artex

[lorriette]

Fashion of a sort. I'm trying to rid parts of my home of the dreaded stuff. I have sent for a paint on remover gell, if it works I'll post the address, if not willsay so. I can think of lots of other things we could do with a fix for eg. spam. Perhaps we could run a thread on things we want to get rid of?.

[Fog]

Getting rid of artex is a messy job. It's best to do it in one go. I bought a house that had the hall, stairs, landing, kitchen and bathroom artexed wall and ceiling. The way I found was best was to roughen the surface with a surform to remove the paint, then soak it with water and it will come off with a paint scraper. If the plaster's loose underneath it will probably come away too. Let us know how you get on. I feel a twinge of guilt as I look up at my ceilings at the very badly applied artex. There's some in my house in France too, but I've got things like floors, windows, water & electric to worry about first.

[HeelD]

Artex, according to my girlfriend, is a Welsh National tradition - a lot like rugby. Horrible stuff.

[lorriette]

the remover I tried (£30 for 2.5l) X-tex unlike Ronseal, doesn't do what it says on the can. Better results using steam wall paper stripper.PS, don't wear tidy heels because it's a pig to get the muck off them after.

[Fog]

I've spent a week in France surforming artex off walls. These underneath the artex is dodgy plaster, and underneath that is herringbone brick or wattle and daub, between wooden beams which are thankfully still exposed. When I can get my camera to talk to the computer again, I'll post the before and after pictures. It is truly awful stuff - but being Welsh I know that. In the seventies, artexer was seen as a good career in the valleys.

[Tech]

What a coincidence, I just bought a house that has all the walls and ceilings covered in the damn stuff! AAAHHHHHH I was also looking at X-Tex but after reading this, I might just go straight in with the steamer and (For lack of a better phrase) "Wash it off" My local Screwfix sells it in Croydon so I still might try a small tin and see if it does anything at all, although I read its best left on overnight or up to 16 bloody hours I'm a bit worried that might also bring the ceiling down too!!! Not to worry, I bought some books on plastering and will just about try anything once!

[peachyshoes]

i was in gardiner haskins the other day and they had a demonstration of this stuff made by artex to get rid of it. i think whoever invented the stuff should make a national appology and perhaps a public flogging?

[at9]

Some Artex contains asbestos. Unless you're sure that it's more recent stuff which doesn't I would strongly suggested that you use wet or steam methods to strip it. However you do it, you have my sympathy. The worst I've had to deal with is lots of woodchip wallpaper.

[Tech]

ok, so I spent all afternoon today at B&Q looking for ways to sort this mess out and found this: Polycell Smoothover

I was advised though that its best to sand the artex slightly to key up the surface so that the smoothover will bond with it but they reckon they have had loads of great feedback about this stuff!

If your lucky, I might give some feedback with before/after shots once I get started on it if anybody is interested?

Hardly an exciting topic I know but what the heck, cant do any harm...

[Fog]

I tried the before and after pictures, but really they weren't worth posting, it all looks the same on a photo.

[muddypaws]

ok, so I spent all afternoon today at B&Q looking for ways to sort this mess out and found this: Polycell Smoothover

I was advised though that its best to sand the artex slightly to key up the surface so that the smoothover will bond with it but they reckon they have had loads of great feedback about this stuff!

If your lucky, I might give some feedback with before/after shots once I get started on it if anybody is interested?

Hardly an exciting topic I know but what the heck, cant do any harm...

I've got it too. It's like measles,awful.

After all I've read tonight, I think I'll just put some thick paint on it a few times. It might make the room lower though, so what!

Muddypaws.

[Puffer]

Properly and skilfully applied, Artex can look very attractive although it is obviously not to everyone's taste. I remember staying at a guest house in Weston-super-Mare which had fancy Artex swirls on the ceiling of every rooms (and on most walls too) - studying the pattern in the bedroom was not always condusive to a good night's sleep!

