What people mean by Artex removal
Artex is a familiar search term for a textured decorative coating on a ceiling or wall. The word is a brand people still use for the look: peaks, swirls, stipple, or a heavy pattern under layers of paint.
What people usually want is a flat, paintable surface. Independent plasterers often get there by covering or skimming over the coating, or by overboarding, rather than by scraping the old texture off. Scraping disturbs the coating. Covering leaves it in place and puts a new surface over it. That is a plastering judgement, not a promise from this page.
See also ceiling plastering and skimming.
Asbestos and older coatings
Coatings put on before about 2000 may contain asbestos. You cannot tell by looking. This site does not test materials, does not survey for asbestos, and does not remove asbestos.
Do not sand, scrape or disturb dry Artex yourself. Mention a textured coating on the enquiry. The plasterer decides what they are willing to do. Covering or overboarding is often discussed. Actual removal is a different job. A specialist may be needed. This introduction does not claim that the plasterer is a licensed asbestos contractor, and this site is not one either.
Official UK guidance on asbestos, including textured decorative coatings, is on the Health and Safety Executive site: HSE locations of asbestos, including textured coatings.
What to include in an enquiry
- Town or full postcode
- Which rooms, and whether it is a ceiling, a wall, or both
- Rough age of the house, if you know it
- Whether the coating is sound, flaking, or already damaged
- Ceiling height, loft hatch, beams, or a light fitting you want kept
- Stairs and whether furniture can be moved
- Parking and unloading
- Photographs available or not
- Timing (subject to the plasterer's other work)
Say it is a textured coating even if you are not sure of the brand. That is more useful than guessing.
What usually affects a quote
What will the plastering cost? Ask for a written quote after the plasterer has assessed the surface.
- Area and height
- Whether covering, a skim, or overboarding is realistic
- Condition of the coating and the ceiling behind it
- Protection of the room below
- Access for boards up the stairs
- Whether the plasterer is willing to take the job at all
- Any need for a specialist view before anyone disturbs the coating
A plasterer may decline the job if they are not happy with the condition or the method. That is their decision.
After the work
If the coating is covered rather than removed, you still need drying time before paint. The plasterer should say when you can decorate. Coving, if you want it, is usually discussed once the ceiling line is known.
Beccles and nearby
Intended first area: Beccles, Worlingham and nearby Waveney villages. Availability is checked for your postcode and job.
Older stock around New Market, Ballygate and Blyburgate often still has textured ceilings from later twentieth-century work. Houses on the Worlingham estates may be different: some rooms were finished flat, some were not. A bungalow ceiling is not the same job as a high room in a town house. Describe yours.
Plasterer in Beccles · Nearby villages
Lowestoft, Bungay or Great Yarmouth: nearby, ask. Coverage is not claimed.
Related jobs
Questions
Often not. Covering or skimming over, or overboarding, is more common than scraping. The plasterer decides after they have understood the surface. Do not scrape it yourself.
Not automatically. Coatings from before about 2000 may. This site cannot tell you. Mention it, do not disturb it dry, and let the plasterer advise. A specialist may be needed for actual removal.
No. This site introduces. It does not plaster and it does not remove asbestos. Independent plasterer, their quote, their contract.