Steven Hatcher // Orlando, FL
When did you build your wall?
April 2020. I had told my wife for her birthday I would build us a campus board in the garage…a couple months into 2020 I knew we would need a lot more than a campus board to get through these next few months, so I started thinking bigger.
How long did it take you to build?
It was my first project ever really, so between figuring out design, safely purchasing wood, LOTS of trial and error, it took about two weeks by myself.
Not including holds and padding, how much did it cost you to build?
About $200
Did anything in particular inspire your wall design?
I knew I wanted it to be freestanding, I didn’t want to mess with drilling into the concrete walls of our garage. I checked around what other folks were doing with similar space on YouTube and Instagram.
What was the most difficult aspect of the design and build?
I really psyched myself out about how to space out the T-nut holes. Everything online suggested a different approach, and I really just wanted to know exactly how to best build it. Another challenge was because of the virus I didn’t want to make more supply runs than I needed. So I just did my best with what I had and it all worked out fine.
What would you do differently?
I would have really stretched the limits of the space in my garage. I was afraid to make it too big- in retrospect I wish I had spent more time seeing just how much I could squeeze out of the space I have. I also wish I would have put the support beams on the outside of the frame, that way I would have even more free space.
What is your favorite aspect?
That it works! I had plenty of non-climber family and friends skeptical of the free-standing approach, so I was proud to see how sturdy and fun it turned out to be.
Any words of wisdom to aspiring homewallers?
Look, I’m still pretty convinced that this whole this whole project was a fluke. I don’t know how to build climbing walls! I’ve never built much at all, and I think it’s because I’ve never felt I had all the tools to do so. My dad had a table saw, saw horses, impact drivers, nail guns, vast stockpiles of every type of screw, tons of different power saws each designed specifically for this that or the other, and s p a c e to work. I had a small circular saw, a hammer, and a drill. No doubt this is evident when you look at how the wall ended up, but at the end of the day it supports my weight, it has enough space for us to train, and has brought me and my wife joy during COVID-19. tl;dr You don’t have to know how to built a climbing wall, you just have to want to.
Do you have any connection to climbing brands or gyms?
Not directly, but I love Patagonia. My pipe dream would be to be a representative for them someday. Before COVID my wife worked part-time at Dynoclimb in DeLand, FL.
