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    How Do You Get Rid Of Artex Ceilings?

    Do you have Artex ceilings or walls you want to remove?

    Artex surface ceilings and walls have fallen drastically out of fashion since the late nineties and early 2000s, so we wouldn’t blame you if you aren’t a fan of the textures and swirling or broken leather patterns and wish to remove them in the easiest, safest way possible.

    Artex is a trading company in the UK, founded in 1935, selling textured coatings for walls and ceilings throughout the country. Their coating products became highly popular under the name and have since been synonymous with almost all textured coating surfaces, no matter the manufacturer or type available.

    However, many homeowners tend to replace and remove Artex textured coatings with something that offers a smoother final finish. However, the method you use to rid the walls, floor tiles and ceilings of Artex is significant.

    Those intending to knock the ceiling down to its joint compound must know that it will typically take 30 minutes or more. However, this is the dirtiest method and produces a great deal of dust, so it may be best to hire an asbestos specialist company to perform such tasks as they could be dangerous.

    Your local professionals and contractors will likely have the protective gear and equipment to safely remove it and dispose of it at a registered waste site. There are a whole host of ways to remove Artex adequately that you may or may not be aware of and many products on the market that could assist you in these projects.

    What is Artex?

    In the 1960s and 70s, various building developers attempted to build an abundance of houses in a concise period. During this time, there weren’t enough plasterers in the entire area to plaster the walls and ceilings of the homes.

    Yet, they needed an efficient way to reduce the duration of time spent on the overall construction. One of the most significant shortcuts they developed during this era was to opt for covering plasterboard ceilings with Artex as opposed to plaster. Its incredibly textured surface didn’t require any plaster level of smoothness.

    While it dried slower, it was far quicker to apply without the need for any specific application or skill to complete compared to plastering.

    It then became quite a trend as many decorators in the area and around the country began using and applying Artex and became popular with the public as local decorators typically charge less than local plasterers.

    Back then, Artex was known to contain asbestos fibres that helped strengthen coatings and prevent any splitting or cracking from occurring. As we began to head into the 1980s, scientists and researchers discovered a correlation between asbestos and various health problems, such as asbestosis, respiratory issues and cancer of the lungs.

    Once such correlations were accurate, manufacturers refused to use asbestos in Artex wall and ceiling coatings. In 1999, asbestos was officially banned.

    After 2000, home designers and decorators no longer used Artex in their formula as it was considered unfashionable and a genuine health risk.

    Additionally, tradesmen uncovered that it was virtually impossible to skillfully patch up any Artex damage to produce a seamless join that looks and feels smooth to the touch. It didn’t take long for plastered rooms and interiors to return as the more common surface covering choice.

    What is the Best Way to Remove Artex, and Is It Safe?

    There is no doubt that Artex is a tough product, and removing Artex or textured finish coatings from your walls or ceiling can be a relatively challenging task that will eventually produce a great deal of mess and dust. However, there are many options at your disposal, ensuring you have the tools and time to do so.

    Typically, there are three options you can choose from:

     

    It is entirely safe to remove Artex from your wall and ceiling coatings. You aim to utilise methods that allow it to stay wet throughout the Artex removal process and correctly dispose of the hazardous waste. In doing so, you can prevent dry dust and floating fibres from entering the air.

    The best ways to keep Artex wet for removal involve using X-Tex or similar chemical gel solutions that will transform the consistency of the Artex or through using a wallpaper steamer and scraping off the excess product. It successfully dissolves Artex for straightforward use so that you can decorate ceilings and walls.

    When performing wet removal, you never need to wear protective gear and suitable PPE such as rubber gloves or eyewear and dust masks, as you won’t come into contact with the harmful airborne asbestos dust.

    If Artex is no longer present in the form of dust or powder, it is entirely safe to exist around or leave in the home. However, your local council and we highly recommend that if you have chosen to keep Artex coatings in your home, you have a professional asbestos survey completed on your property at least once every 6-12 months. The time between these inspections can vary depending on several factors, such as the overall condition, whereabouts it is in the house or the type of material used.

    It’s virtually impossible to tell if your Artex is becoming powdery purely by looking at it, so you will require the assistance of a qualified professional.

    Asbestos particles are incredibly harmful, and once trapped inside the human body, it can become a severe health issue causing problems such as asbestosis and mesothelioma. It could also result in lung cancer, approximately 20-35 years after your initial exposure to the product.

