Paint for Rock Climbing?

koosh1986

Hi guys! I need your help finding 2 specific types of paint for indoor rock climbing walls. Basically the first paint needs to have these properties:

1. STRONG - abrasive to lots of foot traffic
2. Paint is resistant to rubber scuffs and makrs from climbing shoes
3. quartz sand can be added to the paint for a bit of texture
4. should be white or gray (and hopefully can be changed to another color)
5. Can be painted on wood


The second paint needs to be more like a concrete/epoxy. The paint should be "rock like" meaning is should have these properties:

1. SUPER STRONG - Can hold the weight of a climber.
2. NOT water resistant - should absorb sweat
3. Flat finish - No gloss or shine finish
4. Paint is resistant to rubber scuffs and makrs from climbing shoes
5. quartz sand can be added to the paint for texture
6. should be white, gray, or black (and hopefully can be changed to another color)
6. Can be painted on wood

* The paint I have been looking at is made for garages but I havent found an exact one that meet the specifications listed above. Most seem to be water resistant and have gloss or shine finish.

Thanks for any help!
Kyle

Mr. Paint

Koosh, Acrylic porch and patio paints meet most of your requirements. Because they're meant for foot traffic you may have to settle for an eggshell finish.

Concrete stains from some companies may also work for you. There are many on-line you can investigate/

Rewound98

I would ask this question at a rock climbing specific forum. There are loads of them and they have specific experience with this niche.

However since you asked, I climb and I'd hate the added sand on the wall. It would destroy my shoes and hands very quickly.

Instead, add texture to the wall with holds and other features.

I suppose you could add some sand to the paint for some very specific areas but I think you'll regret adding it to every surface.

sdsester

I would be thinking about some sort of industrial coatings but addition of the nonslip stuff is going to degrade the performance of just about anything I can think of including epoxy, urethane or even silicone hybrid material. This is going to be a very high maintenance proposition.

I should think the minute you add a coating the minute your insurance liability soars even higher than it must be to start even thinking about this.

Why not just real embedded rocks with no finish for hand and footholds? Why not some sort of reinforced masonry, poured/leaned up, or reinforced stucco, swimming pool gunite wall instead of painted wood for the substrate?

I guess I have not paid much attention to these climbing walls as constructed but I know some nice ones have been built on the interior sides of unused grain silos. I think they all went with the mesh and sprayed concrete or gunite approach and real rocks.

You can tint gunite whatever color you want. I used to spec black bottom pools all the time.

I guess you could build something non-slip into fiberglass resin as with boat decks.

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mazzonetv

Look at sure step from insl-x. This is what they use on tennis courts and I would imagine it would work well in this case.

Good luck!