The saga of removing artex

[fab83]

Well ok it seems that stevie wonder decorated my house, and not only put on appalling paint choices *shudders* he/she covered the entire front hallway stairway and landing in artex.

(I appreciate that it may be a perfectly good choice to some people, but lil clumsy me is fed up of slipping on the stairs and grazing my arms)

The current project is taking the artex off, i have found that the use of steam has been a good choice as it just scrapes off the wall. before that it was hammer and scraper

So i have started on the wonderful lime green which is below the equally stunning bright lemon yellow and gotten halfway up the stairs when i realise that there is no way on this planet that i am going to be able to reach the area of wall that meets the ceiling above the floor over the stairs. (really should have thought of that first but there we go)
Has anyone got any ideas of how i can reach that height without breaking my neck or any other bones??

 

[D.S.D]

hi,

Buy a dedicated stair ladder about £40 ish pound or use a small extendable ladder. You rest this against the stair riser and onto to wall, run a length of scaffold board between the rungs and onto your top step. Go carefull and do not over reach.

 

[fab83]

It gets worse!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today whilst removing the artex off of the bit of wall between my bedroom door and the second bedroom door with the steamer i find that I cant do anymore until i get the top floor looked at by a sparky.
There i am sitting rather ungracefully on the floor, steamer attachment in one hand, wallpaper scraper in the other and something doesnt feel right. I touch the wall and to my complete horror there is electricity conducting through it (thankfully i am insulated by my trainers and the wooden floorboards) Anyway my upstairs light hasnt worked since i moved in, the wall i was working on is the same wall where the light switch is so i can only assume that something has gone very wrong with the wiring.

I'll keep people posted on what goes on, but i'm off to get some advice from the electrics UK bit about what steps to take next!

 

[fab83]

hi,

Buy a dedicated stair ladder about £40 ish pound or use a small extendable ladder. You rest this against the stair riser and onto to wall, run a length of scaffold board between the rungs and onto your top step. Go carefull and do not over reach.

I think i'll get my brother to do the test run of that!!!

 

[slipperyfrog]

Hi Fab83

Our bedroom was covered in Artex - appalling stuff, painted white about 10 years ago and now a dirty shade of grey. Yuk.

Anyway, long story short... We couldn't decide whether to scrape off the lot or have it skimmed over, so we got a plasterer round to quote for skimming it. He took a look, chipped a bit off then told us there was a strong chance it was asbestos-based. I did some research, found out he may well be right - so we left it well alone and had him skim over it.

Which is a rather roundabout way of saying - if there's any chance your Artex could contain asbestos, you might want to reconsider attacking it. More info at the Health and Safety Executive website, here:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/home.htm

I'm not trying to scare you, and your Artex may be asbestos-free, but it's as well to be aware.

sf
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Lynda, moderator

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[fab83]

When i had a new front door put in they thought they may disturb part of the artex to fit a new frame and cut the old one out, they checked it before they did any work and it is asbestos-free. Although i am still using a mask. The records that the previous owners left stated that the whole lot was done at the same time.

Kind of a shame that it wasnt the asbestos one as i could have had the whole lot taken care of by the insurance people.

 

[slipperyfrog]

Hi Linda

Both urls refer to charities. I didn't think it possible to "advertise" a charity.

I'll change my signature accordingly.

sf


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Lynda, moderator

please note forum rule 7