    How To Remove an Artex Ceiling

    One of the most common ways people and professionals can remove Artex from the walls and ceilings of their homes or properties is to utilise a steamer. A steamer, also known as a wallpaper or plaster stripper, is a tool you fill with boiling water with a steam plate attached to a hose pipe.

    You start by placing the steam plate against the wall with the plaster on; hold it for a few seconds to efficiently heat the surface and loosen the layers. Once you’ve done so, you can pull the steam plate away from the section, and it should be pretty easy to scrape off the layers of painted Artex as it softens textured coatings.

    Such a process can be relatively slow and time-consuming; however, it is incredibly effective, yet you must be careful. If you get distracted and hold the steamer in the same place for too long, you could risk the Artex liquefying, and it could run everywhere, making a giant mess everywhere and the process much longer.

    At worst, you could damage the layer of plasterboard behind the textured Artex coating materials, so as long as you ensure you are careful and perform the job slowly and mindfully, you can avoid such mistakes. Alongside hot water, we also recommend using high-quality products to help make the slow process smoother.

    You may try Eco Solutions X-Tex or Fuze’s Artex Remover, as these are top-quality products on the UK market. The chemicals involved work by turning the Artex on your wall into a far easier gel to scrape off, so we suggest investing in this if possible.

    When using these products or non-caustic paint strippers, it’s best to read the manufacturer’s instructions thoroughly and follow them closely.

    Plastering Over The Artex

    Due to asbestos being such a dangerous material, the cost to remove it is pretty extensive. Therefore, many homeowners with asbestos Artex tend to leave it and place two thick coats of plaster over the top to hide and encapsulate it. In doing so, you can create a smooth surface that is appealing to look at, and this is how to do it:

    Firstly, you can utilise a handheld scraper or any other tool or instrument to rake and brush away any large Artex pieces. Artex needs to be scraped off if you wish to use this method.

    Next, we recommend you apply two coats of PVA solution over the existing Artex wall or ceiling. You may require a third coat in some circumstances as textured interiors are highly absorbent. As soon as the last coat of PVA adhesive becomes tacky, the first coat’s trowel will begin smoothing and flattening as it gradually becomes firm.

    Once the first layer of plaster has started firming up, it’s then time to prepare your second batch and apply your second coat. You’ll want to firm this layer up with a trowel as the second coat begins to firm. The secret of a fantastic plaster finish is to ensure you avoid smoothing off the surface whilst the plaster layer is still soft and wet; as tempting as this step can be as it can damage the results.

    You’ll want to wait a little longer for the plaster to have officially firmed before you take your trowel and flatten or smooth over it. Contact your local plasterer if you struggle to perform such tasks on your own, and they’ll be able to provide you with a free quote for their services. You may also call them for further advice on your DIY plastering project if you so wish.

    Plasterboarding over the top of Artex is a method popular with the masses. It has the guaranteed ability to encapsulate and successfully hide any remaining asbestos in your walls or existing ceiling. You can replaster it to finish it off, making it more smooth and more appealing to look at.

    Plastering over the Artex and plasterboarding are the quickest methods out of the three and curate less mess than various other techniques available. Unfortunately, these methods still leave asbestos in their pre-existing place, making decorating in the future a tad difficult.

    You must be careful when doing any work, especially to the ceiling; for example, if you wish to drill a hole into the plasterboard surface for a light fitting. We highly recommend wearing protective gear and keeping all windows open to air out any asbestos dust and protect yourself, or use dust covers.

    Does Artex contain asbestos?

    Artex manufacturers supposedly stopped using asbestos in 1985, and the substance was officially banned by the UK government in 1999, so most Artex products should be entirely and legally free of asbestos. However, even though it was then banned, many wholesalers’ stores and warehouses still had thousands of tonnes of Artex products in their possession. Until 2000, Artex was still sold with asbestos, alongside a newly developed formula free of asbestos.

    It’s essential to be aware that if your building was developed or refurbished before 1999 and has Artex plastering, it’s highly likely that the material contains asbestos fibres. Artex was a relatively trendy material for homeowners when plastering their homes, and it was pretty straightforward to acquire 30 or so years ago as professionals utilised it frequently.

    Chrysotile, known as white asbestos, is the typical asbestos style that you would find in Artex across the UK. The quantity of asbestos in each product could often vary, and various other textured coatings tend to contain minor asbestos levels that generally sit between 1-4%.