ceiling advice required please

[mickthefish]

does anyone have any advice with regards to removing artex from a ceiling?
i had a secction of my attic ceiling replaced and replastered last year by a complete ****.
instead of skimming the full ceiling after replacing a few boards , he decided to try and blend it in with the existing artex only to make a complete arse of it. ( i.e. the artex pattern he did sits about 1/4 inch proud of the rest of the ceiling.)
needless to say , i booted him out with nowt !
im led to believe this has to be taken off in order to reskim the full ceiling nicely ,but after a lot of scraping and a cold shoulder and not a lot of progress , im thinking there must be an easier way before i hoy a wobbler.
any advise would be gratefully recieved.
cheers,
mick.

[KeithB]

A steam wall paper stripper might loosen it.

[mickthefish]

ive tried it m8 ! , ne good !
i should have mentioned :
dunno if artex and plaster are very similair but its actually plaster he used to put the pattern on.

[marksworld]

not sure as joinery was my trade but a browning coat then a skim to finish.
also saw on the tv that new stuff that seems to go on effortless to cover artex, dont know what its called and it cant beat being done the correct way. i am sure some of the lads will give you some advice soon as there are a few builders on here


cheers
mark

[mark]

use a brick!

rubbed mine down with a house brick, short of semtex found it the best way to shift it.

use a brick with a nice rough face rather than smooth engineering bricks

[jimmy]

only way to do it correctly is to have it skimmed,short of that try using a DA (dual action) sander,but it creates a hell of a lot of dust

[Chris_Hughes]

Beware Artex - plastic ceilings as a substance has been around for quite a while - I think 1930s or earlier. And if it's an older application, then it may contain asbestos which can be a health hazard. It's ok while solid but don't breath in the dust if your rubbing it down.

If you've got sufficient ceiling height in the room, I would over board and plaster skim the ceiling.

[bribones]

asked my m8 about this and he reckons skimming is the way to go but the problem is you might get bubbles forming becouse of the patterned coat so the browning might be the best option first then a skim over the top,i used a steamer for mine no problems just work in one area till you get down to the original level then work in 2ft squares letting the steam get under the new coat(it took me week :-( )

if you want another pattern over the top he says just to knock off all the high points and get a decent coat layerd over it

[mickthefish]

cheers lads, some good advice there.
ill probably try the brick trick as its only the (stupidly )high points that need taken off before my mate come round to skim it.
i had been using a scraper but i imagine you can get a lot more purchase on it with a brick.
i hate these jobs

[Charlton]

if it is just the few big lumps, try a feathercutter, sharpened first, and a hammer. You might be able to get them off in one piece and avoid any dust. Not to hard though, dont want to be renewing the whole ceiling

[SIXFOOTSTEVE]

Take the points off with a trowel ,get as much as you can off ,I actually got most of it off ,but if it's plaster they've used instead of artex then it's like concrete so you might even need to board over it , or how about an angle grinder with a flap wheel.

[Charlie_Thompson]

dsgsdggsdfggsgsg £45

[Rod]

Knock the high spots off with a shovel,quicker and saves your neck aching.

[Red5]

When we bought our house last year every room was covered in the stuff. Some of it was like the stalactytes in Wookie Hole!
Got my brother in law to board and skim the whole house as we couldn't be sure on the age of the artex (like Chris said about asbestos).
Artex is like Brussels Sprouts really.... Pointless and horrible!

[IanW]

dsgsdggsdfggsgsg £45

Wahey even more crap to ignore