I want smooth walls (Artex/Plastering questions)

ormus

i dont mind the artex ceilings so much, its the artex walls i cant stand.
we have both here. had the lounge done last year. replastered (skimmed) the whole room. looks great now.

(maybe) still got the dining room and the utility room to do. plus one wall in the hallway.

chez1373

melbury wrote: »

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?

I hate it all too, it looks a mess and smells too.. ours does anyway ha ha
Im under the impression that even knocking the dust off an sharp bits is dangerous for you we have done all our walls now an we are ok? as ok can be ha ha good luck to you

deca_321

The secret to gaining a smooth wall is when the plaster is done the walls ask him to give the walls a light coat of PVA with a mix of WATER. This wall make your wall shine like varnish. And you can paint right on top of the plaster, no need to wall paper it. As long as the mix is not with too much PVA.

This is way easier, less timing consuming, and a very neat trick. And looks very smart.

Ialwaysgetdone

We are thinking of selling our house which has an Artex ceiling in one room, can anyone confirm that we will need to declare it as containing Asbestos or can anyone confirm if Artex has been taken off the list as some posters suggested might happen?
If it has been de-regulated does this mean it is safe to remove?
I knew nothing about this until I saw this thread while searching for Polycell.
It was Artexed in the mid 80's.
Thanks.

Edit>>>
To partly answer one of my own questions;

What’s new in the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006?

Work with textured coatings will, generally, not need to be done by a licensed contractor. It will still need to be done safely by trained, competent people working to certain standards.

somefriendlyuk

hello, although you should take every precaution when dealing with this i like to point out that its probaly in nearly every building you have been in and you probably spent all your school days in building riddled it !!-i heard it was even in piant as well. I personally prefer to leave it in place if possible and think taking the tops of artex wearing a good mask(after damping down) and re-bonding and skimming is the best bet for this.I know most of this contained only a small percntage of the nasty stuff anyway and its only when its in a breatable form -ie dust you have a problem Remember if you knock it all down are you are going to create an awful lot of dust and are you with is more of a hazzard and are you really confident that every nook and cranny can then be cleaned to get rid of this now breathable dust?

Johnny_Demonik

Hi, me and my partner recently moved into a fairly old, 3 storey, Back-to-back terrace in Leeds and absolutely every available surface from the first floor up has been artexed to death (walls and ceilings, horrible spiky stipple effect). We tried steaming it off but after a few days on one room, getting hot, molten artex dripped all over us we needed a new plan. Not being able to afford a pro plasterer we googled for help and found 'X-Tex' It's a wierd neon-blue gel that you paste on and leave for an hour. It's 90 quid for 15 litres which will do several rooms and it really works well. My advice is paste it on, cover with plastic sheeting (we used supermarket carrier bags sliced in half), leave for 2 hours and then scrape off with a short, sharp wallpaper scraper. The X-tex melts the artex and it comes off very easily without damaging underlying plaster. cheaper than a plasterer and less messy - and painful! - than steaming.