I have the choice between Structural 17mm Ply, and 18mm Non-Structural Ply, which the guys seem to think would be fine for building a climbing wall.
Anyone used 'non-structural' ply? It's about $10 a piece cheaper and has a better surface finish.
This is the description;
"This product possesses very similar characteristics to the CD Structural plywood, as it is also a Radiata Pine species, available in either CD or BC face grades and contains an A-Bond glue line making it suitable for exterior applications. While this product has not been structurally rated, it can be used for many general purposes when a stress grading is not required."
|
|
|
Post by Chris W on Nov 30, 2017 4:43:33 GMT -7
I'm not sure I've seen that distinction in home depot here in the USA.
|
|
|
Post by tetrault on Dec 3, 2017 17:58:06 GMT -7
In America, "Structural Plywood is designed to be extra strong. It is glued together with adhesive that holds the layers together firmly. It can be used inside or outside, but is not really meant to be seen, but is not intended for prolonged exposure to weather. It is commonly only available in grades C-D or D-D, so is a rough piece of plywood"
Not that this has anything to do with the right or wrong way to do things, but I did not build my climbing wall with structural plywood. Just whatever smooth 3/4" (or 23/32" to be exact) plywood that home depot has in stock. Home depot strangely does not show on their website the exact plywood I used, otherwise I would have posted the specs.
|
|
|
Post by jetjackson on Dec 3, 2017 18:46:41 GMT -7
Thanks! Didn't end up getting the ply over the weekend as it poured rain and I would have been getting it home on the roof of my car.
With the rain... a spanner was thrown in the works - it seems that my garage seeps in water when we get heavy rain. I'm going to have to come up with a solution for keeping the mats an inch or two off the ground.
Once I get the go-ahead from the landlord I'm going to kick into gear to build the thing over the Christmas break.
|
|
|
Post by tetrault on Dec 3, 2017 19:32:22 GMT -7
For my old junky wall in my leaky garage, my free and lazy method was to put the mats (used futon mattresses) on old pallets. Wasn’t perfect though, the pallets probably soaked up some water that eventually made it to the mattresses. But wasn’t bad if you don’t have fancy pads that you are worried about.
|
|
|
Post by jetjackson on Dec 3, 2017 19:45:01 GMT -7
Pallets! Such an obvious solution. I might even be able to get my hands on some plastic pallets that won't soak up the water.
|
|
|
Post by MarkAnderson on Dec 4, 2017 17:57:33 GMT -7
Ya, or maybe paint them if you end up using wooden pallets? Or, maybe throw down a few sheets of corrugated roofing (made of fiberglass, plastic or sheet metal, oriented so the water can run through the grooves)?
|
|
|
Post by Chris W on Dec 4, 2017 19:25:31 GMT -7
Is it humid there? Do things dry out quickly?
|
|