Artex ...

Monsternextdoor

Artex, this is going to be the bane of my life - I can feel it.

Property we are buying has thick cake frosting artex on the ceilings in the property, Now I know you can skim in it and it will be covered that way. But has anyone had any luck with scraping the 3 inch thick devils icing off the ceilings ? 

Whilst it may contain asbestos, I don't need to worry about it as my OH is an asbestos removal engineer and I have all the correct equipment and respirators.

I'm just very conscious about adding excess weight to what could be a thick covering that is already on its way out.

DB1904

At three inches thick I'd be taking the ceiling down. 

Monsternextdoor

DB1904 said:

At three inches thick I'd be taking the ceiling down. 

Its crossed my mind to do it, the area is big tho. 2 large rooms with the excessively thick stuff and the rest has a thin stipple its 11 rooms that have it

FreeBear

DB1904 said: At three inches thick I'd be taking the ceiling down. 

Whilst not as thick on my ceilings, I did start stripping one - Used X-Tex on some of it before taking the whole ceiling down. Had to, as there were unstable areas and quite a few cracks.

I think with 3 inch thick layers, even X-Tex is going to struggle. So complete removal may be a more prudent option.

Monsternextdoor

@FreeBear I have just been looking at the X-Tex, I think it would struggle also but may work in conjunction with steaming before putting it on. 

In a perfect world Id touch it with a scraper and it will all fall down, But seldom goes to plan !!

Doozergirl

It's so much easier to overboard it. Less risk of contamination and/or ripping it down and putting back down again .  

Monsternextdoor

Doozergirl said:

It's so much easier to overboard it. Less risk of contamination and/or ripping it down and putting back down again .  

This is what I am currently pricing up, This I will outsource though. 

Sod ending up with a concussion and plasterboard in the eye.

Doozergirl

It is the holding it endlessly above the head that does it for me.  No ta to the inevitable pins and needles, let alone what you describe!

Monsternextdoor

Yup !!! 

The fact that my OH is possibly going out to the middle east as well is putting me off, Id happily scrape away with a bottle of gin and a resi with a straw. 

I just dont want dead arms 

Ben1989

I'm going through the same struggles. I apologise on hijacking but I'd love to know how effective X-tex is? My house is like it was owned by an artex salesperson. All walls in the hallway, and landing and every single ceiling in the house excluding the box room.

Fortunately, it's all be checked and is asbestos free so that gives me the green light to crack on and remove it all. 

It has all been painted though. Would x-tex work through that? The only videos I see of it are about 15 years old and it's not mentioned much. Not sure if it's worth it?

Also, regarding our ceilings, they have curved edges and the artex continues onto the picture rails. Not sure how to get around that.

FreeBear

Ben1989 said: It has all been painted though. Would x-tex work through that? The only videos I see of it are about 15 years old and it's not mentioned much. Not sure if it's worth it?

Also, regarding our ceilings, they have curved edges and the artex continues onto the picture rails. Not sure how to get around that.

I found X-Tex to be quite effective - It will also attack paint, so shouldn't have any difficulty in shifting the stuff on your walls. It will also clean up your picture rails and take the paint off them too - Another job where a scaffold tower is worth having. Much safer than working off a ladder, and you can cover a bigger area.