RSS
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.
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
Reply to this comment
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/
Reply to this comment
"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.
Reply to this comment
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.
Reply to this comment
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.
Reply to this comment
Also if a "stain" sets in just use windex to get it off.
Reply to this comment
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.
Reply to this comment
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.
Reply to this comment
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.
Reply to this comment
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.
Reply to this comment
I wanted a small white board to put in my room, but didn't want to buy one. 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.
Reply to this comment