Artex smooth

S2 · 27 Aug 2008

I am in the rpocess of re-boarding 'er indoors's kitchen ceiling.
I don't want to go the plaster route and would like to Artex instead. The only thing is, she wants a smooth finish. I know you can get artex smooth for going over a patterned surface, but can this be used on new plasterboard? Or will the run of the mill artex do the job?

Any advice will be most appreciated.

joe-90 · 27 Aug 2008

If you can board it, tape the joints and sand them smooth - then just paint it.

Forget Artex. It looks naff and holds dirt.

russellm72 · 29 Aug 2008

Hi,

Whats wrong with a quick skim and a nice paint afterwards? I have had a few ceilings skimmed and painted them white and they look nice and smooth.

I see your in Cardiff and can recommend an old boy who does a great job on ceilings.

We removed some nasty artex paper that was put over the plasterboard ceiling of my lounge cause it looked naff. Again I had it skimmed and painted myself and it looks nice.

Regards

Russell.

S2 · 29 Aug 2008

Hi Russel.
I'm doing all the work myself for my partner in Hereford. I thing I should be able to Artex, but don't have the skill / patience to plaster. By my reconing, it's easier to remove a botched up Artex job than a plastered one (there's confidence for you).
The previous reply mentioned filling and sanding the joints and painting the bare boards. That's all very well if you can board the ceiling perfectly.
I shall have to think on this one some more.
Cheers

54aardvark · 30 Aug 2008

You're creating a whole load of hassle for yourself - Forget the Artex!

If you can get a smooth finish with Artex you'll do it far quicker and easier with plaster and you'll be able to paint within a few days - Artex has got a very long drying time. Taking it a stage further, tape & fill is even easier and you can generally start painting the following day.

Its not difficult to get a decent base with plasterboard then just scrim tape and fill (I can highly recommend Gyproc Easifil) flush with the feathers, 40 mins later go over it with a second coat feathering out a couple of inches from first coat - you should have it virtually smooth at this stage. Waith for all the Easifil to go white (generally following day) and sand off any nibs with 120+ grit. Give it a mist coat, this will show any discrepancies and you can tweak them at this stage, then fire away with whatever emulsion you're planning to use.

S2 · 30 Aug 2008

Thanks Aardvark.
If I just Scrim and fill to get a smooth syrface, does the plasterboard go up white side down or grey side down?
Cheers

54aardvark · 30 Aug 2008

Grey side facing out and the brownish side to the joists.

If you look carefully, you should have a slightly feathered edge on the long sides, when these butt up together they form a slight dip so when you fill over the tape it comes flush - makes it a lot easier on the long runs.

I use paper tape on the square cut joins, you can get a thinner finish without the scrim showing through. By the book, you should do a run of filler down the join, then place your tape down the mid-line and flatten it into the filler with a scraper then go over it with more filler.

This can be a bit of a fyke if its a ceiling and you're not used to it. You can get self adhesive paper tape or, as I have done successfully in the past, paint 5:1 water PVA along the join about 2" wide to seal the plasterboard then glue the back of the tape with 2:1 PVA and stick it over the join, leave it for an hour or so and just skim over the top.

A lot quicker and easier than it sounds - honest! Get back to us if you hit any snags.

S2 · 31 Aug 2008

Thanks Aardvark.
I've got the boards up and have decided to go your recommended route.
Thanks to my measuring and cutting, I have a slight lip at a couple of joints, though with your tape and filler formula I should be able to get invisible joints. Is there any trade secret to filling the screws so that the filler doesn't pop out later?

Thanks again for all contributions.

S2

54aardvark · 5 Sep 2008

Sorry about the delay, been working away this week.

As long as your screws are just below the surface of the plasterboard and haven't torn the paper or gone in too deep, you'll be OK. Just a quick fill with your joint filler and a sand - no probs.

If you ever get a screw that does pop, just fit another screw an inch or so either side of the offending one to stabilise the P/B then fill/sand/paint.

S2 · 5 Sep 2008

Thanks for that.
I got Tetrion filler for the wall / ceiling joint, but according to the instructions you should not skim less than 3mm. I'll get some gyproc easi-fill.
There are a couple of screws that went a little too deep (cordless drills eh?), but they should fill ok.
I'm looking forward to this.

Thanks again

diynot

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Artex smooth

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