Old House replastering and getting rid of Artex

[littlepigeon]

Hi all,

I'm just after a bit of advice re plastering rooms in our house.

One of teh ares we would liek to do first is probably our bedroom which for some reason has been covered all over in that bobbly horrible artex

The main walls in the house are solid walls ( no cavity ). The walls at the moment are what seem to be all plaster ( no drywalls ) and i can imagine some of it may need chipping right back to the brick.

Is there anything i can do that would make this job cheaper? Prep work?

How do i know if the walls will need everything coming off and starting again from the brick, or if they can just be skimmed?

If they can just be skimmed, i presume the artex would need to come off? Is that something i can do easily?

If i was to do any prep work would skirting boards and picture rails need to come off or do they get left in place?

If all old plaster needs to come off would it be better dry lining the walls and skimming or still using the old method of rouch plaster then skim? and is one more cost effective than the other?

Many thanks

 

[trowelmonkey1]

How do i know if the walls will need everything coming off and starting again from the brick, or if they can just be skimmed?

doles the plaster sound hollow when you knock it? if so then it's blown, how badly and if needs to come if is a tricky question and whether it's just the skim that's blown or the right back to brick depends on the sound when you tap it.

If they can just be skimmed, i presume the artex would need to come off? Is that something i can do easily?

not necessarily, if the pattern is very shallow the high pints can be scraped off then it can be skimmed, it is possible that the artex you have can contain a tiny amount of asbestos, depends when it was done and who manufactured it, many plasterers scrape it and skim it though but would clear the room and PPE while doing so, you can steam it off too though, messy but better if you have safety concerns.

If i was to do any prep work would skirting boards and picture rails need to come off or do they get left in place?

always better to skim/plaster without skirtings and pic rails but is fine to skim with them on most of the time, plasterer would advise you best on this once he has seen it, same goes for the artex really.

If all old plaster needs to come off would it be better dry lining the walls and skimming or still using the old method of rouch plaster then skim? and is one more cost effective than the other?

dot and dabbing boards is cheaper but not as solid, there are many considerations to think about here, some of the obvious ones are services, i.e. cables & pipes, then there's whether you want to fix anything to the wall.

 

[vv2806]

And there was something about the building regs. If you search in the archive posts, somebody mentioned that if you knock off more that certain % of the old plaster you are supposed to add insulation to the external walls.

 

[JasonR]

I recently had some asbestos panels removed from my house. The guy that did this also pointed out that Artex contained Asbestos, and may require special removal. ( full quarantine if they are cleaning an artex ceiling brought down by water damage )

May have just been a horror story, but you might want to double check.

 

[jrplastering]

i thought artex had been declassified as not dangerous anymore as it doesnt contain the same harmfull asbestos as the sheet material does.

jason r from hertfordshire..... its nice to meet you comeing from a fellow jason r from hertfordshire. wonder if the surnames are the same couldnt be............or could it

 

[headworx]

i thought artex had been declassified as not dangerous anymore as it doesnt contain the same harmfull asbestos as the sheet material does.

jason r from hertfordshire..... its nice to meet you comeing from a fellow jason r from hertfordshire. wonder if the surnames are the same couldnt be............or could it

Maybe you have multiple personalities

Funny how you never both post a question or answer at the same time as each other either. Never seeu both in the same room too lol.

 

[delboybully]

As far as i understand it (and im not expert) but old artex DOES contain some asbestos

The thing with asbestos is that are many varieties. Blue, brown etc

The Asbestos is artex is the least harmful and the amount of it in artex is miniscule. So it is completely safe to remove old artex. Anyone who tells you it is dangerous and needs specialist equipment to remove is a chancer try to get you to part with your money unnecessarily. JRplastering is right, its is declassified

 

[Micilin]

Make sure you seal up the artex at least a day before with PVA/SBR/Bondit/WBA . if artex gets damp, it can come away from the background.

I would also recommend a coat of bonding , with a few handfuls of finish through it, for a better finish.

(Unless it is a really shallow pattern /small celing)

 

[jrplastering]

headworx is it funny really? its not is it i think its funny how by your logic there can only be one person with one name in one area.
i have never seen this person on here before this is the first time i have encounterd him.