Mountain Project Logo

Home climbing wall question: connecting frames

Dan Cucci · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Aug 2010 · Points: 5

I agree with slim's post - and if you add a member it really doesn't have to be much - a 2x4 would do.

The bigger issue may be the 'A' end of the whole wall system wanting to simply fall over sideways when you make bigger moves out near the end of the roof. You could build trangular outriggers or maybe the whole thing is close enough to the neighboring walls of the room so they can catch it. Once you have what you are already planning built you will be able to wobble the whole thing a bit and see just how much side-to-side support will be needed.

slim · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2004 · Points: 1,103

good call on the side to side, i forgot to mention that.

JoeP · · Littleton, CO · Joined Sep 2006 · Points: 0

I would increase the angle of the main wall to 30-45 degrees, because you'll become bored with 15-20.

How can C be 12' long? You said earlier that you can't fit a 12' length board through the hallway.

Should be a fun wall when complete!

Evan Sanders · · Westminster, CO · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 140
JoeP wrote:I would increase the angle of the main wall to 30-45 degrees, because you'll become bored with 15-20. How can C be 12' long? You said earlier that you can't fit a 12' length board through the hallway. Should be a fun wall when complete!
Two 6 footers put together. It's excess wood so it maybe be slightly shorter than 12, but that's my guess. It's worked out pretty well so far, I thought I would have the mess I had when I was trying to figure out how to put the frames together, but it's a pretty solid base.
Andy Librande · · Denver, CO · Joined Nov 2005 · Points: 1,880

If you want an overhang copy my wall below:

Wall with latest feature attachment. The Optimus Arm (the giant blue thing) adds a full dihedral type climbing, plus lots more foot options as you get to the lip.

Climbing Wall #4 (2008-?): Current wall freestanding in my backyard. Biggest wall yet with fun roof. Only downside is weather dependent.

from this thread: mountainproject.com/v/gener…

There is little to no flex in the wall. A few key things on that wall is that duel upright supports off of the top corners;the ones going back into the wall from the top corner offers 100% of the strength while the ones going from the front positioned out prevent the structure from flipping forward.

The entire back piece is just 2x4's with the plywood. The 2x4's on the right and left sides are extra long to allow for the top to be attached using a single lag bolt on each side. The top piece is a 2x4 frame with a 2x6 header (pictured with all of the snow sticking to its front) and then I built an additional strength across the middle which was two 2x4's screwed together forming a 90 degree angle and then screwing that into the upper frame.

For the angle all it is a lag bolt on each side put through the 2x4's which allows for you to modify the angle at time of building. Also the 2x8 supports that go out from the wall are all put into place with two bolts per connection.

The only thing I would like to change would be to put a footer at the bottom around 16" high to make the bottom section a little higher and make better use of the feet. Currently the bottom angle is only about 6.5-7ft high before getting into the roof which is a little low.

It has been outdoors now for 14+ months and has some signs of weathering but has not had any issues. The structure literally just sits on top of the ground and hasn't moved or shifted. I probably need to put some standard house siding on the top and back to prevent more weathering sometime soon, but it has not been a problem. Let me know if you have any questions, I can also take detail photos if my explanations above need more clarification.

Evan Sanders · · Westminster, CO · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 140
Dan Cucci wrote:I agree with slim's post - and if you add a member it really doesn't have to be much - a 2x4 would do. The bigger issue may be the 'A' end of the whole wall system wanting to simply fall over sideways when you make bigger moves out near the end of the roof. You could build trangular outriggers or maybe the whole thing is close enough to the neighboring walls of the room so they can catch it. Once you have what you are already planning built you will be able to wobble the whole thing a bit and see just how much side-to-side support will be needed.
I tried to compensate for the side to side by making the top (intersection of A and D) an 8 foot board instead of completing it with a four footer. But i'll test it and see if I need to for sure.

Holes for the T-nuts just got finished today (I painted before I did the holes), wall should be going up in the framing soon! Any thoughts on the topping out idea or would that put too much stress on the wall?
Evan Sanders · · Westminster, CO · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 140
Andy Librande wrote:If you want an overhang copy my wall below: from this thread: mountainproject.com/v/gener… There is little to no flex in the wall. A few key things on that wall is that duel upright supports off of the top corners;the ones going back into the wall from the top corner offers 100% of the strength while the ones going from the front positioned out prevent the structure from flipping forward. The entire back piece is just 2x4's with the plywood. The 2x4's on the right and left sides are extra long to allow for the top to be attached using a single lag bolt on each side. The top piece is a 2x4 frame with a 2x6 header (pictured with all of the snow sticking to its front) and then I built an additional strength across the middle which was two 2x4's screwed together forming a 90 degree angle and then screwing that into the upper frame. For the angle all it is a lag bolt on each side put through the 2x4's which allows for you to modify the angle at time of building. Also the 2x8 supports that go out from the wall are all put into place with two bolts per connection. The only thing I would like to change would be to put a footer at the bottom around 16" high to make the bottom section a little higher and make better use of the feet. Currently the bottom angle is only about 6.5-7ft high before getting into the roof which is a little low. It has been outdoors now for 14+ months and has some signs of weathering but has not had any issues. The structure literally just sits on top of the ground and hasn't moved or shifted. I probably need to put some standard house siding on the top and back to prevent more weathering sometime soon, but it has not been a problem. Let me know if you have any questions, I can also take detail photos if my explanations above need more clarification.
Nice design. Any side to side movement? How did you get the top section installed, just a lot of man power or is there a certain way to do it? I've been trying to get my roof up to just get it connected to the frame but with only one other person to help it's been pretty tough.
Andy Librande · · Denver, CO · Joined Nov 2005 · Points: 1,880
Evan Sanders wrote: Nice design. Any side to side movement? How did you get the top section installed, just a lot of man power or is there a certain way to do it? I've been trying to get my roof up to just get it connected to the frame but with only one other person to help it's been pretty tough.
It is solid. The way to build it is built the bottom piece with the small triangle support and stand it up. Then mount the top piece to the bottom piece (the bottom sides should extend up a ft or two for the attachment).

You will need 4 ppl to help lift it up but once it is resting on the bottom piece you can have 2 ppl hold it or rest in on a support (ie ladder). Attach it using a bolt on each side so that it can be adjusted up and down.

Then the next step is to lift up the roof until the legs are in the right position. Hold it and mount it to the bolts.

The whole strength of the wall comes from a cut piece of 2x6 which goes from the upper corner to the bottom corner. This will screw into the wall at the top and the bottom making the roof rigid. The outer legs are only there to keep the wall from tipping forward.

It is big enough to support a small climbing competition:

http://vimeo.com/15015373

However it is still much easier to build a simple 30 degree flat wall.
Evan Sanders · · Westminster, CO · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 140

ANOTHER UPDATE: Climbing wall is almost complete! Decided to add a stalactite feature (or whatever you'd call it) at the beginning of the roof. Still doing some painting (showing the UT pride with the orange and white checkerboard on the stalactite :) ) but we decided to set a really easy route to see how the wall feels. The side panels on the stalactite still need to be screwed in (still doing some painting on them) but check out the video to see the free standing wall!! The route doesn't go all the way to the end because we lack roof jugs to complete it. We actually only have a couple decent jugs, so if anybody has any to sell....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQxqaWPoFg4

The video is of my fiancee climbing the route. I told her to just use the beams on top of the roof to finish the route but she just wouldn't listen....haha. Anyway, let me know what you think!

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

General Climbing
Post a Reply to "Home climbing wall question: connecting frames"

Log In to Reply

Join the Community

Create your FREE account today!
Already have an account? Login to close this notice.

Get Started.