DIY Whiteboard on the Cheap

Posted by John on Saturday, October 20th 2007

20
Oct

Every startup needs or MUST HAVE whiteboards, it’s just how it goes. Whiteboards offer a great way to draw, post reminders, and explain things. I know at college I was always using whiteboards to help explain building websites and/or tech stuff. Installing a DIY whiteboard is a simple project that you could get done TODAY and/or any weekend. I found whiteboards very useful and wanted to setup some whiteboards on my walls in my apartment here in Arizona.

Well talking to a couple of people at the rails as well as the ruby meetup about whiteboards gave me some great tips and tricks that I wanted to blog about.

Most whiteboard that are 2ft by 2ft or so, cost about $10 to $20. If you want a HUGE whiteboard or wall to wall whiteboards it can get EXPENSIVE QUICKLY. Luckily there a simple solution, the fine people at Lowe’s sell this 1/8th White Tileboard for about $12.78 with tax for a 8ft by 4ft. (they can even cut to down to different sizes at the store!) This tileboard acts the same way as a whiteboard and is wicked cheap!

Being the entrepreneur that I am I wanted a whiteboard in my home office (my little startup). I used the OOK 30lb frame hangers for this project as well as for hanging all my frames on the wall. These are simply amazing, cheap, small, easy to install, and hardly noticable on a wall after removal. These work great on drywall and just need to get nailed in at a angle. I also use some hooks to hold my wine rack in the kitchen.

So here is the parts list for setting up a whiteboard in a home or office and not have to worry about it ripping out your wall or leaving huge holes.

1 30lb OOK Picture Hanging Hardware about $2 at Michaels or some hardware shop.
1 8ft x 4ft 1/8th White Tileboard about $12
1 drill or sharp knife
1 hammer (or rubber mallet)
a friend and possible a leveler

Okay, so some notes and tips, as you can see from the picture below, 4ft x 4ft is LARGE and it MIGHT not fit into your Del Sol, so be sure to either measure or plan a bit before picking up of the tileboard. I made 2 trips, 1 to Lowes and had them cut the 8ft x 4ft tileboard (whiteboard) down to 2 4ft x 4ft pieces. I was able to bend the board to fit into my Prius and then just pulled it out when I got home.

(*NOTE: Sorry for the lack of quality in the pictures, I have horrible lighting in my garage and apartment, but I feel that they help get some points across.)

I took the 1/8th tileboard and drill 2 holes (you can prolly cut them, its only 1/8th thick) where the OOK hooks would go. I placed the holes about 4 inches from each end as well as about 1 inch from the top. Once the holes were large enough, I fit the OOK hangers into the tileboard.

I then got a friend to hold the board where I could hammer in the small nails and leveled the board before putting in each nail. Once the tileboard is mounted, be sure to grab some

(*NOTE: I could not get a good picture of the whiteboard from how my room is setup, so although it looks like its at an angle is actually perfectly straight.)

Well I hope you are enjoying a nice whiteboard in your home or office and please comment about your setup or if you used other methods of hanging.

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10 Comments Already

John Said,

October 20th, 2007 @1:48 pm

Oh, I forgot to give you another great tip. Make sure to pickup a bottle of Expo Cleaner, and make sure to give it a SOLID precleaning. Keeping a white board… white is hard, so be sure to put a solid layer or two of Expo Cleaning solution on before using it daily.

Justin Said,

October 23rd, 2007 @7:50 pm

I’ve been a big fan of the write board cling sheets. They are a bit pricier, but you can put them almost anywhere (i.e. you can turn your desk into a whiteboard), and it’s super easy to expand the amount of write-space.

Denis Kutch Said,

December 21st, 2007 @3:54 pm

My new architectural office…under construction…will have a custom framed 4′ x 8′ whiteboard ‘idea and thinking’ wall. Your approach sounds great, especially the cost. Two questions: You referred to the material as both “titleboard” and “tileboard”. Which is correct? Do ink images remain after erasing? Thanks, Denis

John Said,

December 22nd, 2007 @3:22 am

Hey, Thanks for comment, its TileBoard. (I just went back and fix that, thanks!). I would HIGHLY suggest bring a expo marker and make sure and it should be easily removed with just a swipe of the thumb.

As long as you use a “dry erase marker” you should be fine. I HIGHLY suggest picking up a large bottle of Expo cleaner and windex and doing a “preclean” before heavy use. I also suggest cleaning the boards (back to white) at least once a week, to keep from colors “permanent sticking”.

Let me know how it goes, post/blog about it or post a comment/link of pic of the office. Enjoy!

George Said,

December 30th, 2007 @8:16 pm

I have been happily writing on all types of GLASS surfaces with whiteboard pens, for years.

The best one is to keep a whiteboard pen in the car so when you get a call while you’re driving, you just pick up the whiteboard pen and let loose on your windscreen or even the side window. Much easier than trying to find both a pen and a piece of paper to scribble notes on.

Based on that, you could just hang a sheet of glass on your wall, or even a cheap sheet of perspex if you want. Use that as a whiteboard.

Carol Said,

January 9th, 2008 @11:38 am

Does anyone have a recipe for homemade tileboard cleaning solution? I’m wondering if the Expo cleaner and Windex are the most appropriate for the surface. I’m also wondering if I couldn’t make a good solution myself, more inexpensively. Carol

Charlie Said,

January 22nd, 2008 @2:05 pm

We just installed these in three offices at Arizona State Univ. We saved the dept hundreds over buying conventional white boards. Another tip, next to the TileBoard at HomeDepot you can find platic end caps for about $2.50 per 8ft. You need three to frame out a 4×8 board. It makes the installation look much nicer. To keep the board from rattling too much we anchored the board directly to the wall with drywall anchors, about 10 anchors for the large ones. We plan to add plastic screw caps that should finish the job and make it look very nice. We’ve also found that high quality markers clean up much nicer than the dollar store variety. As the author noted, be sure to bring a marker with you to the store, the first piece of tileboard i got had a flat finish instead of the glossy finish and did not work once I got it home.

Brian Said,

April 10th, 2008 @2:38 pm

Thanks for these instructions John. I just installed my new white board and I’m very happy with it. Total cost: about $15 plus $20 for a nice marker/eraser/cleaner set. You can see the final result here:
http://www.pajamamarket.com/pajama_market_small_busin/2008/04/my-office.html

I installed the white board by myself and while it can be done, I recommend you have someone there to help you.

I also ignored some of the directions and I wish I hadn’t. I placed the hangers in the wall FIRST instead of having the hangers and the white board together like you recommend. My holes were drilled 1.5 inches from the top of the white board, so when it came time to hang the board on the hangers, it was quite awkward. In fact, I couldn’t do it. The reason for this is because the board wasn’t exactly flat, it has a curve to it which makes the proper angle to hang it impossible to get.

My solution was to take a hammer and bend the hooks of the hangers so that they were 90 degrees to the wall. I then slipped the white board through the hangers and hammered the hooks back to their original angle once they were through the drill holes. I’m sure this marked the wall a little, but for now I can’t see it and the white board looks great.

I agree that the ook 30# hangers are the bomb.

Cheers!