Roll of cork board - cheap?

[horseshowmom]

My husband wants to redo an unsightly old chalk board in his classroom by covering it with cork. It's about 40" high and 16 feet long. If he does it, we'll have to pay for it ourselves. I've checked ebay and googled it but haven't found anything that wasn't pretty expensive. If anybody knows of somewhere we could get it cheap, please share! Thanks!

 

[hipchickie]

might be cheaper to paint it with that magnetic paint and use magnets to hold stuff on

 

[Mickey527]

They sell corkboard on a roll at Stales, Michaels and Joanne's. that being said, it is expensive for a small roll that is about 5 ft long X about 36" wide. The price to cover the size you need will be outrageous for something that size.
You might be better if you buy some cork tiles either from one of the above or from Home Depot or Lowes. the cork tiles are cheaper than the roll cork, not as nice to look at though, the holes and irregularities are larger.
It might be better for you to just paint the cork that is there or cover it with some kind of fiberboard. Check in Home Depot or Lowes, they might have something that would work with thumb tacks.

 

[ckrum]

In my old classroom, we had the custodian cover our chalk boards w/rolled cork. It didn't turn out the greatest. Since it was such a long area, there were air bubbles and the cork isn't very thick. It ended up being kind of a pain to do (or at least the custodians said it was). Painting it w/the magnetic paint might have been a better choice.
We made a "corkboard" at home using something from Lowes or Menards. It was 1/2" thick sheets (maybe 4'x6') of a corkboard type material that had a paper covering on it. It works great w/thumbtacks and has already lasted 3 or 4 years w/no problems. I don't think the sheets were very expensive. Maybe that would work for him. Good luck!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

A lot of teachers at my old school turned old, ugly chalkboards into bulletin boards using folded up cardboard boxes. They would duct tape them to the chalkboard, then cover them with butcher paper. This was a big hassle and it wasn't all that pretty, also they were not thick enough for a full staple length.

Another option is to cover the chalkboard with colored butcher/craft paper, then decorate it with an undersea theme. Get a fish net and some of clothespins (either full size or the mini-ones from a hobby store). You can hang up posters and student work from the netting. Alternatively, you can use the same idea with clothesline in front of the colored paper background and no "theme".

ETA...I agree with a PP about using rolled cork is difficult to make it flat and even. It is a pain to deal with.

 

[horseshowmom]

Thanks very much for the comments and suggestions! I would have hated to spend a significant amount of money on the rolled cork and then had it not turn out well. I'll pass on your ideas to DH.

 

[dgthree]

My husband wants to redo an unsightly old chalk board in his classroom by covering it with cork.

Read down the thread a bit, and I agree that the rolled cork is really thin.

At our office, we have tack boards made with homasote cut to size and covered with fabric. (wonder if that's the material referred to upthread)
I've also read about people using ceiling tiles covered in fabric as a bulletin board. Both of those might be less expensive options.

 

[horseshowmom]

Thanks!

 

[Taja]

might be cheaper to paint it with that magnetic paint and use magnets to hold stuff on

That was my thought!

Also could make magnets using magnetic strips with adhesive on one side.

 

[horseshowmom]

That was my thought!

Also could make magnets using magnetic strips with adhesive on one side.

That's a great idea!

A few years ago our daughter went to Denver for a competition, and all the kids were supposed to bring something reminiscent of their home state. We got pins from the state hospitality agency but also made magnets. We did a picture of the state with good luck wishes, etc. They turned out great (still have some of the extras on my refrigerator ), but I didn't think of that at all.