Textured wallpaper on ceiling removal / asbestos?

[darrenbgray]

Hi,

I am looking to decorate my ceiling (house was built in early 1970's) and would like to strip it first so I can have a smooth finish. As you can see from the pictures it is textured and seems to have been painted over many times. I've pulled a section off but the rest is pretty well stuck on.

Can someone suggest how I go about removing it please? Also, do you think it could contain asbestos as it is textured?

Thanks in advance.

 

[misterhelpful]

That just looks like the dreaded woodchip wallpaper to me (could be wrong though), so there should be no asbestos unless there is something else underneath it.

As for removing it, I would imagine that if the ceiling has been covered with woodchip and anaglypta wallpaper, then the surface underneath (or above, if anyone wants to be pedantic ) is likely to be poor anyway. It will probably be a tough job removing it all, and then to find a surface that still needs skimming would be the stuff of nightmares.
Have you considered having the ceiling overboarded and skimmed, which could save you a lot of work?
If you do want to strip it then, assuming it is woodchip, you will need to score it and use a steamer or hot water to loosen it first and start scraping - there's no easy way around woodchip, unfortunately.

EDIT:

Hold on, is only the first picture the actual ceiling and the woodchip is on the wall? The carpet in picture 3 is confusing me!

The first picture just looks like paint on the ceiling which is coming away as the paper has been stripped. It's usually Artex that causes a worry about asbestos, and it doesn't look like that to me.