Is this Artex or some sort of plaster/other rendering?

[Andy574]

Very silly question really, i'm paranoid about asbestos and such airborne problems, and I need to remove this covering on a small area of wall in a bedroom. It was previously lumpy painted texturing which was quite hard, but would crumble if you took a stanley knife to it.

Images here: http://imgur.com/a/Uit8r#t2mxV

It began to peel back when I removed wallpaper from the corner you see. I've heard that plaster of paris and such tend to be more like powder, whereas artex is like sand. This is very much powderey when I dab a bit.

Even though artex after 1980 or whenever it is is safe, I can't be sure on the age and so am assuming if it is artex that it's dangerous.

Thanks for any replies.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

If you put a steamer to it does it soften up or crack, if it softens up likely to be artex if cracks it's a plaster.
Your ceiling looks like artex.

If possible, you should paint, cover or plaster over the decorative coating rather than remove it. There are products on the market for covering textured surfaces. Alternatively, if the coating is applied to a plasterboard surface, the whole board may be removed in pieces large enough for convenient handling and disposal. If you do wish to remove the surface finish only, reduce as much as possible the chance of you generating and inhaling any dust by soaking the surface with warm water and scraping off wet. Do not sand the decorative coating or scrape off dry. For best protection while doing any minor DIY work you should wear a disposable dust mask, ‘CE’ marked to EN 149 with FFP2 particulate filters.