$28 huge cheap whiteboards

Chris shows you how to make some large cheap white boards...
...the same material that they make most commercial whiteboards out of is available at most big-box lumber stores like Home Depot for less than $15. "Showerboard", which is basically cheap plywood with a waterproof white plastic coating on one side. Its the same stuff that they make cheap showers out of - four walls of showerboard plus a cheap plastic base makes a decent stall. It also makes a great whiteboard.How-To: Dirt Cheap Wall-Sized Whiteboards - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jun 28, 2007 01:00 PM
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Comments
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| Posted by: MrCaN on June 28, 2007 at 2:38 PM |
I made a huge white board using two of these sheets. I used particle board for backing on the cement wall. You can see all the details here:
http://www.cymek.com/?q=node/61
| Posted by: Vrogy on June 28, 2007 at 4:08 PM |
Neat, we do the same thing, but for some reason showerboard is cheaper here in Florida..
http://flickr.com/photos/vrogy/543224654/in/pool-grooveshark/
| Posted by: ivansmearov on June 28, 2007 at 4:23 PM |
"four walls of showerboard", eh? You must have a pretty sweet shower...do you climb in from the top? If so, please post pictures, I'd like to see that.
| Posted by: mgrusin on June 28, 2007 at 5:17 PM |
Caveat Maker. I tried this a few years ago, and found that these become unerasable if you leave the markers on for more than a week or two. Definitely not as good as commercial products, which come in two grades, $$ (melamine) and $$$$ (porcelain). Been thinking about "dry erase wallpaper" made by several manufacturers for floor-to-ceiling meeting rooms, but it's not cheap either.
| Posted by: fogboy on June 28, 2007 at 9:12 PM |
We've never seen "showerboard," but for several years we've been using Melamine Tile Board and found it to perform exactly the same as commercial whiteboard, in that if dry-erase is left on either for more than a week or two, it must be removed but simply by going over the letters/images with fresh dry-erase and wiping clean.
| Posted by: MrCaN on June 29, 2007 at 9:42 AM |
Also if a "stain" sets in just use windex to get it off.
| Posted by: bill_mcgonigle on June 29, 2007 at 12:44 PM |
mgrusin is right, these do get shadows on them. I've used one for a few years and there's a bit of history on them - I haven't tried Windex yet.
Here they were just under $10 at Home Depot. I had some trouble finding them recently for a new whiteboard, but they were in the aisle with the mouldings. They will do 1 or 2 cuts for free on the panel saw, and that's the right tool for the job.
If I ever get tired of the shadows I'll get a new one for another $10. A board this size in a fancy boardroom is > $300.
| Posted by: Cody Taylor on October 15, 2008 at 1:03 PM |
A teacher at my school has a commercial white board mounted right next to a piece of showerboard. And the whiteboard definitely erases better than the showerboard.
I wanted a small white board to put in my room, but didn't want to buy one. Knowing the cons of showerboard I bought a 2'by 3' piece of 1/16" lexan from the local hardware store, and spray painted the backside of it white. I used stainless hardware to mount it. I must say, it works rather nicely.
| Posted by: Kam on October 31, 2008 at 11:17 AM |
I have a whiteboard already but I'm looking for something much bigger. I just can't seem to fit entire solutions on my tiny whiteboard. Anyways, I read your post and I figured, this is great and cheap. Let me just tell you how upset I am right now. First of all I live in Toronto Canada. Today after school, I go to Home Depot and look for the specific tileboard... OK, I find it... great... I look at the price... $70 for a 4x8 piece!!! Solid White Tileboard $70!! What the hell is wrong with this country? I told the salesperson and he was going on for about 30min about how we are getting so ripped off in this country. Anyways, that totally ruined my friday project.
| Posted by: Kam on October 31, 2008 at 11:20 AM |
I have a whiteboard already but I'm looking for something much bigger. I just can't seem to fit entire solutions on my tiny whiteboard. Anyways, I read your post and I figured, this is great and cheap. Let me just tell you how upset I am right now. First of all I live in Toronto Canada. Today after school, I go to Home Depot and look for the specific tileboard... OK, I find it... great... I look at the price... $70 for a 4x8 piece!!! Solid White Tileboard $70!! What the hell is wrong with this country? I told the salesperson and he was going on for about 30min about how we are getting so ripped off in this country. Anyways, that totally ruined my friday project.
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