Plastering over Artex

[garycat]

Two rooms in the house we bought have 1970's swirly Artex over the walls that we want to plaster over. Is it possible to plaster over the top or does it have to be removed, or roughed up?

[untruth]

Yep we've had it done on our ceilings. Plasterer will use a knife to chip off any high points of the artex, PVA glue the whole area, then skim over the top. Obviously you lose height/width of a wall but it's far less hassle than pulling it all off.

[Little Lofty]

That looks like quite a heavy pattern, as long as its sound then my plasterer would probably put a coat of bonding over it first, then skim.By removing it your opening up a can of worms if it contains asbestos, best left where it is.

[untruth]

BTW, congratulations on joining the inappropriate cornicing club. We'll be rid of ours... EVENTUALLY.

[rb5er]

Don`t start scraping it, likely to contain asbestos.

PVA and hopefully the plasterer can overcome any high spots.

[badboyburt]

rb5er said:

Don`t start scraping it, likely to contain asbestos.

PVA and hopefully the plasterer can overcome any high spots.

This, have you had it tested ? might be worth while as encapsulating without labelling isnt ideal,

Get someone in to check it, they can remove it using Ex Tex, and then they can dispose of it.

If it isnt then carry on as normal.

Good luck.

[Gtom]

Seriously don't worry about the asbestos content if the artex. It will be that minimal from taking off the high points that there will be more asbestos in the air we breath outside. I was told this by a guy who did all the asbestos testing and air tests where I used to work.

[rb5er]

Gtom said:

Seriously don't worry about the asbestos content if the artex. It will be that minimal from taking off the high points that there will be more asbestos in the air we breath outside. I was told this by a guy who did all the asbestos testing and air tests where I used to work.

IGNORE THE RIDICULOUS ADVICE IN THE POST ABOVE!!

There is indeed a certain amount of naturally occurring asbestos in the air we breath, but disturbing the asbestos in artex will increase the amount in the air by many many times. Why on earth would you think that disturbing asbestos would have a lower content than naturally occurs in the air? Madness.

Seriously do worry about anything with asbestos content. I did my asbestos awareness ticket during a course this week and the guy was an ex asbestos removal guy. Take it seriously. Wherever asbestos is disturbed the air content multiplies by many many times, especially if it is a particularly friable type of asbestos.

There is a lot unknown about asbestos, don`t risk it.

[badboyburt]

Gtom said:

Seriously don't worry about the asbestos content if the artex. It will be that minimal from taking off the high points that there will be more asbestos in the air we breath outside. I was told this by a guy who did all the asbestos testing and air tests where I used to work.

Hopefully that guy no longer carries out Asbestos Awareness Training.

[Gtom]

badboyburt said:

Hopefully that guy no longer carries out Asbestos Awareness Training.

He doesn't do the training. He does the testing. He see's how much is in and what level of risk it is. I can listen to people like you whittle on about whatever or listen to someone who does it day in day out.

Btw I'm talking about white asbestos (chrysotile) not blue or brown asbestos.

[Simpo Two]

My god, someone has exploded a vat of cottage cheese in your house.

Mine wasn't quite that nasty but I got professional plasterers in. They biffed the pointy bits off, put two layers of plaster on and a few days later I painted it. Very painless (for me anyway).

Ah look - the asbestos issue just went. Simples.

[badboyburt]

Gtom said:

He doesn't do the training. He does the testing. He see's how much is in and what level of risk it is. I can listen to people like you whittle on about whatever or listen to someone who does it day in day out.

Btw I'm talking about white asbestos (chrysotile) not blue or brown asbestos.

Obviously White, whittling is what I do best, generally with the HSE on a daily basis trying to stop the very people your mis-informing from getting it wrong, but please carry on, the claim culture is rife as it is im sure your post wont affect the numbers.

[rb5er]

Gtom said:

He doesn't do the training. He does the testing. He see's how much is in and what level of risk it is. I can listen to people like you whittle on about whatever or listen to someone who does it day in day out.

Btw I'm talking about white asbestos (chrysotile) not blue or brown asbestos.

Indeed you can listen to people that have dealt with and spoken to other asbestos testers, removers and trainers and warned of the dangers or you can risk your life on the say so of one idiot tester that you have come into contact with contrary to all the information and warnings which are readily available to read.

If you wish to put your health and well being in the hands of one guy contrary to all the evidence then that is your prerogative but don`t go around giving other people that stupid opinion like it is fact. People lives and Health are at risk of asbestos.

I certainly wish I have never scraped artex ceilings naively without knowing what was in artex and would never suggest other people make the same mistake having had some training on it by experts.

[mrmaggit]

Right, Firstly, forget about the asbestos in Artex. The small amount in the bits that get broken off will be swept up.

More to the point, and I have first hand experience of this, is plastering onto the Artex.

Our bungalow had all the walls in the front room, and all the non-tiled or covered parts of the kitchen covered in Artex.

We started off in the front room, main wall, 18ft long, 8 ft high, fireplace in the middle. PVA'd then bonding then multi finish. Lovely flat walls. Wait a couple of weeks for the plaster to dry, OH's dad comes round to wallpaper for us, gets to the end of the wall, and the entire wall, all 18x8ft of it, fell off the Artex and onto the floor. I never thought plaster would stick to itself like that, but there was one sheet of plaster lying on the floor.

So, Plan B. British Gypsum had just released Thistle Bond-it, designed to prime ultra-low suction backgrounds (wall tiles and Artex are given as examples). Primed the wall with this, keeping stirring to make sure the grains remain in suspension, then let dry, then, next day, bonding and multi finish. Wait a couple of weeks, wallpaper and voila! it's still there now.

We did the kitchen a couple of years later, and used FEB's Blue Grit, similar product but roughly half the price, fully tiled, no problem.

So, in answer, wipe down the walls, remove high bits, prime with either Bond-it or Blue Grit, plaster as normal.

maggit

[Siscar]

How old is it? Asbestos hasn't been in Artex like products for about 30 years so unless it dates to pre 1984 it's unlikely and obviously even if old stock were used it's very unlikely in the past 25 years or more.

[Simpo Two]

Ah but it might be, and all your children will die...

[rb5er]

Siscar said:

How old is it? Asbestos hasn't been in Artex like products for about 30 years so unless it dates to pre 1984 it's unlikely and obviously even if old stock were used it's very unlikely in the past 25 years or more.

White asbestos was not banned in the UK until 1999.

Edited by rb5er on Sunday 16th March 17:35

[Siscar]

rb5er said:

Siscar said:

How old is it? Asbestos hasn't been in Artex like products for about 30 years so unless it dates to pre 1984 it's unlikely and obviously even if old stock were used it's very unlikely in the past 25 years or more.

White asbestos was not banned until 1999.

Yes but artex without asbestos started to be made in 1976 and that with it stopped being made in the UK in 1984, so it may not have been banned but it wasn't made.

Of course there is a chance it was old stock or foreign stock (and to quote Simpo, your children will die) after that but pretty unlikely.

have a read here from the HSE

[rb5er]

So it was stopped being imported in 1992, hopefully after that only old stock used.

[Siscar]

rb5er said:

So it was stopped being imported in 1992, hopefully after that only old stock used.

If it's 1970s it probably will have asbestos, 1980s it probably won't, but no guarantee, 1990s extremely unlikely but no guarantee, 2000 onwards so unlikely as to be negligible.