Construction of my garage wall

[saF]

I know I have talked about building a wall in my garage since I moved to PEI in May 2005. Actually I think I started talking about it even before I moved here. Well, I am happy to say that it is well underway. In fact I should be putting the plywood on it between Christmas and New Years.



This pic was taken a week ago and since then I have gotten the ceiling beams ready and in place. A bunch of little things to finish and clean up before adding the plywood. I tend to over-engineer things I build, so I have used pretty heavy and thick support beams for the ceiling and slanted walls. I figure I would rather feel the fool in spending a bit extra now then feeling a fool when part of the wall collapses on me or someone else.

For more pics, see my Flickr set here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergusonsa/sets/72157594417655767/

I will be adding more pictures in the next little while as things progress!
I can't wait!
saF

[JennyC]

Hi Scott,
A climbing Wall how fun! Congrats! I moved over to PEI from Fredericton last spring, and tragically haven't gotten to do too much climbing since. If you need any help with construction or holds and stuff, please give me a holla'. I would love to lend a hand and maybe have a chance to climb! .... : )

Jenn

[saF]

I have gotten some help from Shannon a few times and won't need much more help except maybe putting up some of the plywood. Thanks for the offer Jenn.

As for coming over to climb.. The more the merrier! That was part of the reason I posted this message. I want to find people to climb with. I will probably organize a usual climbing night and have an open invitation.

Anyone else interested in coming over to climb? This may be the largest climbing "area" in PEI that won't cost you an arm and a leg! The only larger one that I know of costs $5 for 3 trips to the top and is aimed at kids.

saF

[martha]

I think you should charge everyone a 'beer fee' to climb.

[saF]

My wife and I have already discussed a "donation" jar. She says that for every 3 or 4 visits, a movie gift certificate would be a fair price. I don't know about that since I don't go to movies all that often... She goes as often as she can! Mind you that would mean I would be free to climb... Hmm I am starting to like that idea!

saF

[martha]

Ya man, keep the non-climbers entertained so you have more time to climb!

[saF]

Ok It is getting close to being completed.... Waiting for some more T-nuts to arrive from Lee Valley. Already used more than 1000, and that is only on half the wall space... maybe less. Maybe I should have ordered more than 10 bags of 100 this time...

Hopefully by the Sunday night, I will have about 80% of it done, with only the roof and maybe one other piece to do. I will post some more pics soon.

Now if anyone out there wants to come over and climb, give me a shout. I am in the Cornwall area, just outside of Charlottetown.

saF

[granite_grrl]

Do you have more pics of the wall as the building has progressed? What the area of the wall? I'm guess its somewhere with about 8 sheets of plywood with the number of T-nuts that you're using....but you are waiting for another shipment . And I guess its alway dependent on your T-nut spacing.

Anyway, glad that you're getting close to comleation. Keep us updated!

[saF]

Rebecca, I do have some more pics and will be posting them to my Flickr account sometime soon.

Total size is not quite 10 full sheets of plywood, with a 35 degree wall,a 15 degree wall and a vertical wall between, and the roof which will be sloped a bit, not perfectly horizontal. The maximum height is about 10 1/2 feet and the kicker panels at the bottom of the sloping walls are about 13 feet apart.

I have been placing the t-nuts about 4 inches apart in a diamond pattern, so it is over 200 per sheet. My order of t-nuts arrived yesterday, earlier than I expected. So tonight I hopefully will have most of the vertical wall installed (already have the plywood cut & drilled for all but the top 13").

Unfortunately I can't really start climbing on it until I get the staging out of the way. And I am going to need it for installing the roof, so I have to get busy with that!

I will try to post some more pics later tonight. Big difference from the last pic on Flickr.

saF

[saF]

The end is in site!!!



By the end of the weekend, my wall will be done! One panel on the roof, which is already cut to size. And one panel at the foot of the 15 degree wall.

Then I can remove the staging and do some climbing!

saF

[saF]

D'oh the link to the image didn't work....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fergusonsa/377054535/

Try that link.

saF

[chossmonkey]

The wall is looking good. Did you layout and drill all of those holes individually?

We have around 150 T-nuts per panel and I thought it took a long time to drill out the 4 sheets I did at once.

I like the diagonal grid. I said the next time I built a wall and had to drill new panels I would do a diagonal grid. But with our new section I just did the same pattern as before. I guess I was in a rush to get the wall up so I didn't want to mess with figuring out a new grid and we would have had to get more T-nuts.

[Fred]

grid? wow! I just close my eyes and punch holes at 6" +/- in every direction. Must have taken a while to get those t-nut holes done so perfectly

[chossmonkey]

Doing a grid takes a bit longer but you can get more holds into a smaller area. Contrary to popular belief, you are more likely to have a T-nut right where you want one and will never feel like you are climbing on a grid, providing you have a dense grid.


On my first wall I had the grid labled like a Battle Ship board so I could keep track of routes without having to tape all of them.