Is this space too small for a woodie?

Adam F. wrote:I have used a hammer drill to make my own holds from real rock. 3/16 hole for countersunk deck screws. Then you can put the holds wherever you want and are not limited by the T nuts. I would even be willing to sell a few if you want to check them out. Here are a few I have made:

Thanks for the suggestion and offer, as Andy suggested, I will build the wall first and make sure I like it before I get too many holds, I have collected a few used ones from craigslist to get started for now.

If you go through the effort to paint your wall you should add some shark-grip or other non skid additive. More than texture they help keep the paint from sticking to your holds and peeling off when you move them. Use a good 100% Acrylic floor paint for maximum durability. I prefer the look of raw or polyurethaned walls but the toe drag marks from beginners can look pretty bad after a while.

Reply to Woodchuck ATC: They are Fountain Sandstone which is very hard. I have also used Phonolite which is like the stone of Penetente canyon.

My experince is if they make it through drilling they are OK and won't break. I have a couple hundred that I have been using for over 10 years and have never had one break after drilling.

ChuiSan wrote:Thanks Andy. That t-nut list was very helpful, I think cheapholds has the best price now for 1000 with the 15% off and free shipping. Do you think putting around 200 per 4x8 is a bit overkill?

I am building a woody myself, and researched t-nut prices too, and really you cannot beat element climbing right now... %25 off their list price and t-nuts in quantity ship free. 2000 t-nuts for ~$143 (just a little over 7 cents each).

Personally, I wouldn't spend the time or money for such a small space...not so much the L x W dimensions, but the height. Unless you live a long ways from a gym, I'd take the money you'd spend on wood, holds, and t-nuts and buy a gym membership instead.

The only people I know who've built woodies and continued to use them over time are the people with enough space (and some pysched training partners) who didn't have a gym nearby. For my own needs, anything less than about 10' of buildable height isn't worth the effort. YMMV of course.

For me, to be psyched on home woodie training, I'd need to go the Moon School Room board route, where you can easily replicate problems other people have designed at consensus grades, or with something very small like you are proposing, I'd go the symmetrical layout route and train mirror image moves/sequences instead of trying to set unique "boulder problems" on the board. The Hubers did something similar in their early training. It would be more boring than regular bouldering type work, but hangboarding is insanely boring and I don't have a problem doing that season after season, year after year.

cyberbackpacker wrote: I am building a woody myself, and researched t-nut prices too, and really you cannot beat element climbing right now... %25 off their list price and t-nuts in quantity ship free. 2000 t-nuts for ~$143 (just a little over 7 cents each).

Thanks for the headsup. That's $10 cheaper than cheapholds! I will be ordering from them.

@Will - I do have a gym membership but some days I just don't have the time to get out there, its not that far but could take close to an hour each way some times with traffic. I am thinking of using the home woodie during my busy months when I can't get out but will still make going out to the gym my first choice. I would like to climb 4x a week off season and at least 2 of those using my membership at the gym.

Keeping motivated is my main concern too, I don't want to not use it after its put up so I am going to try very hard to. I just paid for a used HIT system so can't back out now :)

ChuiSan wrote:If we do it, I would probably put a 10x8 at 45deg (with a 6" kicker) on one of the 10.5 wall which will come out about 6' on the ceiling and then a 8x6.5 30deg on the opposite wall, I will have about a foot on the ceiling between the 2 walls which I will put a couple of roof jugs on so I can go up one wall and down the other.

I have now ordered my t-nuts but I am in a dilemma again. My climbing partner keeps finding flaws with the above plan. Like Lanky suggested, he thinks when the feet cut on the 45, they will hit the other wall but I am not convinced they will and I am willing to even make it 20-25 deg to ensure that. He thinks I should have just 1 wall at 60 deg so I can have 10x12 of climbing area instead of 10x8 which will also mean that I cannot have the less steep wall. But I think 60 deg maybe too steep, I want to improve my finger strength so not climbing all on jugs (mini/finger jugs on 45 will be ok), I would also like to work on slopers & pinches which I am weak on but I can't put them on the 60deg.

