Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Best thing to do with Artex

18 replies

juneybean · 23/09/2015 11:31

I'm going with the assumption that it does have asbestos in it.

I had one guy out last week to quote and he said it'd have to be boarded over losing an inch of ceiling height at a price of £230 per room!

I've got two more plasterers coming out tomorrow to have a look.

Is boarding over the best thing to do?

OP posts:
wowfudge · 23/09/2015 11:44

I think it can be skimmed too - messy job though. Any idea of the age of the artex? That can be an indicator of whether it may contain asbestos.

ijustwannadance · 23/09/2015 11:45

Depends how thick it is but better to get it skimmed than try to remove it. I wouldn't board it.

Original poster
juneybean · 23/09/2015 12:01

I'm not entirely sure, the survey last year said they thought it might contain asbestos and the extension that is in was built before 1970 I believe.

Thanks for your replies! :)

OP posts:
AnnaLP · 23/09/2015 12:18

I have the same problem but only in one room (the rest are papered over lathe and plaster, which might be worse).

What are the disadvantages of taking the ceiling down, apart from costs?

I am about to get a quote from a builder who has recommended just taking it down and putting in a new ceiling.

If they do contain asbestos what sort is it - aren't there different types and some are more dangerous than others?

Any experts on asbestos here on MN?

Procrastinatingpeacock · 23/09/2015 12:27

I would think skimming would be your best bet. Why did the guy who came round think it would have to be boarded? I'm pretty sure that asbestos in artex does not pose a risk in situ, and skimming over it seems the most straightforward way to deal with it.

We had all the artex ceilings in our house skimmed at a cost of £60 per ceiling (South East but not London). It was part of a wider renovation so we had plasterers in anyway, so they might have charged a bit more had it been a stand alone job, but it certainly sounds like a much cheaper bet than boarding the ceiling!

ExConstance · 23/09/2015 14:41

We have just had our kitchen ceiling skimmed, no idea of price as part of the total package but not much. They painted it with unibond and then skimmed it over, looks lovely now, which means I want all the other rooms done too. Fortunately our artex is not too obtrusive but why te inflicted a house built in 199 with artex ceilings I'll ever know.

jevoudrais · 23/09/2015 15:54

Only if it's really thick would I get it boarded over. Should be able to skim over it otherwise.

Our bathroom and kitchen has it. Not sure what we will do, but we have high ceilings so not much of an issue if we do lose an inch. I would prefer skimming though.

Ruhrpott · 23/09/2015 16:15

We had some of ours skimmed over. Varying costs per room depending on size but was approx. £100 per room

Original poster
juneybean · 23/09/2015 19:07

The rooms I want done are tiny... think galley kitchen and downstairs toilet so I did think £230 was a bit steep!

OP posts:
Ruhrpott · 24/09/2015 11:46

£230 per room is definitely steep. I would get another plasterer in to give you a quote. I used one recommended to someone else on our local streetlife website and the price included all materials. Ours weren't boarded, they painted the ceiling with something and then skimmed over it. Looks much better now and even the deep fan shaped patterns got covered.

lighteningirl · 24/09/2015 11:58

Am having mine skimmed room by room sadly it goes down to the picture rails so those have had to be removed and whole room skimmed. Cost is about £200 for each room so far.

SirVixofVixHall · 24/09/2015 12:09

Our house was World of Artex. We had each separate section asbestos tested. One ceiling had asbestos, and as it is in the eaves and so comes down almost to the floor, we had the whole lot removed. Otherwise we couldn't have put in a picture hook, or a light fitting, without disturbing it. All the other Artex was (surprisingly in some cases) free of asbestos, so we had it skimmed. Walls, ceilings etc, the whole lot.
Get yours tested, it is much better to know what you are dealing with. Having it skimmed is dangerous, if you sell your house then the next people won't know there is asbestos there and may well screw things into it etc.

Original poster
juneybean · 24/09/2015 20:57

Thanks for the replies.

Had two plasterers come today, the first said £360 for boarding again. The second said £220 for skimming. Such a massive difference between the two.

OP posts:
LadyDeGrump · 28/09/2015 11:53

Having it skimmed is limiting or dangerous. If eg your electrics go and you need to rewire there you will have to disturb it and risk the health of your tradesmen and your family or get it removed - and then all the money you have spent on skimming will be wasted. Also v dangerous for any9ne who doesnt know. Please get it removed.

SirVixofVixHall · 28/09/2015 15:43

It is easy to get it tested, and then you know if it has asbestos in. It may not. Wasn't it mentioned on your survey when you bought the house? Our was. We had about eight different areas, and only one had asbestos, even though some of the other stuff looked older.

poocatcherchampion · 29/09/2015 09:41

We had ours boarded. That sort of cost inc the plastering. Rooms are not tiny though.

We are very happy with it.

NoSquirrels · 29/09/2015 09:54

I can hear the builders as I type - we are going for boarding over, as we also need to install ceiling lights which aren't currently there! When I looked into it, though, unbind & skimming seemed to be an OK solution, if you know what sort of artex it is.

(Off topic, but when I was a kid I used to love picking the spiky bits of artex off the ceiling when on a bunk bed Shock)

NoSquirrels · 29/09/2015 09:54

unbind = Unibond, obviously.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page