Artex ceilings- worth getting rid?

[JoanIsNotAwful]

I have an 80s house with artex ceilings throughout. The icicle pokey style one, not the ones with interesting patterns.

I want to decorate throughout as currently it's just very boring cream in every single room. I'm paying someone to do this because I don't have time or the skills to do so, so it's quite an investment.

I can't decide whether to get all the ceilings plastered over before decoration or not. I don't really like it at all, but it turns out that having it replastered will be a real hassle because a) all the rooms have spotlights which we need an electrician to sort out before the plastering and b) the plasterer wants the beds removed from the rooms to do the bedrooms which is going to be a huge undertaking as they were all made in the room and we have a king in one bedroom and a super king in another and I don't even know if we can dismantle and remake them.

Decorator would be happy to work around the beds but plasterer isn't.

What would you do? Have you had yours plastered over and found it a huge positive difference, or has anyone left them alone and regretted it?

Previous owners said they did asbestos test and was clear hence being able to install all the spotlights, but we don't have a copy of the test so don't know whether to redo ourselves.

We had artex in our rented house and had it skimmed over. It was so worth it, I think it's worth just taking the beds apart to do, it shouldn't take long with an electric screwdriver

I personally hate them and would plaster over for sure, they make a room look dated regardless of how else you decorate. I’d get an asbestos test done myself to be sure and get some paperwork for it for safekeeping. If it’s a real hassle and you don’t mind the ceilings then maybe just leave them? It’s all personal taste!

I would 100% plaster over the artex, it won't take long for someone to dismantle bed/put on it's side. Can he just pop the spotlights out and put them in a picnic bag or something?

Just stick a layer of plasterboard up. Bish bash bosh, done.

We have bobbly artex ceilings. I planned to get it removed or plastered over but then baulked at the cozt and decided to live with it. We barely notice it now. On the upside they are a lot easier to paint than smooth ceilings!

@Artrunner this is what the plasterer did for
me when I got my bedroom redecorated. I moved the other furniture out but the bed was too big

I’ve had one of my artex ceilings redone, I went for the plaster board over option as the home survey warned there could be asbestos in which shouldn’t be disturbed. I mainly got it done because it had holes in and was in bad condition. I have another in good condition which I’ve left

We plastered over the artex and the rooms are much brighter. We did it ourselves in one room with the stuff you use to soften it and scrape it - that was the worst. It didn’t remove it perfectly and was ridiculously messy. The others were plastered over and that was so much better.

Our plasterers managed to keep the furniture in rooms. They put down some heavy duty dust sheets. It is messy for a week while they do it as they need to scrape it off and then plaster. The house will be wet and feel cold for a bit while it dries but once dry and painted will be so much better.

If you are considering it and you keep coming back to it, you need to do it before painting. Our plasterers were quite clean but there was still some plaster that ended up the walls. Either do it now or accept you won’t do it until you want to repaint because otherwise you’ll ruin the walls.

We had our living room done and it caused more hassle than it was worth. The walls had not long been painted and were an absolute mess and had to be done again. We didn't know at the time that the walls would be ruined and, obviously, the plasterer never mentioned it.

In hindsight, I wish we hadn't bothered. But if you have the money and don't mind the mess, I agree that smooth ceilings look better. As others have said though, get an asbestos test.

I loathe artexed ceilings. Dates the house terribly.

We just got rid of ours as part of a major refurb. So glad we did as they have been annoying me for years. Ours were definitely ugly and badly done in the first place.

You need to check for asbesto before you start drilling into an artex ceiling

You can buy asbestos kits and test it youself!

I've never understood just plastering over it! Surely in future if you or the next person drills into it or disturbs it- the asbestos layer is still there to cause harm?

There are thick, paste like products you apply, then the asbestos peels off. One I know is called X-tex. Personally, I'd be looking at someone to remove it that way rather, than just covering it up.
https://www.healthyhomestore.co.uk/homestrip-x-tex-artex-remover/#:~:text=Simply%20brush%20X%2DTex%20on,the%20licensed%20asbestos%20removal%20sector.

They can be skimmed over, that’s what we did with ours, but I hate artex and very much knew it was there !

Hideous stuff. I’d get it skimmed rather than removed because it may contain asbestos.

Won’t take long to take beds apart enough to get them out of the room. Personally i’d want them done as they look very dated now.

Could you look for another plasterer ?
I know most want platforms and baths but some are prepared to work off smaller equipment .
If it were me I don't think I could face taking beds apart and out of the room .

To add to my earlier post that you can buy testing kits yourself, we had 1 decorator/plasterer type man who also did asbestos testing. I'd read that you need to take samples from several parts of the artex. His words:

'Well, if you test on too many places, you are bound to find it!!!' His plan to was to take 1 sample on 1 part!