Textured ceilings... urgh
Discussion
We are in the process of buying a new home that has those awful textured (stipple effect) ceilings in every single room. To make matters worse, it's a large house and so there is a huge amount of ceiling to deal with.
I'm reasonably handy with DIY but have never plastered before (owning a fibreglass race car, I have however done a huge amount of body filling!). The house has also cost a fortune and so to avoid eating up my 2025 racing funds, I am planning to tackle as much of the work as I can myself.
With this in mind, my original plan was to board and tape the ceilings (I can borrow a board lifter which will make things easier) but the more I read, the more I am beginning to doubt myself that this is the best solution.
So... what would be the easiest, most cost efficient way to rid myself of this 80s horror show? I could afford to get a plasterer in to skim them but I would really rather avoid this as a) I've seen some horrors recently from a so called professional at my sister's house and b) racing budget!
Should I learn to plaster? Should I overboard and tape? Should I never look up and just live with them?
I'm reasonably handy with DIY but have never plastered before (owning a fibreglass race car, I have however done a huge amount of body filling!). The house has also cost a fortune and so to avoid eating up my 2025 racing funds, I am planning to tackle as much of the work as I can myself.
With this in mind, my original plan was to board and tape the ceilings (I can borrow a board lifter which will make things easier) but the more I read, the more I am beginning to doubt myself that this is the best solution.
So... what would be the easiest, most cost efficient way to rid myself of this 80s horror show? I could afford to get a plasterer in to skim them but I would really rather avoid this as a) I've seen some horrors recently from a so called professional at my sister's house and b) racing budget!
Should I learn to plaster? Should I overboard and tape? Should I never look up and just live with them?
Edited by LennyM1984 on Tuesday 5th November 14:24
I recently boarded my landing ceiling (after fitting a new loft hatch)
I used tapered edge board, taped & filled joints. A few times to get it dead right.
Wasn’t easy.
Also of course, I removed the coving, which trashed the top of the walls.
Escalated in traditional diy fashion!
Doing bedroom next, I’ll pay someone.
I used tapered edge board, taped & filled joints. A few times to get it dead right.
Wasn’t easy.
Also of course, I removed the coving, which trashed the top of the walls.
Escalated in traditional diy fashion!
Doing bedroom next, I’ll pay someone.
Recently had similar done on my current house (built in the 80s)
Had two skims over the top of the existing, no need to overboard. I coated with febond blue grit first.
Wasnt confident with the febond at first as I was able to peel it off quite easily, however its all held (touch wood) for over a year.
The plasterers that did the work have also worked on Jeremy Clarkson's properties in the past. Felt it necessary to share that info, given that this is PH after all.
Had two skims over the top of the existing, no need to overboard. I coated with febond blue grit first.
Wasnt confident with the febond at first as I was able to peel it off quite easily, however its all held (touch wood) for over a year.
The plasterers that did the work have also worked on Jeremy Clarkson's properties in the past. Felt it necessary to share that info, given that this is PH after all.
LennyM1984 said:
With this in mind, my original plan was to board and tape the ceilings (I can borrow a board lifter which will make things easier) but the more I read, the more I am beginning to doubt myself that this is the best solution.
So... what would be the easiest, most cost efficient way to rid myself of this 80s horror show? I could afford to get a plasterer in to skim them but I would really rather avoid this as a) I've seen some horrors recently from a so called professional at my sister's house and b) racing budget!
Should I learn to plaster? Should I overboard and tape? Should I never look up and just live with them?
This for a while. So... what would be the easiest, most cost efficient way to rid myself of this 80s horror show? I could afford to get a plasterer in to skim them but I would really rather avoid this as a) I've seen some horrors recently from a so called professional at my sister's house and b) racing budget!
Should I learn to plaster? Should I overboard and tape? Should I never look up and just live with them?
If you do borrow a board lifter, make sure it's a proper one. A £150 ebay cheapie with its single wire will be OK until it isn't... might never happen, but I'd rather not be stood under one if it were to give way.
Get a good plasterer to do it.
We had a ceiling redone by a builder during alteratioons. As it was old Artex he first used a sealant to cover it then replastered it just in case it was the asbestos stuff. Done 7 years ago and still looking great.
Choice was leave it or get it done. The seal and plaster method chosen instead of re-boarding.
Plastering looks easy when done by a GOOD pro but it's not something to just try your luck, even after a small test area trying to learn.
We had a ceiling redone by a builder during alteratioons. As it was old Artex he first used a sealant to cover it then replastered it just in case it was the asbestos stuff. Done 7 years ago and still looking great.
Choice was leave it or get it done. The seal and plaster method chosen instead of re-boarding.
Plastering looks easy when done by a GOOD pro but it's not something to just try your luck, even after a small test area trying to learn.
I was faced with a similar dilemma this time last year. I moved back into the house I initially bought some 30 years ago as a (then) new build.
It's a typically sized 4 bed family home with twelve ceilings in total and they all had the mini stalactite effect artex finish plus coving (which remains). I employed a local plasterer to smooth it all over. There were two of them, one guy went round prepping every ceiling by raking off the longer bits and slapping some gloop on. He was followed room to room by the plasterer who has made the finish mirror smooth.
It took them just over a week (Wednesday to the next Thursday, not including the weekend) but they had the great advantage of the house being completely empty and me not being too fussed about the flooring/walls because I intended to decorate/renew everything.
Total cost was £2500 which I thought was more than reasonable for the job.
It's a typically sized 4 bed family home with twelve ceilings in total and they all had the mini stalactite effect artex finish plus coving (which remains). I employed a local plasterer to smooth it all over. There were two of them, one guy went round prepping every ceiling by raking off the longer bits and slapping some gloop on. He was followed room to room by the plasterer who has made the finish mirror smooth.
It took them just over a week (Wednesday to the next Thursday, not including the weekend) but they had the great advantage of the house being completely empty and me not being too fussed about the flooring/walls because I intended to decorate/renew everything.
Total cost was £2500 which I thought was more than reasonable for the job.
ewanjp said:
Be aware that artex (if that's what it is) that is pre 2000 ish vintage can have abestos in it (in low quanities) so overboarding is a common solution.
Pretty sure that '2000 date is way out, as I researched this in the late 90s, and the 'no asbestos' date was well before then.I don't have the info any more.
There were however other brands of gunge applied to ceilings. I worked in a DIY place in the 80s.
So of this stuff can be removed with a steamer.
Some even comes off if you just spray it with water and scrape it, once the paint is broken.
Which is only any use if the surface left behind is repairable.
It could be worse, I had a house with this muck on walls!
dba7108 said:
Had our whole house done years ago. Chap came in with a big scraper. Scraped it off then skimped it.
Ours was worse - the scrolled type of artex 
We had the downstairs all done during a renovation some years ago - the plasterers went over each ceiling three times - knock off the worst of the spikey bits, skim then smooth. Arms like gorillas - money worth paying!
I still had to paint the buggers once they had dried - if you can, find some plaster that finishes white!!
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