April 2024
I was so excited about starting this one, and I truly believe that my two boys will appreciate this climb wall for a long time!
First of all, the number of resources I was able to find on this topic was amazing—the internet is flooded! There was even a link for a How-to article with Home Depot. Most were pretty similar, just with small variations in design.
The biggest takeaway in my research for a successful indoor climb wall was finding a soft place to land. Some people mounted the climbing wall above the bed, others used a toddler mattress, and I am opting for our nugget couch!
Wellness Impact
One thing I was not prepared for when becoming a parent, was the number of times I would have say “No”.
No, you can’t flush your underwear.
No, we can’t stop the rain just by yelling at the clouds.
No, you cannot be naked in public.
I think about being told “no” that often. Imagine being so curious about something, and feeling brave enough to ask about it – and then being told “No”. Even when the response is empathetic, it still doesn’t feel great to someone trying to learn the world.
One of the biggest perks of aging is not having to ask for that permission and being turned down.
Considering the truth, toddlers will make outlandish requests and we will have to continue to say no, but I challenge myself to say “yes” more often.
No, we can’t go to the park to climb while it’s raining, but yes, I can build you something to climb!
Hearing “yes” reduces stress and anxiety and creates a happiness-high, regardless of age.
So, yes, you can climb in your bedroom.
Step 1. Make a plan – then another.
I had some high aspirations. I had seen individuals make blocks shaped like clouds and mountains. Some climb walls started at one corner and traveled halfway around the room.
My initial thought was long triangles spaced one over another with a few inches in between. I like the idea of having some negative space visible instead of boards that cover the wall completely from top to bottom.
As with all of my perfectly planned mock-ups, I used Pages to make this in about 5 minutes. It was enough to get me excited about starting the project.
After researching some handholds for the climb wall, I got a little nervous. If I were using triangles, was I limiting the space available to add those holds? I was worried the result would be too many condensed holds and not enough space to stretch and reach while climbing.
So I simplified.
Bear with me, I understand that the perspective is non-existent, but I was never great at angles.
However, this did seem like it would allow room for more holds and a little variety of climbing.
Step 2. Materials and Cuts
I opted for two sheets of 4’x8’x3/4″ plywood. Specifically, I chose Sande plywood, but there are more options. I wanted strength and cost-effectiveness.
I decided on the thickness based on the climb holds that I found –linked here. Visualizing in my head, 25 seemed like more than enough to cover the corner. The set also came with a rope, I have no intention of adding that to the room.
I liked how these attached, with a flush back piece that would not push into the wall. I was using the plywood to anchor the holds to studs, so I didn’t think it was necessary to have 50 additional holes in the drywall where each climb hold would be.
I made one little mistake with the order. The screws that came with the holds were way too long for 3/4″ plywood, more on that in a bit.
With plywood in hand, I made a few simple straight cuts using a circular saw and ended up with about 8 pieces of different size squares, and rectangles.
I took all the pieces to the room and laid them out on the floor. Then, I did a quick tape outline of where each would go. I briefly thought about using all eight pieces and just creating a wider wall than I had originally planned, but after getting the outline up, I thought six was plenty for this corner climb wall(at least for right now.)
Step 3. Adding The Hardware
Back to the hardware whoopsie-daisy.
The screws that came with the holds were each around 3 inches. Needless to say, they would go through the hold, the plywood, the back anchor, and the drywall.
So I started to think about options.
- Buying new screws. This was quickly vetoed once I realized the cost of replacing 50 heavy-duty, specialty, screws.
- Option 2 was a lot of physical labor and involved me and my little hack saw. After trimming a few down to size, I knew that this was going to turn my 2-day project into a 2-week project. I couldn’t focus long enough to do more than a few in one sitting.
- The last option still involved some spending but had some additional perks. I bought a Dremel.
This had been on my list for a while. It’s pretty universal and has attachments for just about everything, including tiny little blades for cutting metal.
After a couple of trial and error cuts, I figured out the perfect legnth that would go through the hold and be long enough to screw into the back anchor.
Of course, I didn’t get any pictures of the back of the board, but these are the anchors that came with the kit. For those wanting the actual name: Pronged T-Nut.
Once all the screws were cut, I was ready to place the holds!
I don’t trust my ability to evenly space and distribute the holds, so I took a little time deciding exactly where each would go before I started drilling holes.
I laid all of the panels down in the order they would be placed on the wall. Then I just started laying holds on top. I thought about measuring the length of my son’s arm to be sure no two were ever too far apart and then realized that was unnecessary and I was overthinking things, as usual.
Once happy with distance and color placement, I made little marks for each hold and even marked them with a letter so that I would know which color was there.
Once all the marks were made, I started drilling holes through the plywood. Next, I used a hammer to bang the pronged side into the back of the drill hole and then added each hold.
Step 4. Mount and climb!
Obviously, this was the best part, and not too difficult.
First I found my studs, marking the tape where one lined up. Then I brought in my digital level. Instead of checking each time for a stud, I used the level as a guide and drilled in each piece on one side before lining up the level to the next stud and reinforcing each block.
Each piece of plywood received at least two screws in each stud it lined up with. For the bigger pieces, I added one extra.
This part was done with a little help. I had my wife come in and line a piece up using the tape guidelines while I pushed in the first 2 screws.
Once the board was hanging straight, I added the rest of the screws.
It didn’t take J long to want to give it a shot. After mounting 1 full side, I gave a quick weight test. I climbed what I could and took turns putting all of my body weight on different holds until I felt safe with everything.
Then, I let him have a go!
Once the second wall was done, another quick weight test and he was free to start climbing.
Update:
Months later, this wall has seen many friends (children and adults), and I am happy to report no injuries! If we have more friends over, we add to the pile of pillows on the ground – just to be safe.
This was Bruce’s last project to supervise. Although we miss him endlessly, it was a wonderful 15 years.
