Best way to cover artex?

FreeBear

wallofbeans said:  But he'll still be suggesting reboarding the lath and plaster wall, and stripping and starting again with the crumbly walls around window too. He was talking about it being difficult to match the plastered bits to the papered walls that are there and its better to just strip it all back and start again.

With the walls being Victorian, and most likely solid brick (9" or so), I'd certainly strip back to bare brick. Then fix a minimum of 50mm of Celotex/Kingspan to the walls, preferably ~75mm. Finish with plasterboard, and skim for a smooth finish. Yes, it will take time, create a pile of mess, and add to the cost. But you will end up with a room that is much easier to heat and keep warm.

e.g....

Continue the insulation round the window reveals with 25mm sheet, seal gaps, and that should kill any cold spots.

wallofbeans

Bendy_House said:

I wonder why he wants it tested first  - I guess he's planning to scrape the highest peaks off first? If so, what happens if it returns 'positive'?

And it's hard for folk to judge how best to tackle the walls - just how bad it is. But the suggestion of using mesh suggests parts are loose and dodgy, in which the rest will surely become so too over time? 

Again, I'd rip it all off, remove the lathe, and reboard. It should go without saying that any external walls should be insulated, and that might be enough to persuade you to do this anyway.

That's exactly why he wants it tested. Although he did say I could do the peaks myself if I wanted!

I've got quotes of around £700 to skim the ceiling and half a wall, then redo around the windows where the wall is hollow. I wonder what I'm looking at for doing everything as you suggest.

It comes down to not having that much money to spend - so I'm trying to find the best option between doing the minimum and everything.  

FreeBear

Last time I had a room skimmed (2.4x2.4m), all four walls, plus ceiling, it cost me ~£200. That was beginning of 2020 just before all the fun started. Even with the latest price hikes, I would expect no more than £400-500. In London, £700 wouldn't be too far off. But I would want an absolutely perfect job with zero mess and no washing of buckets/tools down the nearest drain.

Do have a think about insulating that wall - In the long term, it will save you money on heating.

wallofbeans

£700 was for the ceiling and one wall. And I got roughly that price from a few people. 

Two building firms wanted to change well over 2k for the same thing. 

Are you saying £700 for the whole room to be redone? I’d bite someone’s hand off if they offered that price. 

wallofbeans

I don’t get cold easily. But could do depending on extra cost. If lots then I’d suggest putting a jumper on as an alternative solution. 

FreeBear

wallofbeans said: Are you saying £700 for the whole room to be redone? I’d bite someone’s hand off if they offered that price. 

A decent plasterer would be able to do the whole room in a day. Your £700 sounds like a day rate (two people ?), and material costs would be minimal.

wallofbeans

FreeBear said:

wallofbeans said: Are you saying £700 for the whole room to be redone? I’d bite someone’s hand off if they offered that price. 

A decent plasterer would be able to do the whole room in a day. Your £700 sounds like a day rate (two people ?), and material costs would be minimal.

That’s £700 all in, yeah. So potentially if I’d asked them to do the whole room, the price would’ve been the same? Wow. 

Gavin83

To give you an idea we had our living room artex ceiling skimmed a few months back. Was definitely plasterboard though and no where near as old as yours (mid 90s). The room is around 5.5m x 3.4m and this included scraping the larger artex bits off plus a bay window area with a lower ceiling, so essentially a second small ceiling. It cost us £320. He did a great job too.

This is in the South East too, although location doesn't make as much difference as some would suggest.

If you're anywhere near the Cambridge area I'd be more than happy to send across his details. He is in demand though so I expect you'll be waiting 4 months or so.

Gavin83

Just to add to my previous post I did actually tear down and replace some of the ceiling for other reasons. It's certainly DIYable for anyone with a bit of confidence and plasterboard isn't outrageously expensive like some materials. You could probably board that entire ceiling for about £60. However, as others have mentioned it's an extremely messy job, you'll certainly need some PPE (mask and goggles at least) and I wouldn't be doing that unless you're sure there isn't asbestos up there.

wallofbeans

Gavin83 said:

To give you an idea we had our living room artex ceiling skimmed a few months back. Was definitely plasterboard though and no where near as old as yours (mid 90s). The room is around 5.5m x 3.4m and this included scraping the larger artex bits off plus a bay window area with a lower ceiling, so essentially a second small ceiling. It cost us £320. He did a great job too.

This is in the South East too, although location doesn't make as much difference as some would suggest.

If you're anywhere near the Cambridge area I'd be more than happy to send across his details. He is in demand though so I expect you'll be waiting 4 months or so.

My ceiling plasterboard is quite possibly mid 90s as well. If the artex was added about then, it would be reasonable to guess that the fireplace was removed, ceiling reboarded, wardrobes fitted and artex done all at the same time. So late 80s through to late 90s I'd guess.

So say £300 for the ceiling. But then I've still got the one wall next to the new fitted wardrobe to be skimmed, the opposite wall to the that to also be skimmed - they are both in reasonable shape and solid. But the wall around the windows is clerly patchy and the plaster will probably crumble off quite easily so that needs to be sorted out. And the oppsite wall to that is defintely lath and plaster and I think would crumble if I leant on it too hard, so that probably needs reboarding and skimming. 

What do you all think that will (or should) cost me? London prices, considering that's where I am.