I’m in the process of building my dream climbing wall — a 16x12 foot adjustable kilterboard. And in true @felinefavia fashion, I needed cats on my wall. I had never painted outside of art class , which was over 20 years ago. Working full time with a toddler, 5 cats and a dog didn’t leave me much time to learn a new skill. So I hired a painter, but when he didn’t show up and the welders were starting in three days. I quickly took a crash course on painting and here is what I learned.

1. Paint brushes are important

Buy the best paint brush at Ace hardware/Lowes/Home Depot/Any Hardware Store. When I went to the store, I asked what brush I should get for this project. They showed me a 99 cent brush that was basically foam on a stick. These aren’t reusable, so I’d have to buy a bunch to finish this project. I got a middle of the line brush and a top of the line brush. The middle of the line brush lost bristles on the board while I was painting, which added extra work to pick them off. The top of the line brush cost me about 12 dollars, so for me, it was well worth it.

Since I was painting a large area, I used a roller brush. The paint and the polyurethane finish required two different type of materials for the nap. A “nap” is the fluffy part of the roller brush and is removeable from the metal portion.

For the paint, I used a woven nap and for the finish, I used a flock foam nap. When I tried to use the woven nap with the polyurethane finish, it spread dirt all over my beautiful paint. It also did not apply the finish evenly. When I switched to the flock foam, all those problems were solved.

2. Protect your hair

Noone wants paint in their hair, so I wore a shower cap with a plastic bag around it. I wanted to make sure no paint got on my edges!

3. Think about your shoes

Make sure to wear shoes you don’t mind getting paint on. But also, if you are painting your wall before its installed, clean the bottom of your shoes in case you step on the wall. So many people walked on my climbing wall before it was up and I had to wash the board or repaint areas that I couldn’t wash off the dirt. I did a lot of my painting in socks.

4. Protect the T-nuts

Paint can ruin T-nuts, so I had to cover each T-nut individually (over 450). At first, I bought 500 cheapest earplugs on Amazon. These were too narrow so they couldn’t expand into the holes. If you want to use earplugs, I would suggest meausuring the width of the ear plugs and comparing them to the T-nut width to ensure a proper fit. I ended up using paint tape to cover each of the T-nut holes. It worked well and the tape was easy to remove after adding layers of paint.

5. Skip the Sanding

I read online that it was advisable to sand after adding the primer to create a smoother surface and hide brush marks. I also read that sanding can cause excess dust and would require more cleaning. Since this was already a massive undertaking and I was on a short time schedule, I decided to skip the sanding. So far, I don’t regret this decision. No brush marks are visible!

6. add texture (OR DON’T)

Many commercial walls these days have texture that help with smearing and flagging. Before deciding on what paint to buy, you need to decide if you want a textured wall. Many people add sand to regular paint to add texture. I didn’t want to add any texture, but I unknowingly bought paint with texture. Now, I don’t regret it. The texture is nice.

7.pick your paint and primer

Since I had never painted before, I was overwhelmed with the different types of paints and primers. I had no clue which ones to buy so I found another blog post written Atomik climbing holds and bought everything they recommended— KILZ 3 Premium White Flat Water-Based Stain Blocking Primer (1 galloon), Behr Premium Porch and Patio Anti-Slip Foor paint (1 gallon of yellow and 1 gallon of black), and Pro Finisher Crystal Clear Satin Water-Based Polyurethane for Floors (1 gallon). One gallon was a perfect amount for everything except for the polyurethane finish, which I only used a small percentage of. I did two coats of primer and two coats of each color of paint except the silver (only 1 coat). For the silver, I had to use spray paint and spray it into solid cups. Originally, I tried plastic cups, but the paint ate at the bottom. When I lifted the cup, the paint spilled out the bottom onto the yellow paint, which required me to paint over it. Another important note: Spray is hard to remove from skin and hair….take extra precaution when spraying…trust me.

I hope these tips are helpful for those of you embarking of the home climbing gym journey. Good luck!!

Building a Home Climbing Wall? Here's How to Paint it!