How to Specify a Whiteboard That Lasts: A Guide to Ceramic Steel

White­boards are one of the most-used surfaces in a school or office, and one of the least specified. "White­board, 2400 × 1200" in a schedule leaves the surface quality to chance. Five years later, the board is ghosted, stained and due for re­place­ment. A better spec­i­fi­ca­tion avoids that.

Why the surface matters

A white­board surface has to handle constant writing, erasing and cleaning. Lower-grade surfaces can lose their finish, hold onto marker ghosting and look tired quickly in high-use rooms. In class­rooms and meeting rooms used all day, the surface is the product.

What ceramic steel is

Ceramic steel is a porcelain-type ceramic coating fused onto a steel sheet at high tem­per­a­ture. The result is a very hard, smooth writing surface on a magnetic steel base. Gilkon's ceramic steel white­boards use PolyVi­sion e3 Ce­ram­ic­Steel.

Prop­er­ties to specify

Dura­bil­i­ty and writing quality

A fired ceramic surface is designed for heavy daily use and to resist scratch­ing and ghosting in normal use. Specify a ceramic steel writing surface for any high-use teaching or meeting space.

Hygiene and cleaning

PolyVi­sion describes its e3 Ce­ram­ic­Steel as resistant to fire, chemicals and bacteria. That makes it a strong choice for health­care, aged care and lab­o­ra­to­ry settings as well as schools, where surfaces are cleaned fre­quent­ly.

Pro­jec­tion

A low-sheen surface reduces glare, so the board can double as a pro­jec­tion surface. That's useful in rooms with short-throw pro­jec­tors.

Sus­tain­abil­i­ty

PolyVi­sion e3 Ce­ram­ic­Steel is described as 99.9% re­cy­clable and Cradle to Cradle Certified Silver. Combined with a long service life, that helps projects with sus­tain­abil­i­ty targets.

Sizes and walls

Gilkon supplies ceramic steel white­boards in defined product sizes. Use the white­board con­fig­u­ra­tor to arrange those boards on a wall layout and specify the board products required for your room. The wall canvas helps plan the layout; the ceramic steel white­boards are the products being specified.

When planning a wall, consider:

• Height: the writing zone should suit the users. Lower for primary students, higher for adults.
• Joints: where panels meet, and how trims are finished
• Ac­ces­sories: pen trays and mounting for displays
• Adjacent surfaces: pairing white­boards with Gilkon pinboards (Vertiface fabric in 35 colours) gives a room both writing and display space

A sample spec­i­fi­ca­tion clause

You can adapt this for your schedule:

White­board: Gilkon ceramic steel white­board (or approved equiv­a­lent) with PolyVi­sion e3 Ce­ram­ic­Steel writing surface, low-sheen finish suitable for pro­jec­tion, magnetic steel substrate. Size and layout as per drawings. Supplied with man­u­fac­tur­er's mounting system and pen tray. Aus­tralian-man­u­fac­tured.

Including "or approved equiv­a­lent" keeps pro­cure­ment open, while naming the surface sets the standard any al­ter­na­tive has to meet.

Made in Australia

Gilkon products are designed and man­u­fac­tured in Australia by OPIE Man­u­fac­tur­ing Group at Emu Heights, NSW, under an ISO 9001:2015 quality system. That means local support, practical cus­tomi­sa­tion and supply that doesn't depend on a shipping container.

Fre­quent­ly asked questions

Is ceramic steel more expensive than a standard white­board? Usually it costs more up front. In high-use rooms, though, a longer-lasting surface can mean fewer re­place­ments over the life of the building. Compare whole-of-life cost, not just purchase price.

Can I use magnets on a ceramic steel white­board? Yes. The ceramic surface is fused to a steel substrate, so magnets hold to it.

How should ceramic steel be cleaned? Follow the man­u­fac­tur­er's cleaning guidance. Regular dry erasing, plus periodic cleaning with an approved white­board cleaner, keeps the surface at its best.

Can white­boards be made to custom sizes? Talk to the Gilkon team about non-standard re­quire­ments. For standard products, start by selecting and arranging ceramic steel white­boards in the con­fig­u­ra­tor.

Are Gilkon white­boards made in Australia? Gilkon boards are man­u­fac­tured in Australia by OPIE Man­u­fac­tur­ing Group, using PolyVi­sion e3 Ce­ram­ic­Steel as the writing surface.

Ready to specify? Configure it and download the BIM file, or contact the Gilkon team.