Repairing crack in artex

Grabs39

Hi all,

One of our ceilings has three cracks in, due to the flat roof above leaking. (Felt has been replaced now).

Normally with a crack in plaster I’d stick some pollyfilla or caulk in the gap, then scrape off the excess and sand if needed once dry, but I can’t see how I’d do this with the textured finish.

Any suggestions on how to prep this before painting?

(I know the wishful answer is to plaster over the whole lot of it, but I can’t justify the cost right now for the sale of the spare room)

Thanks!

FreeBear

With any textured finish, you are going to really struggle to replicate when patching/repairing. On that basis, rake out the cracks, fill, sand, and paint. Do the best you can and put a full skim on the to-do list for another day.

Or you could get another tub of Artex and slap another layer on across the whole ceiling.

pollyanna_26

Have you any idea how long the artex has been there? I bought a new build in 1975. We had a water leak from the upstairs bathroom through the kitchen ceiling years later and only then found out there was asbestos in all the artexed ceilings and needed the artex removed by a specialist contracter.

Hopefully yours will be ok but housebuilders did use the asbestos version for years sometimes after the ban.

Years later Everest replacing outdoor soffits and cladding etc found they too had the same problem and that was two men in breathing gear to take it all out safely

polly.

Slinky

I'd just have a go at rubbing caulk into the cracks with a finger and painting over when dry.

Martin_the_Unjust

Slinky said:

I'd just have a go at rubbing caulk into the cracks with a finger and painting over when dry.

This is what I have done quite successfully in the past

Hasbeen

Grabs39 said:

Hi all,

One of our ceilings has three cracks in, due to the flat roof above leaking. (Felt has been replaced now).

Normally with a crack in plaster I’d stick some pollyfilla or caulk in the gap, then scrape off the excess and sand if needed once dry, but I can’t see how I’d do this with the textured finish.

Any suggestions on how to prep this before painting?

(I know the wishful answer is to plaster over the whole lot of it, but I can’t justify the cost right now for the sale of the spare room)

Thanks!

Smear some white silicone sealant with a finger carefully, gently into crack/line, if expansion crack if not some decorators caulk.

Slinky

Hasbeen said:

Grabs39 said:

Hi all,

One of our ceilings has three cracks in, due to the flat roof above leaking. (Felt has been replaced now).

Normally with a crack in plaster I’d stick some pollyfilla or caulk in the gap, then scrape off the excess and sand if needed once dry, but I can’t see how I’d do this with the textured finish.

Any suggestions on how to prep this before painting?

(I know the wishful answer is to plaster over the whole lot of it, but I can’t justify the cost right now for the sale of the spare room)

Thanks!

Smear some white silicone sealant with a finger carefully, gently into crack/line, if expansion crack if not some decorators caulk.

Caulk is designed to be painted over, silicone sealant is designed to resist water.

koalakoala

Surely their insurance should pay?

GDB2222

pollyanna_26 said:

Have you any idea how long the artex has been there? I bought a new build in 1975. We had a water leak from the upstairs bathroom through the kitchen ceiling years later and only then found out there was asbestos in all the artexed ceilings and needed the artex removed by a specialist contracter.

Hopefully yours will be ok but housebuilders did use the asbestos version for years sometimes after the ban.

Years later Everest replacing outdoor soffits and cladding etc found they too had the same problem and that was two men in breathing gear to take it all out safely

polly.

The cheaper alternative is just to skim over the artex, and leave the asbestos safely encapsulated for future generations to deal with.

Grabs39

Have you any idea how long the artex has been there?

Built in 1967; I presume the ceiling is original and contains small amounts of asbestos.

said:

Surely their insurance should pay?

I’m not claiming for the sake of some small cracks and a bit of paint.  We’d had every intention to decorate this spring anyway so this is a very minor issue.

The cheaper alternative is just to skim over the artex, and leave the asbestos safely encapsulated for future generations to deal with.

Very much the norm around here to just plaster over the top!

Thanks for the suggestions and replies everyone - I’ll just try and “freehand” with caulk and see how I get on.

We want to skim most of the house when time and money allow (other than the kitchen every wall and ceiling in the house could do with it), but for now we’re happy living with artex and wallpaper and spend money on more pressing things.  We moved in in June so there are always jobs to do.  This is only the “spare” room anyway so no one is in there very often.

Frank99

Grabs39 said:

Hi all,

One of our ceilings has three cracks in, due to the flat roof above leaking. (Felt has been replaced now).

Normally with a crack in plaster I’d stick some pollyfilla or caulk in the gap, then scrape off the excess and sand if needed once dry, but I can’t see how I’d do this with the textured finish.

Any suggestions on how to prep this before painting?

(I know the wishful answer is to plaster over the whole lot of it, but I can’t justify the cost right now for the sale of the spare room)

Thanks!

I had this problem last year and although bit of a risk i used a roller and covered the ceiling with crack free ceiling paint (3 coats), the problem is that the ceiling now looks like a skimmed ceiling as the paint has filled in most of the texture although i don't mind this with current fashions.