Particleboard Countertop

 

For years now the plan has been to replace our laminate countertop with granite. However, life seems to financially get in the way of that little luxury. 

To complete this project, I have to say that I am married to a pretty handy guy who has a background in the family business of of painting and refinishing. Growing up as a young boy on the San Francisco bay, he would spend hours at Pacific Boat Works where his father refinished yachts. Knowing how durable and waterproof marine varnish is, he thought why not use it on a simple wood countertop?

There are several options of wood we could have used that would all have given the countertop its own unique look, but we settled on particleboard. I love the flecks and dots in it.

Here is how you can make your own particleboard countertop.

- Glue and clamp two sheets of particleboard together. You'll want it two layers thick to make it sturdy and strong.

- Measure and cut the countertop to size. You can do this by making a large paper template or trace your old countertop after it has been removed.

- Use a router on the edges to get your desired look and give the whole thing a good sanding.

- Stain the desired color. We chose a color that matched the decor of other furniture in our home.

- Once the stain is completely dry. Cover with varnish. We used 8 layers of Cabots gloss Spar Varnish to get a thick durable gloss. 

 particleboard laminated

 countertop cut to size and stained

finished product