“How did you make that clear whiteboard?”
There are a lot of questions I get as a therapist, but the above question is one I get a lot of from clients…and from other therapists.
I would like to say that I came up with the idea myself, but I didn’t. Rather, my good friend Aubrey McGowan was the brains behind the idea and he helped me make it happen. He even came over to my office and helped me hang it (actually, I sort of watched him hang it–I just lended some help).
I always wanted a big glass whiteboard in my office, but just didn’t feel like I could afford the cost of one. They can range from several hundred dollars for a small one, to several thousand for a large one. So when I saw Aubrey’s church, Hope Fellowship in Frisco, using a clear board on stage I asked him about it.
How To
- The plastic I am using is called Lexan. So I contacted a plastic supply company in Dallas (in my case, Allied Plastic Supply). I found that contacting a plastic place and having them cut it for you reduces cost even more.
- Choose your size. I went with a 4′ x 6′ board which is pretty big. And I chose a thickness of about 1/2″. Obviously the bigger the board and thicker it gets, the heavier it gets. But to keep it from flexing too much when writing, I chose this thickness.
- Do you want it to be clear or sand blasted on back? I chose clear, but I’ve seen some sand blasted which gives it that kind of “fogged” or “smoked” look.
- Do you want them to drill holes in the board for when you hang it up? I did — I had them do 6 holes to fit the mounting bolts I was using. (see below)
- Have them go ahead and cut it for you; choose clear or smoked/fogged; pre-drill holes. And now you are done.
- Since the board can be heavy I just recommend having a friend help you hang it on your wall. I’m not very handy when it comes to construction, so just make sure you are using screws/bolts that will mount into the wall nicely.
Pros
- Functional
- Looks cool
- Different from what you usually see
- Mistaken as art (actually some people think I have an art installation piece in my office)
- Cheap: I paid about $180 for the board. And about $20 for the screws/bolts.
Cons
- Sometimes is hard to clean. You will notice some darker smudges on my board (in the picture above). I just have to work hard on keeping it clean. I use a spray about once a week on it. Mine is organic cause I was told that the chemicals might mess with the Lexan. But I know others who use 409, Windex, etc and it works great for them.
- Reflects a lot of light. So if my window is open (like it is in the picture above) you can see a lot of light reflection. You can also see my lamp reflected. So you may have to close the blinds at certain times of the day like me.
- Some colored markers do not show up well. I use EXPO Bold Color Dry Erase markers. I feel like these markers work better than the non-bold ones. The older version of these markers would stain my board, but they have been changed since then and work well. Black and red works well, but I find green, blue and other colors to now work so well.
It’s been a great board for me and I’m thankful for it’s low cost and functionality. I hope this helps. If you have any questions, let me know.
