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There’s no better way to improve climbing-specific strength than working out on a home climbing wall, known as a woody. Even if bouldering V10 isn’t your priority, home walls provide hours of entertainment for everyone. Kids love these overhanging jungle gyms, and friends will bring you beer and shovel your driveway just so they can hang out in your garage.

What you’ll need to build a bouldering wall

To build your wall, you’ll need the following tools and the knowledge to use them correctly. If you’ve never used a miter saw, get instruction from someone who knows what they’re doing. Though cutting off a finger may not affect Tommy’s climbing, it is not likely to improve yours.

Miter and circular saws
Power drill/screwdriver
Safety glasses
Ladder
Level
Chalk line
Hammer
Square
Friends

You’ll also need the following supplies. The cost of your woody depends entirely on the size and design. The total cost for my 8 x 12-foot wall (not including holds) was $285.23.

2 x 6-inch, 12-foot studs (7)
2 x 6-inch, 8-foot studs (2)
2 x 4-inch, 8-foot studs (3)
¾-inch CDX or ACX (better) plywood (3)
2 x 6-inch joist hangers (10)
Gusset angle plate (4)
Tie plate (4)
Box of 4-inch self-drive screws (2)
Box of 3-inch self-drive screws (1)
Box of 2-inch self-drive screws (1)
T-nuts (325)
Padding (old mattress)
6 pack of Guinness (2)

Decide where you want your climbing wall

The garage is the most popular choice, followed by the basement. Once you’ve designed your wall, tack up string to mark the edges of your proposed woody. The string will show you what it’ll look like and how much space it’ll take up. Make sure your car still fits in the garage, or that you’ll have enough storage space once your basement is covered with holds.

Plywood comes in 4 x 8-foot sheets, so design your wall around these dimensions to get the most out of each piece. The most common design for a woody is a flat face that’s 20 to 45-degrees overhanging. This shape is easy to build and yields challenging boulder problems. Local gyms may give you inspiration for a dramatic design, but keep in mind that basic, functional shapes are usually better for climbing than walls that look like sculptures. Anchor your woody to ceiling joists and wall studs if possible; freestanding walls are harder to build, more expensive and less stable.

Build it.
I am building a 45-degree overhanging wall, framed with 2 x 6-inch studs. Depending on your design, construction techniques may vary a bit from mine, but the basics are still the same. Picture your woody’s frame as a prison-cell door. There are top and bottom plates, which run horizontally, and connected to these plates are bars that run vertically.

After locating the studs in the wall and ceiling, I screwed the bottom and top boards in place using 4-inch screws (Figure 1). The boards are 2 x 6 inches and the same width as my finished woody. These boards support the entire climbing wall, so make sure they’re absolutely solid. Because my wall is steep, I raised the bottom board 18-inches above the floor to avoid creating unusable space in the narrow corner at the bottom of the wall. I’ll later add a board, known as a kicker, for footholds here. Make sure the bottom board is level before you attach it, or your whole wall will be crooked. Start at the corner where your wall meets your ceiling, and measure the distance to the top edge of your bottom board. Now start from the same corner and measure the same distance along the ceiling. Placing the inside edge of your top board here creates a 45-degree wall. Moving the top board out will make the woody steeper and moving it in will make it less steep.

Once your anchor boards are in place, attach joist hangers every 16 inches along the bottom board (Figure 2). Your studs will sit in these and also make it easier for your friend to hold them in place while you screw the tops in. Use tie plates and angle plates to anchor the end studs to the top and bottom boards (Figure 3).

Each stud requires two cuts on each end to make it fit in the joist hangers. This is the most confusing part of the whole process and it’s easy to screw up. If you have a piece of scrap wood, cut it first to make sure the angles are correct. At the end of a stud I made a 45-degree cut where it would meet the bottom board. Then I measured back two inches from the tip and made another 45-degree cut in the opposite direction. The end result was a point with one side that’s longer than the other (figure 4). I held a joist hanger in place on the top board and measured from the tip of that hanger to the tip of the bottom hanger (figure 5). That was the measurement for the long side of the stud. I marked the length and duplicated the same cut on the other side. After cutting, hold the stud in place and make sure it fits perfectly. If you did it right, use it as a template to mark the other studs.

Once your studs are in place, you need to add horizontal pieces between them, known as blocking. These can be 2 x 4-inch boards that are 14.5 inches long (for studs spaced every 16 inches). Measure from the bottom of the studs and place these boards every 4 vertical feet, where the pieces of plywood will meet (figure 6).

Now it’s time to break out the plywood. If it needs to be cut to match any special feature on your wall, do it now. If it does not, commence with drilling the holes for the T-nuts. The holds will be bolted into these T-nuts when the wall is finished. I measured out a 6-inch grid on my plywood and marked it with a chalk line, drilling where the lines intersected (figure 7). Placing your holes on a grid is better than drilling randomly because it prevents your holds from bunching up in some places while other places are left barren. Once all the holes are drilled, hammer the T-nuts into them on the side opposite the one you will be climbing on (figure 8). Now, simply hold up your boards and screw them to the frame.

Climbing Holds

There are two basic types of holds: Bolt-on and screw-on. Get some of both. Bolt-on holds are your bread and butter; they’re easily movable from one T-nut to another. Screw-on holds are generally used as footholds and can be placed anywhere. You probably want to put these up and leave them alone as they leave holes every time you take them down. Buying a large package with a variety of holds is a cost-effective way to start. Stick with simple, ergonomic shapes. Complicated features, sharp edges and holds that take up a lot of space should be avoided. Sand down rough-textured holds so they don’t tear your skin. Wood holds are ideal because they’re friendly to your skin and super hard to hang onto; a good combination for getting strong.

Set problems.

Because a home wall is relatively small, you should concentrate on getting the most out of your space. In a gym, you just mark specific holds to form a route. On a woody, you can climb the whole thing in about three moves. Specify a sequence of moves instead of just which holds to use. This allows you to set boulder problems with an infinite number of moves. Some people name each of their holds and then set problems using the names. “Start on the Vulcan Pinch, left to the Brain, right to the Death Star, etc.” Even if you can skip the Brain and go to the Death Star with your left, force yourself to do all of the moves to make the most out of your limited vertical gain. The key is to have fun and keep the routes interesting. Invite your friends over to set routes so you can get new perspectives. Don’t be afraid to take all the holds down and start over when the wall starts to get stale.

Don’t forget the crashpads

If you’re a boulderer, put down your crash pads. If you don’t have crash pads, or you want more padding, find an old mattress at a garage sale.