The new owners of this 1930s semi wanted rid of the heavy swirl pattern on the lounge and hall ceilings. Because the Artex was put up in the 1970s, we arranged a test before touching it.
Skim, don’t scrape
Scraping Artex off is messy and, if it contains asbestos, unsafe. Instead we sealed it and applied two coats of skim straight over the top, leaving the old coating safely locked underneath. We also taped and filled a long crack along the hall ceiling.
The result
Flat, smooth ceilings ready for paint, with the furniture back in place by the end of day two.