Preparing artex ceiling for painting

ormus

i wouldnt worry too much. give it a clean with sugar soap, if you really must.
but in my experience just painting with matt emulsion does the job. it may take a few coats.
and it may not last as long as a normal ceiling job, but its a quick and cheap job to do again, so not that critical.

cornerstone13

Now I'm worrying that if I wash it with sugar soap, I might create a big problem. Guess I'll just have to try a small area first and see what happens. I thought that if there was grease on the surface that I didn't wash off, the paint wouldn't adhere very well ??

keystone

cornerstone13 wrote: »

Now I'm worrying that if I wash it with sugar soap, I might create a big problem. Guess I'll just have to try a small area first and see what happens. I thought that if there was grease on the surface that I didn't wash off, the paint wouldn't adhere very well ??

My amswer above assumed that the artex was nicely adhered to the existing ceiling. 27col is correct that what he says can happen. Equally Ormus is also correct when he says don't worry too much. If its going to come down it will when you wet it with paint as well as if you wet it with water. Then its a different problem to address.

You are correct that the paint will not stick to grease so you must clean it first. Stain block ensures you will seal in any residual dirt. If you don't use it and there is some dirt up there and it leeches through it will continue to do so however many coats of your ordinary paint you put over it.

Cheers