Hangboard in doorway - do I need much space on the right?

Hi all! I'm not sure if this is the best place in the forum for this question.
I'm a very casual climber, but like many of you I'm sure, I'm finding myself stuck at home and decided to finally get a hangboard, because as nice as working out on a yoga mat is, I'm starting to get the itch...
So I got the Trango Rock Prodigy and intend to mount it on a piece of plywood above a doorway in my apartment. From what I can figure out, it seems I have two studs on either side of the door, and one in the middle (above the doorway, center). See picture.

Now, I live by myself with no one to help and I'm not a very HomeDepot-savvy person, though I'm not completely clueless either (I hope..) and have some tools.
I was reading the manual for the hangboard and it recommends having space on both sides of a doorframe.
Would any of you have an opinion on that? There's no space to the right of my door(just another wall) but it seems I would have enough space to comfortably train,no? see picture.
Very thankful for any advice, tips, experience etc.
Does it look like a good location? Do any of you have mounted hangboard to their drywall apartments?

I'm absolutely terrified of doing this by myself and somehow catastrophically ripping out part of the wall and having to pay for that, but at the same time I need to train before what little progression I'd made in the last months melts away   

Thanks!

Hey Charline,

No, you’ll be fine. Just get a backing board, mount it to the studs, then you can mount your Rock Prodigy anywhere on the board. You got this. 

I think reason for the space on either side is to keep you arms, shoulder, and elbows from hitting the door/wall on the sides.  It looks like the best place to hang it might be on the other side of the wall in your picture.

Donovan Allen wrote: Hey Charline,

No, you’ll be fine. Just get a backing board, mount it to the studs, then you can mount your Rock Prodigy anywhere on the board. You got this. 

Thanks for the pep talk    I bet a lot of home projects going on lately... at least I'll learn stuff   

Ben Ricketts wrote: I think reason for the space on either side is to keep you arms, shoulder, and elbows from hitting the door/wall on the sides.  It looks like the best place to hang it might be on the other side of the wall in your picture.

Thanks! Yes, good point, I think you may be right. It'll show in my living room, but oh well... :) 

I had to think about this sort of stuff with my first hangboard setup, and I agree with Ben above: if it's an option, mounting it on the other side of that doorframe (the kitchen-facing side) will be much better, for the following reasons:

1. The door will not get in your way. This is important, because if you hang enough in a position that's asymmetrical while trying to avoid your door, you'll build asymmetrical muscles, which is a recipe for poor movement patterns and eventual injury.
2. If you're considering adding a pulley system to take weight off for certain hangs, putting your board on the side we see in the picture will force that system to be on the left (maybe that's okay with you).

Also, instead of plywood, if you can find a solid piece of pine, I would recommend that. Why? Well, if you're installing a pulley system, you'll need to screw eyebolts in perpendicular to the long axis of the board to clip the pulleys to. These eye-screws may end up having quite a bit of force on them when you have weights/yourself on the board, and the layers in the plywood might not be strong as you'd like for holding these in as a solid block.

Have fun hanging! Start slow and use good technique :)

sourisse wrote: I had to think about this sort of stuff with my first hangboard setup, and I agree with Ben above: if it's an option, mounting it on the other side of that doorframe (the kitchen-facing side) will be much better, for the following reasons:

1. The door will not get in your way. This is important, because if you hang enough in a position that's asymmetrical while trying to avoid your door, you'll build asymmetrical muscles, which is a recipe for poor movement patterns and eventual injury.
2. If you're considering adding a pulley system to take weight off for certain hangs, putting your board on the side we see in the picture will force that system to be on the left (maybe that's okay with you).

Also, instead of plywood, if you can find a solid piece of pine, I would recommend that. Why? Well, if you're installing a pulley system, you'll need to screw eyebolts in perpendicular to the long axis of the board to clip the pulleys to. These eye-screws may end up having quite a bit of force on them when you have weights/yourself on the board, and the layers in the plywood might not be strong as you'd like for holding these in as a solid block.

Have fun hanging! Start slow and use good technique :)

THanks a lot for the tips! Yeah, I havent climbed in a couple weeks so for sure I'm not going to go hard on that one.   

Another question if anyone has some feedback - I see the Trango manual recommends 3.5'' #8 wood screws to attach the mounting board to the studs. The only 3.5'' #8's I can find on Home Depot's site have terrible reviews. Would you recommend larger or longer screws? (oh the jokes...) 

Charline B wrote: Another question if anyone has some feedback - I see the Trango manual recommends 3.5'' #8 wood screws to attach the mounting board to the studs. The only 3.5'' #8's I can find on Home Depot's site have terrible reviews. Would you recommend larger or longer screws? (oh the jokes...) 

I cannot imagine needing beefier screws than that. Whatever you find at home depot is surely fine.

