Part 3 of the Garage Wall Project Build
Covering It Up
With the structure all framed up and mounted to the ceiling joist, it was time to work on the climbing surface. I’d be using 3/4″ sanded plywood with T-nuts arranged in an 8″ grid pattern. I decided to go with a standard grid, vs a staggered or random arrangement, since the wall would primarily be used for training, where arranging holds in a symmetrical pattern is preferred.
The 8″ grid pattern is chalked out, ready to be drilled.
Holes for the T-nuts have been drilled.
The T-nuts are in place, ready to be screwed in. I went with the screw-in version of the nuts vs the pronged versions, even though more expensive, since they’re easier to mount straight in the hole.
Three screws hold the T-nut in place. These screws really just secure the nut flush with the surface and keep it from spinning. When a hold is bolted to the wall, these screws aren’t actually subject to any of the load.
The large panel all drilled out.
I got the T-nuts from Escape Climbing. I thought the bag of 100 was going to be enough, but I came up a few short, and ended up ordering another bag.
Ready for nuts
The right panel has been secured, and the left panel is ready to go into place. It proved to be a bit tricky to lift and hold this in place by myself, but since it’s nearly midnight, I’m on my own to make this happen!
The panels are in place!
A view from the back side after mounting the panels. Care was taken to ensure none of the framing overlapped the T-nuts. For the T-nuts that are over the top of the header piece, overlapping was unavoidable, but the header was clearanced in these spots prior to mounting the plywood, so there’s still room for a bolt to protrude when mounting holds in these locations.
