Skimming Artex or replastering

nazuro4013

Hello, we are in the process of purchasing a four bedroom detached which is entirely covered in Artex celing. We have had an Asebstos survey which showed NO Asbestos present.

What is the recommended approach or pros/cons in terms of the options:

a) Skim over all Artex (£100 ish per room)
b) Remove ceilings and put new plasterboard up (£300-400 ish per room)

The only negative I can see of skimming over is that we may lose a couple of cm of space, would it really be that noticeable?

We are having a full rewire carried out first, if that helps at all in determining what to do.

Thanks a lot
Nazuro

Ant555

All rooms I have had replastered have included removing artex style stuff from the ceiling -one of them done a few years ago was a bit iffy but the rest of the rooms have been (and still are) absolutely fine.

Unless in a poor condition or for access, then I dont see why you would go to the trouble of taking the ceiling down.

The last couple of rooms I have saved time and money on the plasterer by checking with him its OK and then removing the stipples/blobs myself with a big scraper from screwfix (link below)
https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-long-handled-scraper-6-/87299?tc=DA5&ds_kid=92700022647641306&ds_rl=1241687&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1243321&ds_rl=1247848&ds_rl=1245250&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgq70tvmU5wIVirTtCh2c1wx6EAQYBSABEgI6gfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Then coating with PVA glue - a bit messy but seems to save the plasterer lots of time.
Ive had a couple of plasterers and they have both been more than happy with me removing blobs and suggested I coated with PVA but have told me to leave the actual walls alone.

A friend of mine completely renovated a house and removed the plasterboard from all of the downstairs ceilings as it was far easier for his extensive changes.

With regards to losing space on a skim, you wouldn't notice and the skim might only be the same measurement as the old stipples you will have removed or scraped off anyway - the skim on an existing plasterboard ceiling is going to be a few mm at most.

hope this helps

couriervanman

If skimmed properly it will be fine

FreeBear

Why was the ceiling covered in artex in the first place ?
If it was to hide cracks, then reboard and plaster - Cracks will only show through again in time.
If the artex was put on over a stable surface free of cracks and flaking paint/distemper, then skimming would be the most cost effective solution. You'll only lose 3-5mm, and this would only be noticeable if there is coving and/or decorative plasterwork. Skimming does depend on the artex being well attached to the ceiling - Any poorly adhered patches will cause problems.

Frank99

My late father used to use some kind of tool to remove the spikes off artex back in the day but his own version of artex was flat because he hated the kids getting hurt by spikes in fact it doesn't even look like artex.
The only thing i hate about skim is the amount of hairline cracks that eventually appear, it looks great from far away but terrible on closer inspection similar to my body these days ha ha ha.

redmalc

We have just been in a similar position and we had the majority of the rooms skimmed and it turned out ok

EmmyLou30

Had the whole house skimming and the edges feathered up to the coving so it still looked like the original ceiling so only added a minuscule amount of ceiling thickness. As someone else said, only as much as the spiky bits probably took up if not less. He scraped the spikes off, pva'd and skimmed. The only hairline crack is the kitchen as it's a big ceiling. The rest are all good 5 years on.

Debran

The houses around where I live were built in the mid-sixties when it was fashionable to have patterned ceilings. Most people have had room ceilings skimmed as a simple remedy.