I want smooth walls (Artex/Plastering questions)

Gorgeous_George

I've removed artex in the past and was fortunate to buy an early 1970's house with no artex :j . OK, it had not been decorated in 30 years but that was good too. Removed the manky wallpaper and the walls were great when painted.

To remove artex, I used to scratch the painted surface and cover the area with wallpaper paste. TAfter about an hour this would moisten the artex sufficiently to allow removal by scraper.

GG

spankymonkey_2

we are now in the process of having all our walls replastered as we live in an airy house(pre-war temp housing) yes 60 years on and they are still up! .
our walls are so thin you could knock them down they are a cardboard consistency and the previous tenants had had all the walls artexed which was bloody awful! our plasterer told us to knock all the bumpy bits off with a trowel then p.v.a over it then he skimmed it.looks great only thing is we still cant put heavy things on the wall cause it wont take it!

Toodlepip

Hi
My hubby is at this moment trying to apply this over stippled paint previously applied in our ensuite. There is a barrage of expletives currently filling the air and needless to say he is not impressed with it! Our ensuite is very small and he reckons he will only just be able to do the ceiling with one tub so I dread to think how much any other room would need. Have just stuck my head round the door and the finish is very poor....certainly not "smooth".....he is now going to check the garage to see if we have any "normal" plaster which he reckons will do a better job! So my advice....don't bother!!!

paulc8704

hi, im an asbestos analyst, i carryout air tests and surveys for asbestos, dont panic when you hear the word asbestos, if you know the right people it can be solved at fraction of the cost, i can can provide you with any info needed and contacts so your asbestos can be removed safely and very cost effective, my contacts are ukas and arca accredited, please dont forget asbestos should be treated with care, there are very serious implications if laws are not met,

Dora_the_Explorer_5

I shifted mine off the walls in the hall with liberal applications of Nitromors. I'm still alive !

Willxx

My dad is a plasterer with over 40 years experience i.e a proper old fashioned time served tradesman, I have stippled ceilings in my lounge and kitchen don't even know if its artex or just plaster effect, he reckons the quickest and easiest (and as I'm not paying him for it, the cheapest!) way is to simply put 6mm board over the existing surface and skim it. When we bought our house no disclosure about asbestos was made to us so I'm happy to cover up nasty ceilings and leave it at that!

melbury

Our house was built in 1988 and for some reason that I cannot understand there is artexing on every single ceiling - even the garage!!! Also it is big artexing - the upstairs landing has sloping ceilings and it is covered in long dangerous points that stab you. I absolutely hate it and can see no reason why it should have been done as the house was new, so presumably it wasn't done to cover up cracks etc - just some nutcase who loved doing it!!

It would be virtually impossible to get rid of it because of the amount, but I am a bit concerned reading on here about the asbestos thing. Is it likely to contain asbestos do you think?

mercurystar999

Well maybe, but if its untouched it aint gonna hurt! I recently did a course at work about asbestos and the tutor said that fibre release on artex is near enough nothing as the plaster/bond keeps it all together. Even when removing/drilling there is near enough zero fibre release. It currently is higher placed on the list of dangerous asbestos than asbestos board which is silly aparently and is in the process of review and will be downgraded.

chez1373

Hello All,

Im new to this site but after reading some of your coments about artex im a little worried!!

We have just bought our first house and every wall has artex on it thats landing stairs hallway 4 bedrooms kitchen and living room,

We have a lot of work to do in the house but our builder said we needed to take off the artex as it was put onto wallpaper in every room!!!

We have taken off the artex and the paper thats me an my mum we had no saftey gear im now a little worried any help and advice would be great..

Our builder didnt tell us anything about asbestos (sorry cant spell) should he have told us about this?

thanks again..
cheryl:mad:

melbury

chez1373 wrote: »

Hello All,

Im new to this site but after reading some of your coments about artex im a little worried!!

We have just bought our first house and every wall has artex on it thats landing stairs hallway 4 bedrooms kitchen and living room,

We have a lot of work to do in the house but our builder said we needed to take off the artex as it was put onto wallpaper in every room!!!

We have taken off the artex and the paper thats me an my mum we had no saftey gear im now a little worried any help and advice would be great..

Our builder didnt tell us anything about asbestos (sorry cant spell) should he have told us about this?

thanks again..
cheryl:mad:

My husband has also spent ages chipping and scraping artex off without any protective gear because we didn't know about any risks. We still have quite a bit to do - we aren't getting rid of the horrid stuff, just knocking off all the sharp sticky out bits. I SIMPLY HATE IT - WHY DID PEOPLE PUT IT EVERYWHERE?