Artex ceiling removal

always_sunny

Irar wrote: »

Hello I'm trying to find the best way to remove / reboard artex ceilings..

We have just bought a house that has two artex ceilings.. the living room and dining room.
The living room is new I think.. it also looks like it's a false ceiling as it's lower then the other room.. the artex in the dining is a old lat and plaster ceiling but I'm not sure if it's artex or something else.. it looks like water droplets.. and is like thick layers of paint.. I picked a loose patch off.

I'm reallyed tempted to rip them down and reboard.. the only thing that worries me is ive read it can contain asbestos..

I have the same problem in my kitchen, though ceiling is high so when I will redo the kitchen I was planning to have a false ceiling with recess lights!

BOBS

FreeBear wrote: »

Skimming over Artex will work regardless of the pattern with one proviso - The Artex must be firmly attached to the original ceiling. If, like my ceilings, the Artex can be peeled off, then it will probably fall down once it is skimmed.

How would you know if it if firming attached :eek:
Assuming it is as no bits have come off in 21 years ............. Would so love to get them skimmed over.

[Deleted User]

BOBS wrote: »

How would you know if it if firming attached :eek:
Assuming it is as no bits have come off in 21 years ............. Would so love to get them skimmed over.

Skimming will add a lot of additional weight, so I'd say the length of time the Artex has been up is a good indication that it won't be able to bear this.

FreeBear

BOBS wrote: »

How would you know if it if firming attached :eek:
Assuming it is as no bits have come off in 21 years ............. Would so love to get them skimmed over.

If you know the history of the ceiling, there might be some clues. For example, my ceilings are lime plaster that may have been painted over with distemper and/or limewash originally and then with an assortment of emulsions in the 60s/70s. A final coat of Artex went on some 25 years ago in an attempt to hide the cracks.

Attacking it with a paint scraper (the cracks made it easy to find an edge to work from), it was possible to peel the Artex off in large chunks - In some areas, it had bonded quite well to the original plaster, partly due to luck more than anything else. With the resulting mess coupled with severe cracking, it proved quicker & easier to take the whole lot down.

The only way to test your Artex is to attack an area with a scraper - As it is going to be skimmed, it doesn't matter what sort of mess you make of it

Jclights

Skimming over artex is quite tricky compared to flat plasterboard, but totally doable, knock off the big lumps first, £200 to test each ceiling seems excessive, at that point you are probably better off getting someone to stick some plasterboard over it

SG27

We skimmed every room of our house over the artex. Didnt bother testing it.

vw100

What year was the house built, the type of ceiling may not contain asbestos. Can get a test kit, something like this for piece of mind.

https://www.asbestos-sampling.com/

Ripping it down means you retain the height of the room and get a nice new ceiling and gives the opportunity to sort out any electrical cabling and pipes. Other option skim on artex or boards and then skim.

cajef

Jclights wrote: »

Skimming over artex is quite tricky compared to flat plasterboard, but totally doable, knock off the big lumps first, £200 to test each ceiling seems excessive, at that point you are probably better off getting someone to stick some plasterboard over it

As this is a nearly two year old thread I would think the OP has had it resolved by now.