Artex Ceiling

SavvySaver24 · 15 August 2018 at 2:55PM

Firstly, I can't find a building/decorating forum so can someone direct me there if this is the wrong place.

Our new house has horrid artex ceilings in 3 bedrooms, the hall, landing, lounge and bathroom.

We want this covered up and I am looking for the most cost effective way to have this done (that will last). We won't be doig it ourselves so while I am looking for cost effective I'm not looking for DIY.

I understand sanding off is REALLY messy and time consuming, and as it can potentially contain asbestos it is also a potential hazard.

So can someone suggest whether putting up plasterboard and then skimming over it is more likely to last than JUST skimming over it? Essentially which is cheaper but which has longevity?

If we go down the plasterboard and then skim option, can anyone give a ball park idea on cost? Having researched the prices seem to vary wildly!! We have 2 mid sized bedrooms, small bedroom, mid sized lounge and the hall and landing.

In terms of the bathroom, we have spotlights in there so I assume that will HAVE to be skimmed rather than pasterboarded over?

When people refer to 'skimming' do they essentially just mean adding a layer of plaster? Imagine it would have to be thick plaster to cover the artex if we didn't first add plasterboard so what weight impact does that have - would it drag the ceiling down?

EmmyLou30 · 15 August 2018 at 3:13PM

We had the drippy 1980's/90's type artex. Plasterer went over it with a large paint scraper thing on a stick to knock all the nobbles off, then skimmed them with a very thin layer of plaster that tapers slightly up to the edges so the coving still looks 'right' as opposed to the coving being flush with the new ceiling if you see what I mean. So minimal fuss/mess, £1800 for the whole 4 bed house 4 years ago.

He warned us the largest ceilings may get hairline cracks due to the size of them and the skim being thin but so far so good, one small hairline crack in the kitchen one and 1 popped nail in the lounge that was easily filled back in.

If you have coving and want to overboard you're looking at a more costly job, lower ceilings and a lot more mess as far as I can see.

SavvySaver24 · 15 August 2018 at 3:17PM

Thanks :-) We have no coving luckily.

Cookieie · 15 August 2018 at 3:27PM

Depending on when the building was built, you should get the artex checked for asbestos firstly, just incase!

SavvySaver24 · 15 August 2018 at 3:32PM

How much does that cost though :-/ May be better just plasterboarding over to avoid the asbestos risk?

davidmcn · 15 August 2018 at 3:43PM

SavvySaver24 wrote: »

How much does that cost though :-/ May be better just plasterboarding over to avoid the asbestos risk?

All you're doing then is hiding / delaying the asbestos risk, surely?

SavvySaver24 · 15 August 2018 at 3:56PM

I was under the imprssion though thay asbestos was only an issue if disturbed?

studentguy · 15 August 2018 at 4:03PM

SavvySaver24 wrote: »

I was under the imprssion though thay asbestos was only an issue if disturbed?

It is, but don't you want to know for peace of mind? What if you need to drill into it one day? We've got artex in the house we're buying, i'm 99.9% sure it's not asbestos, but I'm very tempted to get a survey just so I know, especially because I want to install wifi access points in the ceiling eventually.

davidmcn · 15 August 2018 at 4:17PM

SavvySaver24 wrote: »

I was under the imprssion though thay asbestos was only an issue if disturbed?

It is, but my point was that the moment it's obviously artex with a presumption that it contains asbestos. If it becomes nice new plasterboard, what happens when someone else fancies drilling holes in it, or otherwise has a need to disturb the ceiling?

SavvySaver24 · 15 August 2018 at 4:21PM

Well we definitely can't afford to have the ceiling taken down and put back up. So even if a test came back and said it DID have asbestos we would still plasterboard over .