Homewall and Covid : Clean, Simple Office Woodie
To stay in shape during the pandemic, Alex K. transformed the guest bedroom into a home climbing wall for his whole family. The pre-built wall made their installation easy. Homewall and Covid : is it the solution ?
Homewall and Covid : when did you build your wall? Was it a COVID baby?
We had the wall up in the middle of July 2020. It was definitely a COVID baby.
How long did it take you to build and what did that time look like?
I have a demanding full-time job and also have to look after young kids, so decided to buy pre-built panels and frame pieces. The pieces came in the first week of July, and it took about five hours over several nights to screw everything together.
Not including holds and padding, how much did it cost you to build? Any surprises there? Most/Least expensive part?
The wall costs $1,300. There was no surprise because we bought pre-built pieces, the Rocket Wall from Rockstar Volumes. I knew going in the costs would be higher than if I do everything myself, but that was difficult given the constraints and I was satisfied with the professional-quality parts.
What are you doing for padding?
A memory foam mattress. The climbing wall sits where the guest bed used to be, so naturally the mattress became the padding. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for any future guest, they will have to sleep under the climbing wall.
What was your primary incentive for the wall? Did anything in particular inspire your wall design?
The main motivation for the wall was to keep climbing. My daughter and I started climbing about 1.5 year ago. With the gyms closed during pandemic, we wanted to stay strong and maintain progress. With that goal in mind, we were fine with a simple wall at 30-degree overhang. Also, it was crucial for me that the wall is in a comfortable location, such that the kids and I would use it frequently. This was why we put it in the guest room inside the house.
What was the most difficult aspect of the design and build of this homewall ?
Honestly, one difficult aspect was to convince my spouse that we are getting rid of the guest room for a climbing homewall! However, she was happy with the decision once she saw how excited the kids were on the wall.
