How to remove artex?

sevenhills

My staircase has a stippling artex type of finish. I can see faint lines, as if it was covered by lining paper before this finish was applied.
Is that what it is, and how will I rove it?
I quite like it, but where there has been building/electrical work done, it looks terrible.

Myrtle

Spray with water, leave for about 10 mins then peel it off with a scraper. That's what I did with my ceiing artex. Worked a treat.

photome

Mine is awful, i cant even touch it without it turning to powder, but I have had one ceiling skimmed,without the need to remove it, that worked

Browntoa

Another vote for skimmed , if you scrape it off it still needs skimming so just skim flat as is

sevenhills

Browntoa wrote: »

Another vote for skimmed , if you scrape it off it still needs skimming so just skim flat as is

Its on the top half of the staircase, with a wooden rail, then wall paper at the bottom.
So I would probably need to remove the wooden trim and skim the whole lot, it is not think like some artex, but thin and sharp.

stator

Before you remove artex you need to test it to see if it contains asbestos, or you need to assume that it does.
If so, use x-tex, which is messy

FreeBear

If the ceiling has been papered or it is an old lime plaster & lath construction that had distemper applied before the artex, skimming is only a short term fix.

Assuming the ceiling had been papered, the bond between the two won't cope with another layer of plaster. The water will soak through and you could find the whole lot coming down.

If the ceiling had distemper applied in the past, then any new plaster will certainly fall down within days.

Then again, a friend has a fairly new build house (about 20y old) with artex ceilings - You don't have to look very hard to see the joints in the plasterboard. 4' (1220mm) spacing gives it away.. In this situation, a skim will certainly cover the artex without any problems.

societys_child

sevenhills wrote: »

a stippling artex type of finish

it is not think like some artex, but thin and sharp.

Artex tends to be thick and smooth to the touch, even when "patterned and swirled" . That sounds like a textured paint. Imagine matt vinyl paint with sand mixed in. (it wasn't sand, but you get my meaning). I think Johnstones used to do one, might have been "Ripple-tex" or something.

*Disclaimer: Think it's unlikely to be Artex, but I can't see it from here

sevenhills

societys_child wrote: »

Artex tends to be thick and smooth to the touch, even when "patterned and swirled" . That sounds like a textured paint. Imagine matt vinyl paint with sand mixed in. (it wasn't sand, but you get my meaning). I think Johnstones used to do one, might have been "Ripple-tex" or something.

I have tried to scrape it off, and it does just seem like wall paper which has been painted.
Wish I hadn't started now, all the wall to do

FreeBear

How far apart are the seams in the paper ?

If the ceiling is plasterboard, you could be trying to remove the paper facing.

PhilE

Get it tested for asbestos before doing anything.