So what do you think? is having a bigger climbing area more important?

ChuiSan wrote: I have now ordered my t-nuts but I am in a dilemma again. My climbing partner keeps finding flaws with the above plan. Like Lanky suggested, he thinks when the feet cut on the 45, they will hit the other wall but I am not convinced they will and I am willing to even make it 20-25 deg to ensure that. He thinks I should have just 1 wall at 60 deg so I can have 10x12 of climbing area instead of 10x8 which will also mean that I cannot have the less steep wall. But I think 60 deg maybe too steep, I want to improve my finger strength so not climbing all on jugs (mini/finger jugs on 45 will be ok), I would also like to work on slopers & pinches which I am weak on but I can't put them on the 60deg. So what do you think? is having a bigger climbing area more important?

I recognize this post is old, but any chance you went through with this? I'm considering building a home wall in my basement, which also has a low ceiling, just under 7 feet. I'm trying to decide whether to go with a 45 or 60 degree overhang or both.

BMJ wrote: I recognize this post is old, but any chance you went through with this? I'm considering building a home wall in my basement, which also has a low ceiling, just under 7 feet. I'm trying to decide whether to go with a 45 or 60 degree overhang or both.

i did go thru with the wall and ended up with a compromised angle of 50 with a small roof section. 50 is plenty steep enough, I need lots of jugs, maybe if i train on it more regularly, i will be strong enough to use smaller holds. I have used it a bit and i am glad its there for when I am busy. my gym membership runs out in a few weeks and i probably won't get another one until after Christmas, so will put our woodie to good use. Although I will have to say, I will be more motivated to use it if its has a lot more holds....

If my ceiling height allows me to put a 8 foot panel up at 45, I will definitely do that instead of 50.

Got any pics?

divnamite wrote:Got any pics?

will try to get some up in a couple of days, parents in town at the moment ....

ChuiSan wrote: will try to get some up in a couple of days, parents in town at the moment ....

Thanks! My basement is similar in size. I'm debating if i should just hangboard instead of wall.

Yes,pictures would be great!

You addressed this to an extent above, but would you prefer a 45 to your 50 because it would allow you to use slightly smaller holds? In my case, I could build a 45 degree wall that's 8' feet long with about an 11" kicker. But if I made the wall 60 degrees and shortened the kicker a bit, I could make the wall 12 feet long. I'm wondering if that extra length is worth the trade offs that come with the steeper wall. I don't know if I mind the difficulty of the steeper wall -- I could start with big holds and add volumes for some smaller ones. But I am concerned that climbing on a 60 degree wall would involve more specialized climbing movements that don't translate as well to more varied angles. Finally, I'm considering building both angles, but one of my plans would only allow for an 8' wide wall, and I don't know if it would be as useful to have one panel at 45 and the other at 60; that might make problems that traverse across the panels less feasible, although I'm still thinking about this.

Will work on getting the pictures when parents gone.

Yes, I would prefer 45 over 50 so that I could use smaller holds (also because I am a weakling). I mostly do routes outside and the climbing is generally not very steep. So training on smaller holds on less steep wall will benefit me more than on jugs on steep. But I my space is very limited and that is the only reason i make the wall 50 (its actually about 52 :D)

ChuiSan wrote:Will work on getting the pictures when parents gone. Yes, I would prefer 45 over 50 so that I could use smaller holds (also because I am a weakling). I mostly do routes outside and the climbing is generally not very steep. So training on smaller holds on less steep wall will benefit me more than on jugs on steep. But I my space is very limited and that is the only reason i make the wall 50 (its actually about 52 :D)

Any chance you can post some pics?

sorry I totally forgot about it, here you go ....

wall

wall1

wall2