Best way to cover artex?

wallofbeans

Hi All,

I've got one room with an Artex ceiling and I've been told there's two ways to cover it - one being to PVA and skim over it, and the other being to board over it. 

Is one a better idea than the other? I've got a couple of plasterer quotes and one suggests skimming, the other boarding - so I'm hoping someone on here might be able to advise on which is the smarter solution. Or if they both work, and either is fine...

Browntoa

Either is fine 

If it's old artex then possibly asbestos in it so skim is safer 

shiraz99

I'd board it, much easier.

wallofbeans

Browntoa said:

Either is fine 

If it's old artex then possibly asbestos in it so skim is safer 

I've only had the house a year. I know the last people who owned it didn't put the artex in, or the celing high wardrobes I have now removed. And there's no artex on the celing behind where the wardrobes were... So if someone knows the era of these wardrobes then we'll know when the celing was done --

https://imgur.com/lYSW08Q

wallofbeans

shiraz99 said:

I'd board it, much easier.

I'm not doing it myself but... do you think boarding it is much easier? My boarding it quote is more than skimming so I assumed it was the more difficult option...

FreeBear

Another option is to put another layer of artex on.

Downside to boarding is it is of a crap shoot making sure the screws hit the joists behind the old plaster.

davemorton

wallofbeans said:

shiraz99 said:

I'd board it, much easier.

I'm not doing it myself but... do you think boarding it is much easier? My boarding it quote is more than skimming so I assumed it was the more difficult option...

Cost of materials will be more, but skimming smooth boards is easier then bonding then skimming artex. 

MalMonroe

Hi, the company in the link below -

https://www.oracleasbestos.com/blog/artex-asbestos-testing/
 
- gives some good information and advice.  Under 'how to tell if artex has asbestos' and also under 'What are your options for dealing . . . ' etc

Seems that it's okay to skim over it or plasterboard and then skim over but if it's not known whether or not artex is present, anyone wishing to remove the artex at a later date will need to know that asbestos could be present before they attempt any such removal.

stuart45

wallofbeans said:

shiraz99 said:

I'd board it, much easier.

I'm not doing it myself but... do you think boarding it is much easier? My boarding it quote is more than skimming so I assumed it was the more difficult option...

You have got the labour cost of overboarding as well, so you would expect it to cost more.

koalakoala

Late 80’s early 90’s ?

greyteam1959

Leave it alone is another option.
I have 10 ceilings with Artex on them & I ain't touching them