Plastering over artex ceilings

devildolly5

Hi

We have two ceilings in our living/dining room which we had a quote to plaster over. The quote is £695 plus VAT and covers the following -

Once room is cleared out, apply correx to floor for protection then apply one coat of PVA to ceilings then one bonding coat of plaster and two coats of multi-finish.

The ceilings are approx 5m x 4m each.

Is this reasonable?

Many thanks

tea-bag

Seems expensive I got a utility room and kitchen done for less than that.

benson1980

For comparison we got our entire downstairs done, including a bit of repair work to walls (probably added about £50 to quote), for £740 all in. This is an area around 55m2. That said it was just skimmed with one coat(our artex was quite thin) - I don't know enough about plastering to know why you'd have a bonding coat and then two further coats of multi finish but I'm guessing this is something to do with the thickness of the artex which may account for the extra expense.

enthusiasticsaver

We had our living room artex ceiling done for £350 and the room was 3m by 5m and they applied 3 coats in the end as the artex was quite deep. We got the same plasterer in to do our kitchen utility area which was a similar size and they did that plus a wall in our new conservatory after the electrician had channelled wires into a wall for £400 altogether. I would say the quote sounds expensive as my quote included the vat. Perhaps you should get a few more quotes as I daresay it does vary from area to area.

Radsteral

whatever you pay, make sure the art is treated a day in advance with Thistle bond it glue and then next day the plaster to take place . Pva/unibond won't work on artex... will do for the moment though any moment or vibrations and it will come of in big pieces, ... take that from moi, 25 years plastering

one tab of this glue is about 45-50 quid and enough for those ceilings.. buy it yourself , and instructions are on the tin ... most plasterers would have never heard of the thing so offer that they discount this 50 quid from the price .. good luck with it

Risteard

Radsteral wrote: »

Pva/unibond won't work on artex... will do for the moment though any moment or vibrations and it will come of in big pieces, ... take that from moi, 25 years plastering

And it is worth bearing in mind that if the Artex was manufactured before around the mid-1980s it is likely to be an ACM (Asbestos containing material).

david39

Have you considered ignoring the artex and putting up new plaster board to cover it. This will give you a new ceiling.
We had this done in our bedroom at a cost of less than £200, including painting and the job was done in a day.

Radsteral

as long as the plasterer can access the joists from upstairs to locate them exactly .. if not then many screws will go astray and not hit the joist..may aswell hit a cable or pipe as long wooden screws need to be used , not the normal plasterboard screws As a general rule, if you can avoid putting more weight to the old ceiling the better it is
I don't know how big that room was David, though even if you were in the remotest part of....scotland, you got the biggest bargain in the MSE with this 200 quid price , considered 2 people will be needed to handle the plasterboard, install it, then tape and join it and then paint it same day..impossible to have plastered it since you saying they even painted same day , For a room 3x3 m, materials cost for your job, on a tight budget would cost 100.00 , so dad and son shared 70.00 and 30 that day....(dad is not even paying minimum wage to his son;)

ceredigion

Radsteral wrote: »

whatever you pay, make sure the art is treated a day in advance with Thistle bond it glue and then next day the plaster to take place . Pva/unibond won't work on artex... will do for the moment though any moment or vibrations and it will come of in big pieces, ... take that from moi, 25 years plastering

one tab of this glue is about 45-50 quid and enough for those ceilings.. buy it yourself , and instructions are on the tin ... most plasterers would have never heard of the thing so offer that they discount this 50 quid from the price .. good luck with it

There isn't a spread in the country that hasn't heard of Thistle bondit, though most would use blue grit as it is cheaper. Also how do you think we did it before these polymers were introduced onto the market . Shock, horror , it was PVA . Though will concede that the OP`s estimate of one coat wont cut it unless they intend to use Thistle unifinish

ceredigion

Radsteral wrote: »

as long as the plasterer can access the joists from upstairs to locate them exactly .. if not then many screws will go astray and not hit the joist..may aswell hit a cable or pipe as long wooden screws need to be used , not the normal plasterboard screws As a general rule, if you can avoid putting more weight to the old ceiling the better it is
I don't know how big that room was David, though even if you were in the remotest part of....scotland, you got the biggest bargain in the MSE with this 200 quid price , considered 2 people will be needed to handle the plasterboard, install it, then tape and join it and then paint it same day..impossible to have plastered it since you saying they even painted same day , For a room 3x3 m, materials cost for your job, on a tight budget would cost 100.00 , so dad and son shared 70.00 and 30 that day....(dad is not even paying minimum wage to his son;)

Hope you are not using wood screws to tack boards and at the same time offering advice on an open forum. You need to be using course thread dry wall screws ,which are available in a multitude of lengths for doing just that , as for missing the joists, you take it out and try again.

Radsteral

ceredigion wrote: »

There isn't a spread in the country that hasn't heard of Thistle bondit, though most would use blue grit as it is cheaper. Also how do you think we did it before these polymers were introduced onto the market . Shock, horror , it was PVA . Though will concede that the OP`s estimate of one coat wont cut it unless they intend to use Thistle unifinish

before polymers were introduced you did as you did... you now use iPhone or samsung to reply to this thread probably so progress in many ways , don't just use your old nokia .....
Old time served plasterers we found today doing a full concrete basement walls with pva??? so i just found one today already ...bound to come of in a short period as they were even using hardball instead of bonding coat