The Foundry Mountaineering Club – a community interest company established in 1991 in a disused steel works – was looking to spruce up and partially remodel a 500 square metre vertical surface.

“We had previously used floor paints because they are tough wearing and we need something that doesn’t get marked with the rubber-soled climbing shoes,” explained the Club’s service manager, Jacob Crabtree. “It was the guy who built the wall that put us onto Bradite,” he says.

They were delighted to be using an odourless water-based product in place of the oil-based paints previously used. Having decided to go for a more neutral grey – RAL 7047 – to replace the garish bright yellow currently on the wall, Jacob and one of his colleagues took on the repainting task. His verdict on the finish – “Fantastic!”

“We used three coats. After the first coat went on, we then used an air compressor to spray on aluminium oxide grit to provide some friction on the climbing surface, then repeated the process with a second coat and the grit. We finished with a third coat and, instead of the grit, we applied a lacquer on top.”

Then came the task of replacing the many hundreds of small hand grips and carabiner fixing points that are spread over the entire face of the wall. The coloured hand grips are arranged to mark out specific climbing routes of differing severity. The entire refurb job took some three and a half weeks to complete.

HD Floor+Wall is a heavy duty two-pack, water-based epoxy coating and finish paint, suitable for painting concrete, steel, ceramic and terracotta tiles. It offers an easy-to-clean finish, making it ideal for hygiene sensitive areas; hospitals, food preparation areas, breweries, bakeries, and now, climbing centres!

For more details, please get in touch using the details below.