Home Wall - Tension Board 2 for a New Home Build

Hi all!  Looking for some help and advice on this since we are fairly new to climbing. We are currently in the process of building a new home and looking at installing a home wall into our space.  I’ve browsed several threads on here, and the advice I have found has been super useful. I am now in a bit of a time crunch though for requesting some final specifications for this area - so I am hoping that I can get some advice from those of you with home boards of things you love about your home setup / might have wished you did differently.

My husband and I are more beginner climber who are interested in training to get better. We are slowly getting better, but you should assume for all purposes that we are extremely weak and still working on our techniques, form, and strength.

We are interested in getting either the tension board 2 (8x10) or kilter board (7x10) on an adjustable frame.

The space where we want to put the board currently has a max height of 8’4”. We cannot increase the height of our building anymore since we’re at the maximum building height - but with some heavy/costly modifications, if needed, we could possibly increase the height to 9’ where the top edge of the board would meet the ceiling (by reducing some of the depth of the structure above). We’re debating whether the costs of doing so would be worth it.

Can anyone provide some input regarding these questions: 

- We are nervous at setting the wall past a 40 degree angle as beginners. Having no kickboard would make it easiest for us to make do with our 8’4” height restriction. But would it be best to plan for the kickboard anyhow - I read several posts about kickboards being recommended.
- If we are leaning towards the tension board 2 (since I am more vertically challenged than my husband), would a kickboard be necessary or useful still when the new layout has moved away from using a kickboard for starting foot holds?
- If we opt for the kickboard, what would you recommend for the height of it?
- Should we opt for a kickboard anyways to make it easier to fit the crashpad under the wall? Is this even something we need to worry about? Any ideas what the recommended depth for the crash pad would be in such a situation?
- Any recommendations for prefabricated frames or should we look into DIY options?

Sorry! Tons of questions - just in a time crunch to provide a response back to those who are waiting to finalize specifications. Thanks!

Hi Miska,

Do you need to build it right away or can you delay it? If you're both weak, I don't know how recommended it is to build a home training board. I think at most, to avoid injury, you could be climbing on it once a week. That is if you can even establish yourself on many of the routes, which may be a problem if you're just starting out. It seems to me it may be best to simply wait until you are both a bit stronger. Maybe just start with a pull-up bar and other gym equipment to train strength on off day.

To your questions: A kickboard is certainly nice, without one things can feel quite cramped. A kilter board may be easier for you both at the start, but I generally prefer tension board and have read glowing reviews of tension board 2. I don't think getting an adjustable wall is that worth it if you can't put it above 8'. 40 degrees is a good general purpose angle, but again will be hard, and an injury risk, if you aren't strong enough

Thank you for your comments!

We won’t be building the wall immediately, but we do need to make some decisions on certain aspects of our future home to make sure that it will be able to fit the home board in the future. It is much easier and cost efficient to make those changes now before the plans are finalized.

We are currently about a year into climbing and will probably gain another year (or two) of climbing experience before the home is completed and the board is installed.

Right now, it seems if we opt for no kickboard, then we won’t need to make any changes to our ceiling height and would be able to get it close to maybe 35 degrees. However, as soon as we consider adding a kickboard, we run into issues with it being steeper and height modifications to our ceiling potentially being required. Just trying to gauge how people feel about how desirable the kickboard would be for our situation. It is hard for us to understand how much of a qualify of life improvement it would be to have one, since we’re essentially talking about how much it would benefit us two years from now.  Unfortunately, we have to make some decisions about it now so we can move on with permit requirements, etc. 

I just finished an adjustable 7x10 Kilter Home Wall build about a month ago so my comments will be based around that. Since I haven't been able to use it for that long, I would take my comments with a gain of salt relative to someone who has a lot of experience with this board.

