Is SW's New Dry Erase Coating The Best Dry Erase Paint On The Market?

Dry erase boards have long been a popular medium for expressing ourselves and conveying information -- whether you're teaching a class, presenting a meeting, or turning the markers over to the kids to keep them from exploring their creativity all over the walls.  

Gone are the chalkboards of the past with their messy chalk dust clean-up.  But, as with chalkboards, there's also a problem with dry erase boards . . . boundaries.  

When you're really getting into your work the last thing you want to do is to run out of room.  So a few years ago some of the geniuses in the coatings industry got together and thought, "Wouldn't it be great if whiteboards had no boundaries?"  And dry erase paint was born.

What a great concept.  The ability to turn any drywalled wall into a whiteboard, and with no boundaries you don't have to worry about confining anyone's creativity.

The only issues with these coatings are:  

1. "Ghosting" or "Shadowing" - If you've ever spent much time on a whiteboard you know how the remnants of your old work appears to permanently become a part of the background of the board over time.  
2. Lack of color choices - People love the idea of have an entire wall that's a whiteboard, but don't necessarily love the idea of having an entire wall that's white.  Especially when all of the other walls in the room are a different color.

SW's new Dry Erase Coating is a specially formulated clear two-component, waterbased polyurethane that can be professionally-applied over virtually any type of surface, including:  

• Drywall 
• Concrete 
• Cement Block 
• Plaster 
• Wood  

The product can even be applied directly over old chalkboards, converting them into dry erase surfaces.  

And since the coating is clear, it can be applied over top of any paint color, preserving the color of your walls.  So that means no more giant white walls.

And one of the best features of this product is its flexibility.  If you decide you no longer want your dry erase surface or you need to paint your walls, the coating can be sanded, primed, and painted right over top of -- converting it back to its original surface.

With the option of painting over any surface or existing color and the ability to erase your work with ease, the possible applications, as well as the advantages for SW's new offering are many -- from school & church classrooms, to office & conference rooms, and even kitchen message boards or kids' bedrooms in your home. 

Application/Installation Info:

If you decide you'd like to try using one of the DIY products available at your local home center or hardware store you can expect to pay roughly $200 to paint an average sized wall for the material and supplies only (not including your labor) if you're painting over an existing wall color -- bearing in mind that most of these DIY products have significant limitations versus the Sherwin-Williams product, as well as some of them requiring a prime coat.

If you're considering having a professional application done using the SW product you should expect to pay about $700 for material and labor to paint an average sized wall if you're going over an existing wall color, with a substantial savings if you have additional walls done at the same time.  Probably in the range of $300-$350 for each additional wall.

If you have a classroom, office, or home in the Greater Pittsburgh or Western Pennsylvania areas and would like a free quote on converting some of your walls into a dry erase surface please contact us by calling 724-898-2446 or by clicking on the button below.