Charline B wrote:

Thanks! Yes, good point, I think you may be right. It'll show in my living room, but oh well... :) 

That might be a good thing, since you will be reminded to use it. I have had mine up on the inside of the doorframe in our office for quite a while, but I only started really using it since the gyms closed and stay at home order was issued. Out of sight, out of mind, but since climbing is always on my mind these days, I don't forget that it is there. 

If you mount a piece of wood to the studs and then mount the hang board to the wood, when you move out, a little bit of spackle will cover it up nicely. You may not even need to paint over it if your walls are white.

I am actually enjoying my hang board routine more than I thought I would. 

Thank you everyone for your kind advice! I noted all the feedback about having pulleys/counterweight :).
TBH with you guys, my first sessions will likely just be a lot of jug hauling.  

 Looks like I may make a very careful trip to home depot in tomorrow...

I'll keep y'all posted on the success or failure of the installation!

I mounted mine in a very similar situation to your photo.  I just mounted it off-center a few inches (away from the door), and I never feel like I don't have enough lateral space.  I used to do counter-weighted hangs (elsewhere), but now I think it just adds complication without much benefit.  Check out Dave Macleod's hangboarding video -- there's a ton you can do with a simple setup, and there a lot of value in KISS.

A little update for you guys who helped me! Thanks so much for all the tips!
So far, it has NOT come off the wall, although i did go ham on the screws!   

After much testing with the studfinder and making 1092192 marks, and at least 2 pilot holes that went straight through drywall where the studfinder said the stud was... I managed to at least 100% sure hit the stud in the middle (screws were VERY hard to drive in)

The ones on the left and right of the door however, I'm not 100% sure. They were easier to drive in, but didnt spin in nothing either... you can see due to where the studfinder said it was, I had to go a bit further left on the left side, it was really strange. But one of the pilot holes bit, soo...
Time will tell, I guess. It doesn't move at all, or even creak, so far (im about 145lbs).

Pretty sure I can say bye to my safety deposit tho  

Next time hire a certified AMGA mountain guide to avoid shenanigans   

Looks great Charline!

• Charline B wrote:Pretty sure I can say bye to my safety deposit tho  

Meh once you take it down little spakle fills the small holes fine.

Field other people home depot has a lot more options for screws in #10 which is a tiny bit beefier anyway but 3 inch would be enough for a 5/8 backing board I would think.   That longer size recommendation is probably because the hangboard is thicker than a backing board.

Tradiban wrote: Next time hire a certified AMGA mountain guide to avoid shenanigans   

I should've done that, they probably need work lately...   

Zacks wrote:

Meh once you take it down little spakle fills the small holes fine.

Field other people home depot has a lot more options for screws in #10 which is a tiny bit beefier anyway but 3 inch would be enough for a 5/8 backing board I would think.   That longer size recommendation is probably because the hangboard is thicker than a backing board.

Ended up going with 

• #10  3 1/2 inch construction screws for screwing the board (3/4 birch) to the wall
• #8 2 1/2 inch (provided with the hangboard) to screw the hangboard to the plywood.

Lotsa holes in my wall, but oh well. Worth it. I've already ripped away the soft skin my hands had been building on those nice weeks off...  

Donovan Allen wrote: Looks great Charline!

Thank you!!   

Charline B wrote: A little update for you guys who helped me! Thanks so much for all the tips!
So far, it has NOT come off the wall, although i did go ham on the screws!   

After much testing with the studfinder and making 1092192 marks, and at least 2 pilot holes that went straight through drywall where the studfinder said the stud was... I managed to at least 100% sure hit the stud in the middle (screws were VERY hard to drive in)

The ones on the left and right of the door however, I'm not 100% sure. They were easier to drive in, but didnt spin in nothing either... you can see due to where the studfinder said it was, I had to go a bit further left on the left side, it was really strange. But one of the pilot holes bit, soo...
Time will tell, I guess. It doesn't move at all, or even creak, so far (im about 145lbs).

Pretty sure I can say bye to my safety deposit tho  

I like how you decorated it lol. good work, probably overkill on the number of screws but who really wants a face full of board and a concussion, ya know.  

Here is mine that I installed today, I was pretty proud of myself, I am also not the most handy person out there.  I can hang on the top rung quite easily but the second I can only hold a few seconds, so I have plenty of work to do!  F U Boulders, Gon be Stronk once I face you again!

Okay, back to conversing with myself and smoking too much pot

Nice work. The screws you guys are using are more then sufficient. Star head screws are the way to go, they strip way less easily than regular Phillips. Don't rele matter what screws you use but mainly if you hit something solid.... Anyways,
If your worried about not hitting anything on the sides , you can always run your plywood backer board up to the ceiling, you'll always hit something at the top where the wall meets the ceiling.
Then you can put holds on top of each other and do a move or two up,