My ceiling is 9' and a opted to not include a kickboard, though the bottom of the board is raised an extra 1.5" off the ground since it's attached to an anchored 2x6. This allows me to raise the angle up to 30°, which was my goal. I have 5" padding, which I feel is enough given the low height of the board. My padding is offset from the base of the wall by 1-2 feet so using the bottom footholds is easier, and I have thin foam exercise mats up against the wall to offer a bit of protection from a foot slip. Although a kickboard is always nice to have if you have adequate ceiling height, I don't have any regrets about how I've built mine yet. Going up to 30° is nice to get some use out of the more heinous holds. I have encountered a few scrunchy problems (mostly if the starting hands are low), but I can make it work if I push the pads back a bit. The Kilter Home Wall has so many problems that, if I encounter one that wouldn't be fun without a kickboard, I can just disregard it and pick another. This is less of an option with the TB2, which currently has far fewer problems in the 8x10 size, though it looks like it's getting better in this regard.

If you want to include a kickboard, I would at least make short enough such that the wall angle can go up to 40°. Even that angle will be probably rough for most newer climbers, but you should be able adapt as long as you don't overdo it. Steeper than that would suck if it was your only option, especially as a newer climber.

I have a 12x12 Tension board 2 in my garage fixed at 40 degrees with a ~1.5' kickboard.

With 8'4" ceilings, you could have a 10' board at 35 degrees with no kickboard, just barely. Having a 40 degree board would give you room for an 8" kickboard. Do you need a kickboard? With the TB2, you technically don't, and most of the Classics are set with no kickboard in mind. But, honestly, the kickboard makes for a much more pleasant climbing experience. The issue is not padding, but having enough room for your feet at the start. The TB2 hand holds are set high enough that scrunched starts should not be an issue, but for Kilter Homewall if you don't have a kickboard, some of the problems set by those who have one will have very scrunched up starts.

In your shoes, I would go 40 degrees with 8" kickboard rather than 35 degrees with no kickboard. 40 degrees is also the most popular angle and will always have more problems set for it than 35 -  I had a 35 degree Kilter board for a while and the relative lack of problems compared to 40 was annoying.

If you're beginners, both the TB2 and the Kilter Homewall are going to feel pretty rough at 40 or even 35 degrees. The TB2 has some holds usable by beginners at that angle, but the V0-V1s are still going to feel like steep gym V2-V3s. Both of the boards are going to have stuff you can climb, but you may feel pretty limited until you get stronger.

Given your height restriction, I would say an adjustable board isn't really worth it. 40 degrees is already going to feel quite hard and you probably won't want to go to 45 or 50 degrees anytime soon. For context I have bouldered up to V8 outside and honestly I don't see the need to steepen my TB2 more than 40 degrees.

Padding - you don't need crash pads under the wall. Remember you are going to be so close to the ground when you are starting a problem. A layer of 1-2" foam or gymnastics mats is more than enough.

If you are going with TB2, I would also look at the wide version that is 12 feet wide by 10 feet high, if you have the space for it. 

It looks like right now the only decision is 'decide that you're going to live with the 8'4" ceiling' or 'add a bunch of cost to go 8" higher in case you wish you had two years from now'. By the time you're ready to build the board you will be in a much better position to decide on whether or not you want a kickboard and what angles are appropriate.

None of the common training boards are beginner friendly.  Personally, I don't think it's wise for beginners to mostly climb on a board.  Boards are great but they lack in variety of moments as they are at a single angle on a flat wall.  As a beginner, you should be focusing on variety of movement.  If you were focused on outdoor climbing, you should be trying to climb outside as much as possible.  If your focus is indoor or if outdoor climbing is not possible, I would take that money and use it to go to a gym and climb as much variety as possible as often as possible. Spend a little cash to get some kettlebells, TRX straps, whatever basic home workout stuff you would like to have as doing some supplemental strength training is a great idea as a beginner but climbing on many different holds and angles and styles benefit you FAR More than any board climbing will.  

A home board can be game changer but for a beginner it is not very useful.  I think you will find as well that a board at 35 or 40° will be WAY too difficult.  Spend that money going outside into a good gym and then maybe in a few years look at getting a board.