I always focus my writing for entrepreneurs and small businesses. So when I set out the other day to set-up a dry erase board for $15 I knew I had to write about it because I think tons of people could benefit from this. Who doesn’t love bootstrapping!
I’ve always loved dry-erase boards because I think better when I’m standing or pacing around. It lets me get more into whatever I’m thinking about. This is important when starting a business because there are always new ideas on things and its great to get a big visual of stuff. Until now though I have only had access to decent size boards at colleges.
You can buy a board at places like office depot but be prepared to spend. In store the largest boards are still relatively small maybe a few feet by a few feet with prices in the hundreds! That was not happening.
So I did some research and found Tile Board
Tile board (sometimes called shower board) can be found at places like Home Depot or Lowes and comes in 4′ x 8′ sheets. For $15! And it works exactly the same! I had the best luck at Lowes. There are usually a handful of versions of tile board (I had to ask a few employees before I found one that knew what I was talking about). It is used in bathrooms to resemble fake tile (so its waterproof). So there will be a bunch with different colors and patterns as tile would look. But there will be 1 that is just a flat white sheet…obviously get that one. The sheet only weighs a few pounds, its very thin with only cardboard for a backing.
The main thing it will be lacking is a nice aluminum frame or a place to hold your markers. Bummer but I’ll save the $300. Here’s a 4′ x 8′ dry erase board at office depot.
Here’s what mine looks like…
As you can see 1 sheet takes up the whole wall pretty much. I haven’t tried cutting it but I’m sure its easy and you could fit it perfectly to the entire wall if you like.
As far as the actual erasing of the marker it works pretty well. Obviously the sooner you erase something the better chance you have at getting it all off. That pic was taken right after I erased the entire board that had the same stuff on it for about 15days. It left some light marks but remember the board is waterproof, so I took some windex to it and it came off.
It also only took a few nails to hold it up…its very light honestly 1 might have done the trick. If you don’t want to use nails I think things like the stick on coat hangers or picture hangers would work. Get a few of them and just use the sticky pads around the edges. Didn’t try it but I think they would hold it.
So there you have it! $15 for a huge dry erase board. I’m very happy I never invested $300 in a board so I could have an aluminum frame.
I found a similar material at Home Depot that was $32, I almost bought it thinking it was the same stuff. It’s not! About $15 is all you should be spending!
If you have any questions feel free to ask!
