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Original poster

Any tips or ideas on getting rid of artex on our hall walls?

27 replies

miniandme · 13/01/2009 20:43

Our hallway has been artexed many years ago and we are now looking to do a council house exchange but need to get rid of the artexing ont he walls anyone any ideas?? the cheaper the better

OP posts:

stealthsquiggle · 13/01/2009 20:48

Save up and pay a plasterer, or get a grant and go on a plastering course and then make your fortune!

Sorry, not especially helpful, but all the advice about stripping, etc we have had from people who really know what they are doing starts with DON'T DO IT.

Tillyscoutsmum · 13/01/2009 20:50

I agree - getting it skimmed over is the only way to get rid of it

AMumInScotland · 13/01/2009 20:51

I think it's virtually impossible to remove, sorry, the only advice I've seen is that they can scrape off the pointiest bits then plaster smoothly over it, or else remove the plaster completely and put up a layer of plasterboard.

CaptainKarvol · 13/01/2009 20:51

Dreadful stuff. I stripped ours from the hall in the last house - if we'd had it skimmed the hall would have been about 6 inches wide (slight exageration, but really tiny house). Anyway, it was a filthy job, half the plaster came with the artex and I ended up having to knock back to the brickwork and replaster from scratch. Fun. Looked a LOT better when it was done though, and cost me time + a couple of bags of plaster.

Pay a plasterer.

Washersaurus · 13/01/2009 20:52

We had something that resembled artex on our landing walls - it was all pointy and sharp so had to get rid of it as it kept scratching us! We paid someone to strip it - he used several tins of Nitromorse. It wasn't an easy job but he got it all off!!

stealthsquiggle · 13/01/2009 20:53

I feel your pain, BTW - the only surfaces not artexed in our house are those covered in chip paper .

Washersaurus · 13/01/2009 20:58

LOL SS - we removed the woodchip paper on the landing as it was horrible (took us ages), and we found the artex stuff underneath!! We are too frightened to strip the other walls in the house

jodee · 13/01/2009 21:00

after 5 years I am getting used to the artex and woodchip on my ceilings!

LackaDAISYcal · 13/01/2009 21:00

be careful how you or a contractor takes it off. Older artex may contain asbestos materials. I would get it tested before disturbing it.

morningpaper · 13/01/2009 21:00

aw, bad luck - you either need a lot of time, or a lot of money

stealthsquiggle · 13/01/2009 21:02

We removed chip paper from one room and found newish plaster which was fine to sand and paint - we may have been lulled into a false sense of security - we are talking everywhere - ceilings as well as walls - I am currently campaigning to finish some jobs before we start anything else...

bamboo · 13/01/2009 21:33

We had this in the hall and stairs - horrible. Like CaptainKarvol we dh ended up going back to the brick. He borrowed some fancy tool that my Dad had bought from Screwfix and it didn't take too long but boy it was messy! We bought some CSI type zipped door coverings which kept the worst of the dust from the rest of the house and slept on blow-up beds downstairs until it was done. We hired a skip which was invaluable for carting all the debris away.

Our plasterer friend didn't think skimming was a good option as he didn't think the artex surface would take the weight and, to be fair, it did come off surprisingly easy in parts. Also skimming can mean losing details like cornicing (sp) and skirting. It may be OK for you if you're just looking to tart it up though.

I'm glad we did it. It looks so much better even though 8 months later we've only just managed to whitewash the plaster. I know for a fact it had put some viewers off buying the house.

upinthecrowsnest · 13/01/2009 23:27

Loads of artex contains asbestos, I would cover it up or live with it but wouldn't make dust. Keep it wet if you do really have disturb it - I think that's safer.

Ros3 · 13/01/2009 23:31

I would second Upinthecrowsnest advice and not touch it, the risk of asbestos not worth it.

Rhumba · 14/01/2009 17:45

we have the something similar in the halls and stairs but we're told that it's the orgnial plaster (but all bumpy and just as awful looking. Could this also have asbestos and what wsa the screwfix tool you used to remove it called?

VinegarTits · 14/01/2009 17:47

I removed the artex from my council house (many years ago now) with an industrial streamer

Hope it didnt have asbestos in it

MaryBS · 14/01/2009 17:56

I'm probably going to die because in the late 80s, my ex and I removed artex off the walls from hall stairs and landing, using a wallpaper stripper. The stripper softens the artex so you can scrape it off - turns it to the texture of soft icing.

upinthecrowsnest · 14/01/2009 22:32

What you want to do is avoid inhaling the fibres so a texture like soft icing doesn't sound too bad (but I am no expert).

The percentage is low in artex but officially for any asbestos containing thing you are supposed to take appropriate precautions, e.g. if you are employing someone to do something in the house you're supposed to make sure that they are protected if they come across it. At least, that's my slightly hazy memory from when we had to get quotes for a house with a lot of asbestos in (not just artex) - we ended up not going ahead with the work though (not just because of the asbestos) so not sure how it would have worked out.

There's no point worrying about past exposure anyway, nothing you can do, and tiny quantities of asbestos fibres are in the air anyway. IMO it's still well worth avoiding in future, as it doesn't take many fibres to cause harm, but I'm sure the odds are still low of something bad actually happening from any one odd bit of artex removal, so if it's already happened I wouldn't fret, personally, I'd draw a line and move on and just do it differently next time.

bamboo · 15/01/2009 13:25

Rhumba My Dad says it was this. Pricey - he has a Screwfix addiction though!

I think ours was the original plaster rather than a conventional artex too. Our plasterer friend didn't have any concerns about asbestos but I guess the possibility needs to be taken seriously.

bamboo · 15/01/2009 13:42

Scrap the above link - it was one of these

I'm beginning to wish I'd never asked him! A quick query has turned into a series of about 10 phone calls.

Original poster

miniandme · 15/01/2009 20:38

Well had a guy in today to give us a quote on the job and its gonna take 5 days !! 3 to take off the old stuff and 2 to skim the walls and all this will cost us to the tune of £1000 !!!
This HAS to be done before we can move out of the house so we really have no choice but to have it done!!

OP posts:

Rhumba · 15/01/2009 20:51

thanks for the link, bamboo. Looks very hard work as we have a large hall both upstairs and downstairs. How long did it take? (think my hands would sieze up totally!)but better than our current plan off chipping away a bit at a time.

shortcircuit · 15/01/2009 22:08

I've taken off walls of the stuff with a wall paper stripper - comes off quite cleaning & is strangely satisfying (& much cheaper)

Have also done woodchip paper, which I was told would be a nightmare, but was in fact easy.

bamboo · 16/01/2009 10:39

Rhumba, it only took dh a couple of days for the hall, stairs and small landing. I was pregnant at the time so got out of it! It was really hard work - you can see how you can get whitefinger and suchlike doing that sort of work. Would recommend the whole works - mask, gloves, disposable boilersuit, ear defenders. The skip, as I mentioned was invaluable, and the door dustguards.

It actually looked quite good back to the brick - kind of industrial/warehouse style!

Incidentally my dad says he'll lend you the drill as I had to do that mumsnet thing of "A friend was asking me what that tool was you lent us...."!

Miniandme that quote doesn't sound too bad. Although we laugh when we get quotes for work as everything seems to come in at £1000. Just being nosy, why do you have to have it done before you can swap?

Original poster

miniandme · 16/01/2009 16:30

Bamboo we have to have it donebefore we move as councils here dont allow it on the walls,ceilings are ok but not walls,it was here when we moved in as was the wood cladding on the bottom half of the walls but we have to remove it ALL before being allowed to move out !!

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