Artex in house built in 1998

PunkRoquefort

Okay. So, I have a house, which I bought off-plan, built in 1998 and like most, if not all houses on our developement, every ceiling in my house was Artexed by the builders.

I know Artex is not fashionable now, and some of my neighbours no longer have it in some of their rooms. I recently had a new kitchen fitted and asked about removing Artex from the kitchen ceiling. The kitchen fitters said it is pricey and time consuming to remove and advised me it is just as well to save the money and leave it as it is, unless I really want it removed.

So, I am now aware of the fact that Artex is dated and now considering getting it plastered over in all of my rooms, like some people get done. 

I do live on my own, but don't want dated looking rooms.

Also, is there a risk that my Artex contains asbestos? I am anxious about this, as a few years ago, my father drilled two holes in the bathroom ceiling to install a shower curtain rail. A small amout of the Artex above the shower has peeled away also. Need I worry? I do suffer anxiety.

Do you still have Artexed ceilings at home? If so, is the Artex still on show or is it plasterd over smoothly.

Do people you know still have most the rooms with Artex still on display, or am I a rare case still having it in every room?

PunkRoquefort

Sorry about the typo....Plastered.

redped

Our house has artex on all ceilings, and tbh I don't mind it in general.

When we getting a new kitchen put in several years ago we asked the plasterers about removing it, as someone had added some "lovely" fake wooden beams (really just some 2x4 pieces of timber which looked awful).  In the end the plasterers removed the beams and boarded over the artex before giving it a smooth skim coat.  It did reduce the ceiling height slightly, but has greatly improved the look of the kitchen.

ashe

Had fanned Artex in my old house. Got a plasterer to skim over it. 

PunkRoquefort

Thank you.

Also, in my new fitted kitchen, I have cornice fitted at the top of units, leaving several inches gap betwen the ceiling and the top of the cornice. However, in one corner of my kitchen, where I have the tall 70/30 fridge freezer, built-in, there is a small cupboard on top of the fridge, without cornice, which reaches to about 3mm below the Artex. It is the wavy Artex.

Would the 3mm or so gap present an issue for a plasterer or will a thinly skimmed/plastered ceiling be an easy job for him/her?

I appreciate your input.

Section62

PunkRoquefort said:

Would the 3mm or so gap present an issue for a plasterer or will a thinly skimmed/plastered ceiling be an easy job for him/her?

If the artex has peeled away relatively easily then it probably isn't suitable for skimming over.

In terms of asbestos the only way of knowing is to get a sample tested.  You can get a company to take a sample for you, or there are options where you can DIY the sample and send it to the lab.  If there are places where the artex will peel away easily then it wouldn't be difficult to take a sample yourself safely (following the testing company's instructions etc)

In my own experience a new build in 1998 is at the lower end of the scale of probability of having asbestos in the artex, but the only way of knowing for sure is to get it tested.

mi-key

Don't worry about the health risks as they really are miniscule. Asbestos if left undisturbed is no risk at all. Really most of the people who had health problems were old plumbers and builders before the risks were known who would rip it out and smash it up every week so exposed themselves a lot more.

It is also quite likely your artex doesn't contain asbestos as they phased it out in the mid 80s and stopped adding it to textured coatings.

Skimming over is definitely the easiest method and most plasterers will have done this hundreds or thousands of times

With the small gap above the cupboad they will be able to deal with this, the gap could even be filled to give a tidier finish

 

mi-key

ashe said:

Had fanned Artex in my old house. Got a plasterer to skim over it. 

That is properly old fashioned ! you don't see that often now !

twopenny

Yes I have a 1999 bungalow and every ceiling artexed.
When I first moved in I was going to get it sorted but no one else on the tiny estate has and there are nicer things to spend my money on 
Also when I asked on here the chance that something could go wrong put it to the bottom of the list.

travis-powers

I have to have asbestos awareness as part of my work and each time I renew it I have a sleepless night, I appreciate that is the point and to make operatives to stop and think but I do wonder about how much asbestos is now covered in plaster and in the future would be deemed safe to remove!

Eldi_Dos

Our present property is a mid 1990's timber frame and brick construction

Thinking of getting new boiler and have been in the process of getting quotes for replacement, of the three quotes only British Gas mentioned getting the board the boiler is attached to tested for asbestos, when I queried about this with their surveyor he agreed that the likelihood of a property of that age having any was small, but they would still test before agreeing a instal.

There is always a general consensus that BG is expensive for this type of work but they do seem to put safety high up the agenda and safety does cost.