Skimming over artex - is it ok too ?

[shd1970]

Hi everyone,

Well, i gave in to the missus and we stripped the wallpaper last weekend and we have decided that we are going to get the walls skimmed so wallpapering becomes a thing of the past and we can have a nice smooth finish.

Recently i have grown to hate my 8 year old artexed ceiling which, to be fair, is in A1 condition but the look of it i just detest now so i have asked my plasterer to quote for a take the ceiling down and reboard and skim of the ceiling too.

He seemed shocked to hear my request and asked if i would prefer him to scrape the main "lumps and bumps" off the ceiling and then skim over it.
I recall being told a few months ago by the plasterer who did the original ceiling that skimming over artexed ceiling can be problematic and it can come off in years to come.

So, the question, is artexing safe to skim over as obviously i would prefer not to have the mess and unecessary expense of having a perfectly good ceiling taken down ?

Obviously, reboarding over the top of the artex and reskim is another option but i just wanted to understand the thoughts of some other professionals who have experience of covering artex.

Cheers guys,
Sean

 

[Richard C]

Skimming over Artex is perfectly feasible as long as the ceiling is in good condition &, if done correctly, you will never notice the difference & it won’t fall off.

My method; you must ensure the boards are securely fixed to the joists, very often the original nails become loose so use additional drywall screws as necessary. Any cracks must be completely stripped back (steamer) & repaired with reinforcing tape, additional screws if down a joist, PVA & apply a light skim of plaster worked well into the tape, sometimes 3 overlapping strips if cracks are bad. If it’s a straight stipple pattern, I will scrape the peaks off with a flat shovel, apply a strong bonding coat 1:2/3 of PVA/water & leave to dry overnight. Prior to plastering, apply another PVA/water prep. coat around 1:4 & skim away when tacky; if the pattern is deep, I use an initial coat of Bonding plaster to fill out followed immediately with a finish skim coat as soon as the Bonding has set; ½ days work for most ceilings.

 

[Micilin]

In addition to Richard's comprehensive reply, I like to use some finish in the bonding, to help reduce blistering. A few handfuls makes a difference but I often use half and half. It depends what i have in the van!

Back in the days before all these fire and sound regs, we used to have a lot of concrete ceilings to float and set. If the concrete was good, we used half and half bonding/finish laid down with finish - and got the price of float and set for what was basically a skimming job.

 

[Richard C]

I like to use some finish in the bonding, to help reduce blistering. A few handfuls makes a difference but I often use half and half. It depends what i have in the van!

Back in the days before all these fire and sound regs, we used to have a lot of concrete ceilings to float and set. If the concrete was good, we used half and half bonding/finish laid down with finish - and got the price of float and set for what was basically a skimming job.

Interesting bit of info

 

[The-brickie]

I know its a bit new so I've done a bit of my own R&D on this.

Fibres in the plaster, I've just patched one of my ceilings in my house where a cupboard was, rest of the ceiling is artex, unibonded the old artex and floated the whole ceiling with bonding with fibres in the mix, then skim with finish again with fibres in, I wanted to test the work so did not use any scrim.

I have since then converted the loft and see no signs of cracking, I dont use the long strands that are available I use something thats for screeds and concrete by Sika, Sika-cim fibres, brought from my local B&Qs

At the bottom of the page
http://www.sika.co.uk/print/uk-home...ders-merchants/uk_construction-admixtures.htm