If the Artex and underlying surface is sound, it is often easiest to disguise it by skimming over with plaster (e.g. Thistle Multi-finish) if one has the skill. Products such as Polycell Smoothover are aimed at the amateur and are OK but a lot more expensive and not really any easier to use.

The easiest way to remove Artex is by soaking with warm water (or using a steam wallpaper stripper) and scraping - messy but straightforward. Chemical strippers are a waste of money. It is quite likely that the underlying surface (e.g. plaster) will be damaged or removed if it is in poor condition - but then it will need repair anyway, if not replastering. After any repair, all stripped surfaces will need priming before repainting; diluted PVA (about 1 part PVA to 4 of water) is ideal although thinned emulsion paint or acrylic primer/undercoat can be used.

Although Artex did indeed contain some asbestos until about 30 years ago and care should be taken if sanding/scraping it dry (as with any dust-producing task), it is not a major hazard as the other ingredients will tend to keep the asbestos bound. Removing it with steam or water more or less eliminates any such hazards.

Decorating and DIY problems can often be answered by reference to the Srewfix Forum, where both professionals and informed amateurs exchange ideas (and not a few jokes and insults too!). Go to: http://www.screwfix.com/talk/index.jspa?forumTab=forums&ts=91152

[thedesigner]

It's the asbestos in the artex which is the fkr. I'm dead twisty bout it as asbestosis killed me father. Be careful!!

[Fog]

Well I never thought it possible, but I have actually put artex on. Most of the new plastering that's been done is fairly rustic, not at all flat, but following the line of the walls - with a fairly rought texture, and the areas that had artex that I've scraped off have a similar texture, the plasterboard walls look too flat. The answer was to put diluted artex on with a stiff brush. I'm quite pleased with the result. Makes the plasterboard much less stark.

[Puffer]

Well done, Fog. But I was disappointed to see no pictures of your latest handiwork on your site - only boring ones of heels etc!! If you need more Artex, B&Q at Shoreham had on 4 Aug several large split bags at only 50p each - a very good deal. I would have bought the lot but my current needs are modest and Thistle Multi was the main required stuff that day. (No, I don't live near Shoreham but was working on my son's house at Brighton.)

[Fog]

Sorry the heel pictures are boring. I did take before and after pictures but they showed so little it's not worth posting. I will look out for some highlights of the job and post them.

[Fog]

Here's one of the walls in question

http://flickr.com/photos/8309559@N02/1117924715/

We've put up a placo wall to the left of the door way which is now in the landing, so the bedrooms don't run into one another.

You can't really see the artex though.

This is a bit more of the wall to put it into context

http://flickr.com/photos/8309559@N02/1118769068/

This archway

http://flickr.com/photos/8309559@N02/1118764376/

http://flickr.com/photos/8309559@N02/1117931881/

was hidden behind plaster and was discovered when we were hacking off. Our neighbour has the remains of a window the same height but with an arrow slit opening on the other side of the wall.

We had drinks (Scapa 14 yo) to jump to another thread, with the man we bought the house from. It was his grandmother's house, and he'd never seen it and was convinced his grandmother handn't either.

There's not a lot of artex visible, but you can see how the plasterer has moulded the plaster into the shape of the wall - so on the other side the plasterboard looked quite stark.

[Puffer]

An interesting property, Fog. Is this your Horsham residence or somewhere else? How old is it? Are you doing most of the work yourself? Reminds me somewhat of my wife's former home in East Sussex, circa 1500 and with roughcast plaster walls. When I did some renovation there I found it more difficult to get an acceptable rough finish to match the old work than to plaster a flat wall to a good finish. Now we have a large Victorian house with generally crumbling plaster walls which need extensive refinishing in most rooms. My plastering skills have improved greatly thru practise over the last 7 years but I ain't finished yet! But I don't do ceilings, especially those 10' high - although heels might help there!

