Plastering services in Shropshire
Textured and Artex-style ceilings in Shropshire
Artex-style and other textured ceilings can usually be brought to a smooth finish, but the route depends on what the coating is, how deep the pattern is and its condition. Send a photo without disturbing it.
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There are broadly three ways to deal with a textured ceiling. It can be overboarded — new plasterboard fixed beneath the existing ceiling and skimmed — which leaves the coating undisturbed and gives a dependable flat background. It can be prepared and skimmed directly, where the texture is shallow and sound. Or it can be removed, which is the most disruptive route and, where asbestos may be present, the most tightly regulated.
Overboarding is very often the sensible answer, particularly in properties built or refurbished between the 1960s and the 1990s. It avoids disturbing the coating entirely, it deals with a deep pattern that would otherwise need a lot of material to bury, and it gives a genuinely flat ceiling. It costs a little ceiling height, which is worth checking in a room that is already low.
What nobody can do is tell you from a photograph what your coating is made of. That question is answered by sampling and analysis, carried out by someone competent to do it.
When this is the job you need
- Swirl, stipple, comb or fan patterns you want gone
- A textured ceiling that has been painted several times and looks tired
- Rooms being renovated where the ceiling is the last dated thing left
- Landlord properties being brought up to a modern finish
- Ceilings where a previous partial removal has left an uneven surface
What changes the price
- Whether the route is overboarding, direct skimming or removal
- Depth of the pattern — a heavy swirl needs far more material to bury
- The condition of the ceiling and what it is fixed to
- Ceiling height, and whether losing 15mm or so to overboarding matters
- Whether an asbestos assessment is needed before anything is disturbed
- Light fittings, coving, smoke alarms and anything else to work around
Textured or Artex-style ceiling: common questions
Does my textured ceiling contain asbestos?
Nobody can answer that from a photograph. Coatings applied before 2000 may contain it; later ones generally do not. The only reliable answer comes from sampling and analysis by someone competent to carry it out. Until then, treat it as if it might and leave it undisturbed.
Is overboarding better than skimming over the texture?
Often, yes. It leaves the existing coating undisturbed, it copes with a deep pattern that would otherwise swallow a lot of material, and it gives a flat, dependable background. The trade-offs are a small loss of ceiling height and the cost of the boards and fixing.
How much ceiling height would I lose?
Typically somewhere around 15 to 25mm including the skim, depending on the board used. In a normal room nobody notices. In a low room, a cottage or a converted loft it is worth measuring first and saying so in your enquiry.
Can the texture just be sanded off?
This is exactly the thing not to do on an older coating, because sanding creates airborne dust from a material that may contain asbestos. Removal of a suspect coating is controlled work. If the coating is confirmed to be modern and safe, removal is still messy and often costs more than overboarding.