Installing climbing holds

I was wondering if anyone had mounted holds in their house to drywall & the 2"x 4"s behind it. Will wood screws in the compatible holds be enough to keep each hold stable? I want to make a mini traverse in one of my rooms. Thanks.

I have not put screw on holds directly to a wall like your talking about, but i have put up a few finger boards. If your just putting on smaller foot holds or crimps you should be fine, but most studs are an inch and a half +/- wide. If your are putting larger holds on i would recommend cutting out plywood and drilling that to the studs first then your screw-ons to the plywood...

good luck

I have put screw ons directly into studs but without drywall.. I had a little route down in my basement going from my hangboard up across the ceiling and onto the staircase.. all screw ons. Wood screws worked fine

If you were to go straight into the 2x4's, then it would probably be strong enough, you'll almost certainly make some nasty dents underneath them from loading and unloading the holds and the corresponding flexing/movement of the screws. You'll do less damage to your wall if you make a 2x4 frame, slap some exterior-grade thick plywood on it, and then back the screws with small 2x4 blocks if they don't get screwed right into the frame, and then screw the frame into the wall at a few locations. If/when you pull it down, then you just have to spackle a few holes. You could also just doublestack the plywood, screw it into the 2x4s backing the drywall, and probably get away without too much marring of the wall.

I'm thinking about putting a climbing wall in my loft. Did you ever try just putting holds directly on the drywall and studs.

I have not done this but I can tell you that you will most certainly ruin your drywall. It would be easy to plaster over, but it will be indented.

Hashy,

On a budget, you can find and mark your studs. Get some 2'x 2" framing studs and fasten them perpendicular to the studs. Next use a 5/8 or 3/4 inch thick sheet of OSB(oriented strand board) and screw that into the 2x2 studs. Most climbing hold applications specify using 3/8" dia T nuts at about 5" on center. Why not get some of those at the hardware store? Cost you a bit more up front but in the end you may be a lot happier. But backing blocks and screws will work also.

Use plywood, not OSB.

I'm not a big guy, but I've torn T nuts through OSB.

one of my walls is OSB and it totally sucks

Drywall will not hold, studs will work but you will only be able to get small holds on them and likely it will do some damage to the drywall where you screw them in at.