Belt & braces prep for skimming over artex

[Bowness72]

Hi,

I'm considering skimming over my artex ceiling and I'm familiar with most of the potential issues in doing so, but as I am not a plasterer I wanted to check something specific....

I know that some people say pva then skim, and some say thistle bond-it then skim but would there be any issue with doing both as a belt and braces approach..... so pva first and then thistle bond-it, meaning less chance of having missed spots (although at the price of thistle bond-it maybe I should just do two coats of that so I don't waste money by having some left over) ?

Then skim with either multi finish (or perhaps even a half and half mix of thistle bonding + multi-finish as that seems a popular method with apparent benefits).

The main ceiling is 4m x 3m but I plan to try two smaller ceilings in the hallway and on the stair bulkhead first because I haven't skimmed over artex before so if I can't do those to a good standard with zero problems then I won't even attempt the bigger ceiling.

I have skimmed several walls before with not bad results (but only two ceilings, with mixed results).

If I were to overboard instead, I would also need to remove the coving and make good the walls (or refit some coving).

Thanks for any advice.

 

[lostinthelight]

I would say pva ing, far from belt and braces approach would be more like slackening the belt and releasing the top button but im not a plasterer but I expect some will be along.

 

[Bowness72]

I would say pva ing, far from belt and braces approach would be more like slackening the belt and releasing the top button but im not a plasterer but I expect some will be along.

I love your terminology, but surely the pva would seal the artex to prevent it from drawing the moisture out of the skim too quickly ? And I thought thistle bond-it was for "smooth/low suction backgrounds".....what is what I believed I would have after I had pva'd the artex.

 

[lostinthelight]

I love your terminology, but surely the pva would seal the artex to prevent it from drawing the moisture out of the skim too quickly ? And I thought thistle bond-it was for "smooth/low suction backgrounds".....what is what I believed I would have after I had pva'd the artex.

The Bondit helps with suction as does bluegrit,If I dont use pva I use sbr as its waterproof unlike sbr which softens again when wetted by the Bond-it.
Has the artex been overpainted?

 

[Bowness72]

Has the artex been overpainted?

Not 100% sure now that you ask but I guess so as it doesn't look dirty but is probably 28 years old.

 

[23vc]

Pointless and possibly dodgy doing both, just pick whichever you’re happy working with. I’ve only ever used pva but heard good things about bondit and blue grit. A 3 coat skim is possible over artex depending how thick the pattern is. If pva, get it tacky (as many coats as you need) before skimming