Re-purpose particle board countertops

[thelowendHz]

Hi folks,

My wife and I just bought a bank-owned property that needs a lot of work. Our small kitchen has laminate countertops and the laminate is falling off in different places. Ideally we want to just get new countertops, but it's not in the budget right now. What we would prefer to do is remove the laminate and then sand and paint the particle board as a temporary measure.

I'm curious if anyone has experience doing this and what are the steps? From what I can find online I think the best way to do it is sand it down to 250 grit, apply a sealer (possibly up to 2 coats), sand it again to 250 grit, and then paint it. All advice welcome, but we're not looking for alternatives at this point (e.g. laying down more laminate).

[pushkins]

Providing you can get the laminate off without damaging the particle board you could do as you propose although that is always going to only be a temporary measure.
Couple of points though, you will have to seal it with an oil based sealer (Zinser or Kilz) DO NOT use a water based sealer, for the longest life of a painted counter top, you will have to use an oil based finish paint. The edges are where you will probably have the most trouble, nothing is going to seal and cover them to stop damage, suggestion would be to add a small strip of wood glued and nailed to the edge before you sand, seal and paint.

[thelowendHz]

Thanks a bunch for confirming what I've picked up online. I think before we go the paint route we're going to try using Ardex to create a concrete countertop. Seems to be popular right now as an alternative way to redo your countertops while saving for something more permanent.