Help with artex

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little5

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Ive got a question and could do with some help to answer.
Customer wants kitchen and bathroom ceiling plastered flat. they have artex which has cracked in several places.
any suggestions as to how to tackle the job from whether to pva, use tape etc.
Im a novice so please keep it basic.
many thanks
 
You have a couple of options number one being a re-skim which means scraping the artex so all the high spots are gone and double scrim the cracks pva the surface of the ceiling and re-skim , the second option is two re -board the ceiling either over the top of the ceiling or pull it down and start again........ this depends on how much the customer wants to spend
 
A steamer takes artex off mate messy job but worth it to get it off, bonding or skimming over artex can sometimes fall so if you go down that route tell the client that there a slight chance it falling, ;)
 
If the Artex has cracked chief its a one way street for me - Overboard using 60mm screws

I'd refrain from using a steamer as like Steve says, its a bloody messy job

The only problem you've got with overboarding is if the room is coved, cos if it is you should take the old cove down or carefully take the old ceiling down without damaging the coving.

If not, its a breeze - good luck
 
best thing to do pal is find your joists and buy some 50 x 25mm wood and re create your joists then overboard.... dont scrape any artex all artex pre year 2000 has got asbestos in it :( hope this helps
 
been reading on the internet (asbestoswatch) that theyve downgraded asbestos in artex to zero health risk .
platinum said:
best thing to do pal is find your joists and buy some 50 x 25mm wood and re create your joists then overboard.... dont scrape any artex all artex pre year 2000 has got asbestos in it :( hope this helps
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andy66 said:
been reading on the internet (asbestoswatch) that theyve downgraded asbestos in artex to zero health risk .
platinum said:
best thing to do pal is find your joists and buy some 50 x 25mm wood and re create your joists then overboard.... dont scrape any artex all artex pre year 2000 has got asbestos in it :( hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
really? handy to know if its true, never stopped me scraping the stuff of anyway, its not like im sanding it, it just comes down in flakes which get swept up, cant say ive been breathing asbestos flakes in...
worrying thing about cracked artex to me is why its cracked or maybe how its cracked (make sense anyone).. what i mean is if its cracked due to board movement, fine, scrim it and skim it, just dont play the guarantee card, but if its cracked cos its LOOSE i.e. aint been put on right then you could be in trouble...
 
having looked into this further..... every other sourse indicates that artex pre 2000 may have asbestos in it... include HSE website ..... so i suppose its up to you pal...... but my advise would be treat all of it like it has. best of luck anyway.

andy66 said:
been reading on the internet (asbestoswatch) that theyve downgraded asbestos in artex to zero health risk .
platinum said:
best thing to do pal is find your joists and buy some 50 x 25mm wood and re create your joists then overboard.... dont scrape any artex all artex pre year 2000 has got asbestos in it :( hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hi i thought i would add to this thread rather than start my own. Ass posted on my other thread i am redecorating my kitchen. My flat was built in the 1950's in Coventry using no fines cement. I decided to scrape away the artex on the ceiling and try to sand it smooth, i did about 2m square and then found on the net that any Artex predating 2000 may have traces of Asbestos in. Well tonight i am coughing although i stopped sanding and went back to B&Q to pick up some goggles and a dust mask. Just wondering if it could be the Artex making me cough or the amount of dust being kicked up before i bought the mask. Surely my health wouldnt be at too much risk if i only had a few hours contact with the Artex and plaster dust? :-\
 
Mate dont worry,

Asbestos isnt the cause of your cough it'll just be the dust and a bit of paranoia.

If there is asbestos in your artex there will be very very little and even then its contained in the artex. the only stuff to worry about is the loose fibres in lagging etc etc.

sleep sound mate you'll be fine

Rich
 
richardbrown said:
Mate dont worry,

Asbestos isnt the cause of your cough it'll just be the dust and a bit of paranoia.

If there is asbestos in your artex there will be very very little and even then its contained in the artex. the only stuff to worry about is the loose fibres in lagging etc etc.

sleep sound mate you'll be fine

Rich
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Pheww thanks mate :)
 
My first reaction was the same as segs.
Why has it cracked?
I would be worried it's not sound and skimming it would pull it down.
If it's the board seams though I'd scrape, tape, pva and skim.
If they're more random cracks I'd overboard
:)
 
for sylar...
why on earth were you sanding artex anyway? i thought you could at least skim?
i would never entertain sanding artex in a million years mate.. just scrape off the high spots an skim it.. unless its cream crackered then you got other options but sanding it definately aint one of em.. thats just askin for trouble..
ive heard it all now... ::)
 
danny had to upgrade me so i could mess about with the filter in the admin section..
im still only a pimple on the arse of spunkybums apprentice but it looks good dont it? ;D
 
bigsegs said:
for sylar...
why on earth were you sanding artex anyway? i thought you could at least skim?
i would never entertain sanding artex in a million years mate.. just scrape off the high spots an skim it.. unless its cream crackered then you got other options but sanding it definately aint one of em.. thats just askin for trouble..
ive heard it all now... ::)
Click to expand...

I did scrape the pointy bits off but thought i would try sanding it to get a better look at the crack in the ceiling, its just a hair line and cant see it giving me any problems. Thinking about it, it probably was a stupid idea ;D
 
dont sand artex fullstop......scrape ..take high spots off.....re screw all boards back up.....tape all cracks ( double tapes never a bad idea ) pva 4to 1 let dry better to let dry over night.( if possible..but i have to say i never do).then another coat wait till it goes tacky... then skim x 2 coats....... if really thick artex then lay first coat, lay second straight away faltten then lay 3rd but i rarely need 3 coats . As for Artex 1970 to late 80's artex had blue aspestos in it...not the killer white aspestos. Blue stuf aint ever gonna be good for you but really isnt anything as bad as white....unless u sand it ...it will be in the air. If u are really paranoid about artex being in it ..then pva let soak in ( not dry ) and scrape the pva will break down the artex but not let it go dusty in the air...but problem with this is it sticks to everything..which is a little messhy. Me personally ..get a decent mask scrape down , open all window in room ...pva then get out the room for ten minutes while pva is drying . Think goverment is asking for all artex to be tested for aspestos funny enough they charge you fopr this test 200 quid i heard from someone....yeah right. If you are in any doubt with the strenghth of the old plasterboards where the artex is ontop of ie distemper undernesath or waterdamage...find joists with hammer or 5 inch nail and then reboard and skim. Not re screwing boards when skimming ontop of artex will cause you a crack or 2 in time as your only as good as the artwxer before you and all that extra weight ie 25kg min hanging from the ceiling can cause movement if boards if they are just tacked up ...which most of them were in the 60's 70's and 80's etc.....
 
yep always try to unless customer wants to keep coving...lots of georgian house round my way and coving is v expensive to replace so re board sometimes not an option
 
But the ceiling has cracked for a reason,why (i cant say without seeing) but if you put more weight onto ceiling it may pull the lot down in time. There was a time when artex was high in fashion and plasterers were asked to artex over plastererd ceilings to hide the cracks etc (so we did ).
Now artex is no longer in fashion every body wants it reskimming over with plaster.
If its a Georgian house with fancy coving etc its odds on its on lathe and plaster if this is the case DONT put more weight on it for gods sake.
Personally i wouldnt wanna put my name to a job that wasnt done properly.
 
Over the years , like many people on hear , have skimmed shite loads of artex . Just been following the normall procedure , screw any loose boards , scrape , tape , seal and glu then skim .Only had one bad experience , due to distemper under ther artex .
 
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