[Fog]

It's our house in the south west of france. Bought on a whim two years ago. Most of the work has been done by local artisans, but we pitched in and did a fortnight with the mason when we first started - and virtually every holiday since has been a working one. We're just about on the decorating stage now. The estate agent said it was 13th century and I took that with a pinch of salt, but the wall that that arch is on is probably that age as well as other parts of it. The village has a 12th century church and since we're in the line of sight of it, we had to comply with regulations about not changing the facade and get a colour blue for the shutters satisfactory for the mayor. I wish I was there now! The house in England is an ex council house. The plan was to buy a buy to let, but that never happened, we followed our hearts not our heads

[Tech]

ok, here's how I dealt with the Artex..... 1) Take an axe, or other sharp ended hammer and make a hole in the ceiling 2) Extend hole and continue until all ceiling is down 3) This is VERY messy and you will need a skip! 4) Remove all nails and tidy the place up 5) Install new plasterboard and re-plaster the ceiling! God what a job that was.... Now, repeat for every ceiling in the house.....

[Puffer]

Yes, Richie, I know the feeling. Right now, I'm taking down the third (and I hope final) lath-and-plaster ceiling requiring replacement here. Size is 23' x 15' so I have to put up 12 plasterboards, then ceiling to be skimmed (not by me) and new plaster cornice and centre boss to be fixed (me again!). The lovely Victorian cornice was partially removed by a previous Phillistine owner and I have no option but to replace it all as it will be too costly to copy and fill in missing lengths.

[Fog]

Richie, looks like the right way to go about it. Scraping artex off is a messy job - ceilings are one thing, walls are another. One of my houses had artex walls in kitchen bathroom, hall, stairs and landing. That was a horrible job. I used the hot water method and did the whole house in one go, and lived in it at the same time. I did regret not taking more of the artex off, but I think the builder's caution about hacking off proved justified. A lot of it would have crumbled and we'd be left with more plasterboard. I'm pretty pleased with the results, funily enough the walls where I've taken less of the artex off look better painted than the ones where I've done more of it.

[thedesigner]

right, here goes. Please get a pro to do it. My dad was killed by asbestosis, and the coroner said " one good puff of asbestos will be enuf to kill you". Dad assembled thermostats for 3 months only in wartime and that got him 40 years later. It's bad stuff, please dont get involved.........

[Puffer]

Please get a pro to do it. My dad was killed by asbestosis

A sad loss, designer. Your concerns are well understood but are really unfounded in relation to Artex. As already stated above, Artex has not contained asbestos for many years and, even when it did, the component was white asbestos, which is not yet a banned substance and much less hazardous than brown or blue asbestos.

Once mixed, applied and set, Artex became a solid and quite stable coating as the asbestos was bound together with the other components. If then overpainted, the surface would be effectively sealed too. Much the same applies to those solid wall and ceiling boards which contained some asbestos as a fireproofing agent and are still sometimes found as protective coverings behind boilers, cookers etc.

That said, any material that can create a fine dust when handled, cut, abraded or pulverised should be treated with caution and it makes sense to wear a mask. But, if ceiling/wall plaster, Artex or similar coatings are removed 'wet' (e.g. using steam or soaking, then scraping), there will be a messy sludge rather than dust and very little chance of breathing in unpleasant substances. It makes sense too to wet the ceiling etc first even if it is being taken down in pieces as that will keep the dust down.

The place to be wary of asbestos - and engage a pro if it requires removal - is where lagging has been carried out, which usually involves brown or blue asbestos. This will be typically around service pipes and behind ceiling or wall panels, boiler casings and the like. You are not likely to find it in 'loose' form in the conventional home - unless you have a large pile with a boiler room, cold store or similar.

Unless the ceiling or wall is very uneven or badly damaged, it will usually be simpler and quicker to patch repair and skim over existing Artex or similar coating with plaster before redecorating. Whether you DIY or not depends mainly on your skills rather than on any safety issues!

[thedesigner]

ok fair play, but soulmate had white asbestos on her celing, then a flood, the insurance company had qualified people to clean it off, all taped up, masks etc....... its horrible stuff....

[Fog]

thedesigner, Thanks for your warnings. In my case it's too late because the job's done. I did have a tinge of worry when I was working on it, but put a mask on and got on with it.