Removing/covering artex

dirty_magic

We've just had an offer accepted on a house that has artex everywhere and we'd like to get it skimmed over. It's quite a strong pattern, not just a few swirls. We think the house is about 40 years old, and we don't know how long the artex has been there or if it has asbestos in it.

Would a plasterer need us to get the artex tested before skimming it, and if it does contain asbestos would it cost a fortune to get rid of it?

wallbash

Would a plasterer need us to get the artex tested before skimming it,

Suggest you ask the plasterer but as he ( could be a she ?? ) is not breaking up the artex , would highly think the answer would be no.

Also think the risk of asbestos in Artex is hugely over stated, but then again I'm old enough to have survived lead in paint !!!

dirty_magic

I think it's probably overstated too but I'm just thinking about the costs!

We'd also like to knock a stud wall down that has artex on it so we'd probably need to get that checked before the OH gets too carried away!

wallbash

n it so we'd probably need to get that checked

You could........ I would just do it .

Stud wall with atrex .......sounds wonderful!

dirty_magic

Oh it is! Definitely has to go so we can have our nice big kitchen! It's a lovely house but parts of it are definitely stuck in the 80s!

YORKSHIRELASS

All of our downstairs rooms had lovely artex ceilings. We have gradually had them all redone. The plasterer said the best way was to re-board them and then skim over the top. This has worked a treat and we now have clean, smooth ceilings.

I didnt know there was any worry about asbestos, the plasterer certainly didnt say anything to us!

dirty_magic

Hopefully there won't be any massive costs then. I haven't even thought about the ceilings yet! I'm more concerned about the walls since they'll be more noticeable.

It's got me thinking about which current trends are going to be massively dated in years to come. I can remember my parents being desperate for artex in the early 90s! When they got it the neighbours and my grandparents both copied because they were so impressed with it!

Lychee

I've also just bought a house with artex on the wall and no idea how long it has been there for. The house is about 60 years old. None of the plasterers who came round to quote mentioned the word asbestos, which I wondered if they would. So probably get plasterers round to quote and see what they say The plasterer has since skimmed over the artex, there are small parts which he struggled to cover well because the pattern was so thick, but I don't think anyone would notice unless I specifically point it out.

john-306

I want to cover the old artex that is in our kitchen, problem is it also has coving, so skimming or overboarding is a no go as it will cover the top lip of the coving itself, so it's either scraping it off or pulling down the whole lot coving and all

jellie

wallbash wrote: »

Suggest you ask the plasterer but as he ( could be a she ?? ) is not breaking up the artex , would highly think the answer would be no.

They'll probably knock the high points off first though.

john-306 wrote: »

I want to cover the old artex that is in our kitchen, problem is it also has coving, so skimming or overboarding is a no go as it will cover the top lip of the coving itself, so it's either scraping it off or pulling down the whole lot coving and all

I had my artex ceiling skimmed and I've got coving. My pattern of artex had a fairly flat border round the edge of the ceiling so the plasterer feathered the skim to the edge of the coving. Worked a treat.

cyclonebri1

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

All of our downstairs rooms had lovely artex ceilings. We have gradually had them all redone. The plasterer said the best way was to re-board them and then skim over the top. This has worked a treat and we now have clean, smooth ceilings.

I didnt know there was any worry about asbestos, the plasterer certainly didnt say anything to us!

Where have you been for the last 20 years:eek::eek::eek::eek:.

Now, I mean that without offence but I thought this had had enough publicity to alert 1 and all, obviously not?

Maybe your plasterer was either ignorant to the fact, in which case he may now be an ex-plaster or he didn't feel your ceiling fell into the period when asb was included in the mix/

Over board, yes, but even nailing or screwing could release asb fibres.

Simply plaster over?, probably the safest, but not giving the best finish,

And lastly, it's a small risk, I'm guessing a lesser risk than actually worrying about it;)