artex ceiling question

[hindle8907]

Ok my Mum has had two quotes from two different plasterers, to plaster 2 big rooms and hide the artex ceiling.

One has quoted 300 pound less than the other but would not be using boards over the ceiling, instead he said he would bond & skim.

whats the pros and cons of this ?

The only thing I thought of was with the boards being drilled into the joists its taking the weight but the bonding and skimming over such a large surface area is going to put some strain on the ceiling ?

Cheers,
Ant

[Nobbylad]

Bonding and skimming artex is fine, I'd expect pay around £100-150 per day for a decent plasterer. If they're downstairs rooms, then boarding over shouldn't be an issue as the joists will be more than capable (seeing as they're floor joists for upstairs). Even upstairs they should be OK as long as the attic isn't stuffed with stuff and the joist hangers are in good nick.

If the ceiling is in good nick, then just get it bonded and skimmed. If you go for having it removed, OLD artex ceiling may contain asbestos.

I've just had all my ceilings skimmed by a plasterer in the family.

How he explained it:

Skimming over will give a good enough result. You will still see some imperfections in the ceiling if the old boards aren't level where the house has settled, etc. But it will give you a flat ceiling that is good enough.

Re-boarding & then skimming it will last longer and give a better result. This is because all the boards should be level, flat & new. But they are still going to be bonded & skimmed over for a very similar result.

Dan

[MisterTommyH]

Even upstairs ceiling joists should have a bit of bunce in them to take a bit of extra ceiling. Should usually have an allowance for 25 kg/sq.m for ceiling and services before you have to consider whats in the loft.

[hindle8907]

thanks for the replies guys,

So the bonding is Ok but maybe the extra for the boards isn't such a bad idea , if its going to last longer and give a little bit better result.

[Dave20046]

I'd just get it skimmed or board it yourself it's a piece of **** and a plasterer would probably charge a fair bit for fannying around.
As said ,careful round artex though.

[MisterTommyH]

Originally Posted by hindle8907

thanks for the replies guys,

So the bonding is Ok but maybe the extra for the boards isn't such a bad idea , if its going to last longer and give a little bit better result.

Think the comment about the house settling might be a bit of a red-herring mate.

Even after all the 'settlement' movement is done, timber joists are designed to to deflect as you move the loads about, so you could still get up to 15mm movement over a 5m span, anytime you go into the loft, or move stuff around.

As I get a lot of this done, what we do is if the ceiling is sound enough is scrap the high bits of the pattern off with a floor scraper then pva it and skim it.
If it's a deep pattern it will need bonding to level it out prior to skim coat, problem is the bonding takes time to go off.
My plasterers, on a heavy pattern would prefer to overboard it tbh as it saves a lot of messing around.
Actually makes a better ceiling in most cases as it's less prone to cracking as it will move less.

Finally, in brum, I can get a plasterer to work day rate but the general public won't, you find many to work for less than £150 a day and even then it won't be cost efficient, I prefer price work at the right money.
My guys can skim an enormous amount in a day, so why would they do thhe same for a flat £150, doesn't make sense.

Hth
Phil

Artex is disgusting stuff. We had it in our last house, the first owners had specified for it. Yuk. We overboarded it, it looked fantastic.