Artex/Embossed Wallpaper Dilemma

[jodee]

The people who we bought our new(ish) house from very kindly decorated the hall/stairs/landing and living room with a horrible embossed paper, and the wall and ceiling above the dado rail in the living room is artexed - I can't bear the thought of stripping the paper as they have made such a good job of it throughout, but WHY OH WHY did they have to choose embossed, it's not my taste at all...I've read about a product called Impasto (?) by Paint Magic which is a kind of very thick paint, which is supposed to cover it and was wondering if anyone had tried the same thing and if it worked(or is there any other product you could recommend?

Thank you!!!

Hi jodee, we recently bought a house with a heavily artexed ceiling (think home-made meringue!) and also heavily embossed wallpaper. We've had to go so far as to remove the whole ceiling to be rid of the 'artex'. The wallpaper was easily removed with a steamer though. I'm 34 weeks pregnant, but the steamer really did make light work of it. It was as much the thought of future decorating that encouraged me to get rid of it once and for all! (It's not to my taste either, to say the least ) I haven't heard of the stuff you are talking about, sorry.

message withdrawn

Thanks Twiglett and Levanna - but...but... that means I would have to paper the walls again! It's the thought of redoing the stairwell that fills me with horror, we made such a pig's ear of it in our last house!

you should be able to steam artex stuff off too - we tried once with our walls (think xmas cake) and it was a horrible job, but did work. We ended up having the whole house redone and managed to get rid of it by builders taking it off (don't know how) and replastering.
You have to be careful with embossed wall paper as it may have damaged the plaster underneath

I've never tried it, but there's some information about it here . Probably nothing you don't already know, but it sounds good. There isn't an inconspicuous bit you could try it on is there? I can quite see why you would rather not do it all again. We've got lots of horrible inherited anaglypta that looks nowhere near as bad once it's painted white.

I woulnt try the Impasto over wallpaper,the extra weight could cause the surface to become unstable.I agree with what's already been said -teaming off,you never know what's underneath the embossed,it might not be as bad as you imagine.As for the Artex,I'm pretty sure you can get something that helps remove it,I've had some luck in the past just getting it v.v. damp and (carefully)usinf a paint scraper on it,but this only works if there is'nt too much paint on it .

message withdrawn

I've just had woodchip removed from my ceilings - it was all over them downstairs - and it was so worth it, has totally changed the vibe of the house. I would grit your teeth and go for it, hire a really good steamer though. You don't want to look at something every day that you hate.

Guess it's got to be done - ARRRRGGGGGGHHHH!

I really can't bear looking at the walls and ceilings, and together with the horrible grey flowery carpet in the hall and landing - got to go, got to go! (But one project at a time, doing the bathroom first - we have a turquiose bath and basin, the toilet bowl is white with a blue cistern - nice! )