How to Get a GIANT Whiteboard for $14

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE whiteboards. What I don’t love is how ridiculously expensive they are. A 4′ x 8′ whiteboard will run you $260 on Amazon, while my alternative will cost you only $14! It will be a bit more if you want to “make it pretty” and put a frame around it. Learn how to build a cheap giant whiteboard in an afternoon today!

Rating (decode with the handy-dandy guide here)

• Time 
• Money 
• Tools 
• Experience  
• Strength 
• Risk 
• Suckage 

Step 1: Determine How Big Your Whiteboard Will Be

I’ll let you in on my secret, you can use any melamine coated board as a dry erase board. I like this one. These are commonly called “tile board” and come in 4′ x 8′ sheets for about $14. I had a whole wall at my disposal, so the only reason I cut my sheet down a little (~1 foot) was to get rid of some damage at the end. Your space constraints might be different, so do some numbers to decide how large of a whiteboard you want. You could even go crazy and do a whole wall of whiteboards, or cut these down and make miniature ones.

Step 2: Cut Your Large & Cheap Whiteboard To Size

If you decide to cut down the 4′ x 8′ sheet, the easiest way to mark your cut is with a chalk line. You could use a long straight edge instead, but chalk lines are inexpensive and worth it if you’re going to be cutting sheets again (sheet lumber, paneling, etc). Measure down to one side of the board and make a mark with a pencil or nail. Repeat on the opposite side so you have marks to run your chalk line between. Pull the chalk line taught, lift up, and release to “snap” your chalk line.

Use a circular saw to cut your board down to size. If you were really determined and don’t own a power tool, you could probably swing doing this with a handsaw, but I don’t hate myself so I used my circular saw. You can pick up a circular saw at Harbor Freight for $20. I used a harbor freight special for the first couple years of my remodeling and only recently upgraded to the slightly more expensive version. Alternatively, if you’ve got the space you can use the whole thing for a large and cheap whiteboard.

Step 3: Prepare Your Wall

Use your measuring tape to mark the center of where you want your whiteboard to hang, both horizontally and vertically on the wall. Measure out from this center mark to left and make a mark 1/2 of the whiteboard width away from the center mark. Repeat to the right. Measure up from the center mark and make a mark 1/2 of the whiteboard height from the center mark. Repeat to the bottom. Grab your level and draw a level line over these marks a few inches long each dimension. This gives you something to reference as you mount the board. If you have a helper you can skip this step and just have someone step back and tell you which way to move the whiteboard before mounting.

Grab your stud finder and mark the stud locations on the top and bottom lines. If you don’t mind your wall being full of holes, you can also use a drill and drill until you find a stud. If you have plaster walls you’ll probably have to use this method. I never found a stud finder that worked on plaster walls.

Step 4: Mount Your Large Whiteboard

If you’re mounting this by yourself and you opted to leave the large & cheap whiteboard giant (or any size that’s awkward for you to handle by yourself), lay out a handful of screws and your driver ahead of time. Line your tile board up with your guides and drive a screw into a stud near the top of the board, approximately 1/2″ from the top edge of the board. You don’t want to go too close to the edge or the tile board will split and your board will fall down while you get the other corners mounted. If you drive your screw too far from the edge, you’ll have a hard time finding ready made trim to cover it up.

Step back and check how the whiteboard looks. With only one screw driven you have some ability to rotate the whiteboard until it’s level (or level with your floor, your ceiling, etc). Sometimes absolute level looks weird when your room is very out of square.

Now that you like the placement, drive a few more screws along the top and bottom to hold your board in place. If you opt to leave the edges unfinished, you’re done! I added trim, but it’s not installed in the best manner. If you want to do trim, you’re really going to want to borrow a miter saw. I’ll write how to do that on another day. Congratulations, you’ve made your own large and cheap whiteboard!