Matching artex pattern patch after boiler removal

[Dande]

Hey guys,

I am doing a few odd jobs for my nan and I am painting the bathroom and doing some boxing in of pipes and she has a patch on the wall where she had the boiler moved when she had central heating installed a few years ago.

I said I will ask here as you are a knowledgeable bunch. Basically what I wanted to know was if someone knows what the pattern is and if I would be able to patch it in and with what product to use please?

Thanks very much for any help.

 

[Tigercubrider]

That looks as if it was done with a sponge in a poly bag?
Bit late now, but hacking a hole in artex isn’t the best idea.

Many people would skim the whole thing.

 

[Dande]

That looks as if it was done with a sponge in a poly bag?
Bit late now, but hacking a hole in artex isn’t the best idea.

Many people would skim the whole thing.

Yeah something like that maybe. I know it's a bad idea to hack at artex. She still has polystyrene ceiling tiles as well!

I think she would just say leave it as it is rather than skimming as she only rents. I don't think the landlord would help. They would just say it's ok as it is.

I was just hoping there was a solution. Hopefully with a fresh coat of paint it will help a bit.

 

[Dande]

Also I forgot to ask if it's a bad idea to drill into this for boxing in?

I think it was done around 30 years ago so is ot likely to contain asbestos?

 

[Wayners]

DIY job with DIY store 6 Inch ish stipple pad spun around to make a swirl.
Looks like it's had 2 layers or first effort dried quick because wall was not sealed. I can see two pattern layers of swirl.

 

[Dande]

DIY job with DIY store 6 Inch ish stipple pad spun around to make a swirl.
Looks like it's had 2 layers or first effort dried quick because wall was not sealed. I can see two pattern layers of swirl.

Yeah apparently it was done without a stipple brush but I don't know how or what method. I have bought a stipple brush to have a go at getting as close to the pattern as possible.

 

[Wayners]

You spin and remove at the same time. If you spin and then remove you are left with rectangle spikes. Try not to do that. Custard consistency mix. Use easyfill or box of powder filler Vs artex. Seen the price of that stuff? Good grief..

 

[Dande]

You spin and remove at the same time. If you spin and then remove you are left with rectangle spikes. Try not to do that. Custard consistency mix. Use easyfill or box of powder filler Vs artex. Seen the price of that stuff? Good grief..

Yeah shocking price. I bought a kit for £30 that is supposed to do upto 3m² and it was well reviewed so hopefully it is worth it. The brush was £15+ anyway.

 

[Wayners]

I patch artex with easyfill powder mostly. Smaller area I use decorating filler. Only use artex powder for larger areas as it takes hours to set vs the others I mentioned

 

[PotatoSoup]

They didn't fully ban asbestos until 1999 so any builders built before 2000 could have asbestos in them. We had asbestos in our house and it was built in 1987 - very annoying!! Particularly as it was only added to the paint to make the swirls and that horrid pointy icicle shaped pattern that would take your skin off if you ran your hand along it.

If you want to box the pipes in but not drill into the suspect paintwork, could you glue the wood to the wall?

It might be quicker and possibly cheaper to just skim it yourself - if you're able to replicate that pattern, you probably wouldn't struggle too much with skimming? It's pretty easy.

 

[Dande]

I patch artex with easyfill powder mostly. Smaller area I use decorating filler. Only use artex powder for larger areas as it takes hours to set vs the others I mentioned

It's about a 1m² patch.

They didn't fully ban asbestos until 1999 so any builders built before 2000 could have asbestos in them. We had asbestos in our house and it was built in 1987 - very annoying!! Particularly as it was only added to the paint to make the swirls and that horrid pointy icicle shaped pattern that would take your skin off if you ran your hand along it.

If you want to box the pipes in but not drill into the suspect paintwork, could you glue the wood to the wall?

It might be quicker and possibly cheaper to just skim it yourself - if you're able to replicate that pattern, you probably wouldn't struggle too much with skimming? It's pretty easy.

Yeah my house was built in 90's and has artex ceilings. Probably not asbestos though.

I would have definitely preferred to have skimmed it and I have done it before but it's for my 86 year old nan and she is kind of set in her ways. She only rents the place although she has lived there 50 years!

I like to do a professional job so if I don't like how it looks then I will just say it needs to be skimmed.

 

[PotatoSoup]

Aw, well very best of luck with it I hope she feeds you lots of biscuits for being a lovely grandson!!