How to cover up (or smoothe out) ugly artex ceilings?
AL_z
otherwise getting rid of an ugly artex ceiling surface? The swirls were
obviously done by an amateur, and are definitely nausea-producing! A
totally smoothe ceiling would suit me much better. How can I achieve this,
with as little work and as little mess as possible?
Many thanks
Al
AL_z
news:Xns9D6EADCF...@130.133.4.11:
PS,
An acceptable alternative to dead smoothe, would be Ssme kind of textured
effect (but not swirls). I maily just want to get rid of the existing
swirls!
Al
Toby
news:Xns9D6EAEAF...@130.133.4.11...
If you want it totally smooth, and you have never plastered yourself, you
would be best off getting a plasterer in to skim it.
You will need to move everything out, the room I expect, but the difference
is well worth the upheaval.
John Rumm
The traditional solution is to do what plasterers call a "glue and set",
i.e. knock off any high spots, give it a coat of dilute PVA and then
skim over it.
If you don't fancy plastering it yourself, you could re-board the
ceiling (leaving the original in place), then use joint filling compound
on any gaps. Sand flush and paint.
--
Cheers,
John.
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Bruce
Some links that might be worth reading:
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/artex.htm
http://www.artexltd.com/products/decorative_products/artex_smooth-it_menu.aspx
However, if "Artex Smooth It" sounds attractive, you might want to
read these discussions before buying it:
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18663&sid=29f988244f461a0ff50e497933db4fd3
http://www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=84039
spamlet
"Bruce" <docne...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:k8k0u596ib59macn3...@4ax.com...
Reading the X-Tex blurb, on its water based and inert nature, I would
suspect that you just need something to keep the old coating wet for as long
as poss. In that case, you may well find that if you make up some fairly
thick wallpaper paste (=methyl cellulose - a very common water based
thickener) and paint it generously on the artex, you may have a v similar
product to 'X-Tex'. If you are lucky there might even be gloss paint under
the artex: otherwise have yourself handy an old spray bottle of water to
spray occasionally if the paste gel starts to dry before it has given up
enough water to the artex for you to scrape it.
Incidentally, I did find, on a small area, something of a third way, in that
a plaster-board paper coating can be torn in layers - like some wallpaper -,
and if you are lucky, you might be able to tear off the top layer with the
artex. Not what I'd try as a first option though.
If yours is artex hiding old cracked plaster in an old house, with no old
ceiling paper in between, you may have to bite the bullet and get the real
plasterers in: in my experience that is one profession where the 'Pro'
really applies, and their skills are a wonder to observe.
S
AL_z
news:T7ZDn.2310$Lh6....@newsfe11.ams2:
Thanks to all for the very helpful suggestions and links. The artex
ceilings I'm concerned with have been painted at least once. The latest
covering looks like vinyl silk emulsion. Therefore, I suspect the
dampening products mentioned in this thread might not work very well.
Perhaps I'll put up with the vulgar squirls until I bump into an
affordable plasterer whose advertising includes the phrase "No job too
small". Meanwhile, I'll keep a sick bucket under my bed. (-;
Al
Adrian C
Meanwhile, I'll keep a sick bucket under my bed. (-;
If you have mostly clockwise swirls on the ceiling, then occasional
attached pictures of anti-clockwise swirls will null the effect out ...
How about sticking up batterns on all four walls, and neatly stretching
and stapling up some tasteful fabric to cover?
Or similarly, put some steel hanging wires across, and attach poster art
to it, a bit like a pop mad teenagers bedroom - but hey, you could go a
bit Michelangelo ...
Might have to watch flammability of whatever you put up, though.
--
Adrian C
Ed
Don't faff about trying to do it yourself.
Clear the room.
Get a good plasterer in. He'll knock off the biggy lumps, coat it with
PVA and plaster it within half a day. And you then got a brilliant
smooth ceiling.
Let it dry thoroughly until it's pale pink in colour... few weeks, maybe
more. Apply mist coat of emulsion and then full strength coat.
You will never regret having it done properly.
Ed
Ron Lowe
Either skim over it or throw up a second layer of plasterboard over it.
Don't try to sand it down, this stuff often contains asbestos, aparently.
The 'second layer of plasterboard' is the usual technique. It's the
quickest and cheapest, usually.
--
Ron
spamlet
"Adrian C" <em...@here.invalid> wrote in message
news:84bbjv...@mid.individual.net...
That reminds me:
If you have a syringe of warm, and one of cold water and lie back and look
at the ceiling while someone squirts warm in one ear and cold in the
other... the ceiling spins one way. Switch the warm and cold around, and
it spins the other. This is one of the interesting tests the medicos do to
check your balance.
S
Phil L
Anything you spend on it will be wasted money until you bite the bullet and
get it skimmed flat by a plasterer...I've seen people buying buckets and
buckets of that 'smooth-over' shite from B&Q and they pay more for that than
a plasterer would charge for doing it properly, or they spend days wetting
and scraping it, making a mess each day and still ending up with a total
mess of a ceiling
I did one last Friday, started it at 10AM and finished it at 2PM and this
included my dinnertime and cleaning up afterwards, which is easy when
everything's sheeted up properly (which all good plasterers will do before
starting, hence the 10AM start on the actual plastering)
The ceiling was about 22m2 and was scraped and unibonded first, then two
coats of multifinish applied, troweled up and polished, total cost to the
customer, about �120, but this is because we are doing other work in the
same house.
It was bone dry when I went back today, so I've sized it and tomorrow I'm
sticking 4 rolls of Anaglypta on it.
--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008
John Rumm
> Don't try to sand it down, this stuff often contains asbestos, aparently.
Possible if its pre 1984. After that you should be ok.
John
>
> It was bone dry when I went back today, so I've sized it and tomorrow I'm
> sticking 4 rolls of Anaglypta on it.
>
>
> --
> Phil L
> RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008
>
Why are you putting anaglypta on a nice smooth ceiling?
What is wrong with matt emulsion?
John
Silk could be making it look worse. Matt may reduce the impact of the
texture.
stuart noble
I skimmed two ceilings by using more Artex. Not that difficult, but
extremely knackering working overhead. Part of the skill in plastering
is being fast enough (and strong enough) to get the stuff up there
quickly. Artex is much more forgiving, and allows the amateur to faff
around almost indefinitely getting it smooth
AL_z
@newsfe16.ams2:
> Silk could be making it look worse. Matt may reduce the impact of the
> texture.
Yes - that has occured to me to. Changing the colour will also help. The
greyish-pink semi-gloss sheen reminds me of cake-icing made of liquidised
brains...
Al
Reentrant
recently for �250 and it was worth every penny.
--
Reentrant