|
How to build a Climbing
Wall
|
|
Climbing Wall
- Positioning the Wall:
Begin by deciding where your climbing wall will be
positioned. If you have an unfinished basement
with some exposed studs this could be a great place to put
the climbing wall. You may want to sketch the place in
your house where you will place the wall. Neither your space
nor the sheet will have perfectly right angles so you do not
want tight fits because they are bound to have some strange
gaps.
- Selecting materials: I would
recommend using whole sheets of material so you do not have
a lot of extra cuts to make. Most sheets come in 4' by
8' lengths. 3/4 inch is a good thickness. Be
sure that you have a few inches on all sides of the sheet.
Once this is decided you may want to consider what materials
you would like to use. Chipboard has a fairly neutral
appearance. This is the material used at the Lincoln
Park Clinic. Oriented Strand Board (OSB) has a much
more visible texture and may or may not look good in your
space. Plywood tends to be more expensive and is even
harder to match to most decors so I do not recommend it
unless you already have a lot of it in the area where you
are putting the wall. If you get a piece of scrap
material and you finish it the same way as you want to
finish the climbing wall you can see how well it fits.
- Fixed or Hinged:
Discuss with your child's therapist the level of difficulty
that the climbing wall should have. This will let you
decide if you want the top of the wall to hinge. or if
you want it vertical. If you have a lot of space you
can also have one portion of the wall which is slanted and
one which is vertical. Keep in mind that climbing
walls can be set up in corners.
- Reveals: I
would recommend that the structure behind the wall be slightly
narrower than the wall is wide so the climbing wall covers the
support structure. The gap this creates on the edge is
called a reveal. You will not get the support
structure to be the
exact same width as the 4x8 sheet so use a reveal.
The bottom of the climbing wall should be raised a couple
inches above the baseboard (if there is a base board)
or 6 inches off the floor. This makes it easier to
clean under the climbing wall
- Building the Wall:
Lay the sheet on the floor and You can glue the frame you build to support the wall
on it's back side. If you want the edges flush build
the structure
a bit larger and then sand the edges to make it flush.
You need to remember that the corners of 2x4s are round so
you may need to plane or sand the edges of the 2x4.
Using a reveal solves this problem I recommend that
the structure supporting the sheet be inset about an inch.
Paint the structure the same color as your wall and it will visually
disappear and again you do not have to worry about making it
the exact same size. I recommend drilling holes for
the climbing holds "rocks" every 6 inches in height and 12
inches in width. If your wall is going to be attached
to the wall and you can not get behind it you need to put "T
nuts" in every hole. These are pounded into the
holes from behind. The "T nuts" and holds are
available from
Sara tell her how many holds and nuts you need.
It may take 1 to 2 weeks to get these if we run out.
They are also available at many climbing stores like
Moosejaw
Mountaineering which has stores in Lincoln Park and the
North Shore. If you have space to finish the wall
before you install it I recommend this. if you are
going to use a waterproof finish on the wall such as
urethane I recommend finishing both sides to keep the sheet
from warping. I do not recommend painting the wall as
it will show dirt. A sealed chipboard finish will hide
dirt well especially if it has a matte finish.
- Securing the Wall:
You will want to secure a climbing wall to the wall of your
house. You want to begin be finding the studs in your
wall. You can do this by using a stud finder which is
available at your local hardware store. You may also
want to inquire as to the type of studs and the appropriate
fasteners for those studs. It is easiest to work with
wood, dry wall screws work well in wood.
Once you have decided where you want to place the climbing
wall mark the studs in the area so you will be able to see
where they are once the wall is in place. Use screws
that have no thread for a 2" section where they will be
spinning in the wall and it's frame and at least 2.25 inches
of thread. Counter sink the screws so the heads are
not exposed and they can not injure your child.
Use wood blocks to hold the climbing wall at the proper
height and check it with a level. Place a screw in
each stud about 6 inches from the top of the wall.
repeat this every 12 inches as you go down from the top of
the wall. If you are hinging the wall place a 2x6
across the studs where the top of the wall will be and you
can then attach hinges to climbing wall and the 2x6.
- Things to Remember:
- Periodically check and
tighten the holds.
- Once your child is
comfortable on the wall you can move some holds.
- smaller holds will make
climbing more challenging
- place padding at the base
of the wall.
- Your child should have
appropriate supervision while using the wall.
|
|
