Ceiling Skimming over Artex

barrowvian

We're wanting to have our ceilings skimmed as we're not a fan of the Artex.

In the bedrooms at the back of the house (North facing) we have a slight damp/mildew problem. It looks like the previous people that owned the house just painted over it before moving out.

As we don't want this to be a recurring problem would it be better to skim over the ceiling as it is (after it's been cleaned) or would we need to first remove the artex fully and then skim over it?

Kiran

Hve you fixed the damp problem first and is the artex still damp?

barrowvian

The area where the mildew occurs is where the wall meets the ceiling on the outside wall. We have a bigger damp area at the top of the built-in wardrobe.

Previously, we have cleaned it using a bleach based remover but it eventually comes back. However, the patch in the wardrobe doesn't ever fully clean properly. It hasn't spread but it is rather unsightly.

I was thinking of removing the Artex in these areas to see if it has soaked through. If it hasn't then we were thinking of having it damp proofed and then paint over with damp proof paint.

What do you think?

phill99

From your description, you don't have a damp problem, you have a condensation problem. Something tells me that the bedroom is next to the bathroom, there is no extractor in the bathroom, you don't open the window in the bathroom and you leave both the bedroom amd bathroom doors open?

You need to manage the amount of moisture in the atmosphere and that will deal with the condensation oroblem.

Just skim over the artex. Removing it is the devils own job.

Kiran

As above, it sounds like condensation rather than damp.

MX5huggy

I agree condensation, what's the insulation like in the loft above in this corner, my loft was insulated apart from the corners because they would have had to lie down to get in there. If you increase the insulation the condensation will not form here but on the coldest surface (windows normally),you also need to ventilate.

Don't bother removing the artex, if the skim wont stick to it just board over it with plasterboard.

barrowvian

Thanks for the advise.

Upstairs we have two bedrooms and a bathroom. All of the doors are within 1 - 1.5 meters of each other (facing each other). The other bedroom, on the South facing wall, has no condensation problems at all. Could this be because the room is naturally warmer than the other room?

We have rock wool insulation in the walls.

We had some insulation in the loft, but when we moved in a noticed it was absolutely soaked so we removed it. I know we need to put some more down by the time winter rolls around again. On one side of the loft the insulation was pushed right up to the (eeves?) and wasn't letting any ventilation in.

We don't have an extractor fan in the bathroom so this may be something we look in to. We do open the bathroom windows for 15-30 minutes after showering and don't leave the bathroom door open.