Inexpensive bulletin board ideas?

[Mark Bolton]

Hello all,
Have posted in a while, our work has been unreal (busy).

We currently have some major renovation work going for a local school and one segment of the project is a repaint on first floor. Classrooms, halls, restrooms, etc.. The original paint is cheap builders flat latex over FC wallboard. The school does a lot of taping things to the walls which, even with low release tape, has torn the paint/paper in many places once removed.

Spaces will be skimmed out, sanded, and repainted with 2 coats ICI Diamond Low Luster. They will, no doubt, continue to tape to the walls however the higher sheen and super high quality should help with the release.

That said, I am willing do donate 6-10 shop made 4x8 bulletin boards to the school in hopes to give them a better place to tack things rather than the freshly painted walls.

I was thinking oak or poplar frames with something in the field for tacks. Thinking cork would be too costly, I have not seen Homasote available locally which is what we have used for some industrial bulletin boards. Also worried about the grey/flakey factor of Homasote.

Any ideas for a low cost solution or am I wasting my time?

Thanks,
Mark

[Chuck Saunders]

1/2" homosote is you answer. It is a sheet of compressed paperpulp. They also sell it with a burlap covering butI prefer covering with my choice of fabric. The last sheet I got was $30.

[Michael Wetzel]

That said, I am willing do donate 6-10 shop made 4x8 bulletin boards to the school in hopes to give them a better place to tack things rather than the freshly painted walls.

You could install cork on every wall in the building and someone would still use tape.


Homasote is the only cheap way to make a bulletin board (that I am aware of).

[Tom Klass]

Homasote is about the cheapest you can go. Wrap the different boards in the school colors. Homosote goes for around $21.00 for 1/2- 4 x 8 sheet. But even with the boards some one always tape something to the walls!!

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I too say Homosote. A friendly suggestion to the principal that the paint will last longer if they use masking tape instead of "Scotch" tape might help.

[Mark Bolton]

Thanks all. Monday will put the feelers out for the homasote. It was available everywhere when we were in the north east however since moving to WV we are in a black hole for anything out of the norm.

Mark

[Jamie Buxton]

A lot of commercial bulletin boards are a thin sheet of cork over something like homasote. The cork seals back together better when a pin is removed, so it ages better than a straight homasote board. I've bought sheet cork from Jelinek -- http://www.jelinek.com/rolls.htm You can bond cork with wood glue -- after all, it is cork-oak tree bark.

[Art Bianconi]

The office I work in is one huge room. Work cubicles are built using metal framed dividers that are covered in fabric. Hidden beneath the fabric is a not-very-dense material that allows us to hang "blue-prints" and other things like calendars, photos, etc. It works well and helps dampen the sounds.

Judging from the pressure needed to push a push-pin into homasote and the ease with which I can push pins into the dividers, it's not pressed paper. I suspect it's a low density foam like the pink insulation they sell at the home centers and lumbar yards.

Art