Lucas K’s Homewall in Redwood City, CA

    Lucas K

    Lucas K

    Lucas K. // Redwood City, CA

    When did you build your wall?
    I persuaded my brother to build the wall with me at the end of April. In California, it is hard to say when we will have access to gyms again, so I wanted to build a wall early. I thought, if we are able to get back in soon, at least we had fun with a project and got to climb some. If we aren’t able to get back as soon, I will be glad I already have it, instead of wanting one a couple weeks down the line.

    How long did it take you to build?
    We were a little busy while building it, so we started off doing 3 or 4 days for just two hours at a time in the evening. We did not want to make too much noise for the neighbors at night. The last day we seemed to be getting closer and closer, so we just pushed until we finished, that was about 6 or 7 hours.

    Not including holds and padding, how much did it cost you to build?
    We were fortunate enough to have all the tools already. We were also able to build it in the garage, giving us a frame to start with. That meant we only really bought some plywood, 2x4s, 2x6s, screws, and t-nuts. It cost around $250, this was for a 8 ft. x 7.7ft wall, with a 1ftx 7.7ft kick board.

    Did anything in particular inspire your wall design?
    Metolius had some plans online for two types of indoor wall so we Frankensteined them together, and modified what they had to fit out space.

    What was the most difficult aspect of the design and build?
    The most difficult aspect was getting it to fit in the space well. Our garage does not have a flat ceiling, this made it harder to figure out what height of the floor to start the wall, and what angles to cut the wood at. My brother and I don’t have much experience building. We measure a few things wrong initially and had to remeasure. We had to work some stuff out as we go, and scrap some pieces that did not work.

    What would you do differently?
    So many things, but I can condense a few of the big ones. I would figure out how to borrow a Miter Saw, it was far slower, and trickier to use my hand held circular saw than I thought. Don’t cheap out on the plywood, we bought the cheapest thick plywood. Even with sorting every piece at the hardware store to find the right ones, they wound up pretty splintery. This meant A LOT of sanding, an extra $30 per sheet of plywood could save you plenty of time.

    What is your favorite aspect?
    Even though we disagreed and got frustrated with each other the whole time it was fun to build something with my brother. We also had fun grabbing out our climbing gear and using it hoist up and hold the plywood up while we screwed it in.

    Any words of wisdom to aspiring homewallers?
    Don’t be too hard on yourself, and set reasonable expectations. If you are willing to spend, and have built walls before, you might be able to build something pretty crazy. If you are like me though, you will quickly realize that 12ftx12ft, 60 degree Kilterboard you saw on instagram will cost a couple thousand dollars to built and won’t fit in your garage. In reality I am not strong enough or motivated enough to session all day on a massive overhang either. Just build what you think you can manage, and build what meets your climbing needs. It’s not nearly as hard to build a wall as you think, just have fun with it.

    Do you have any connection to climbing brands or gyms?
    I work for Planet Granite in the Bay Area. I started climbing there on the climbing team in high school and loved it so much, I got a job there. I have been working there ever since, it’s a great environment and a great community.

    Lucas K

    Lucas K