What is easiest to do??

[who took my fluke?]

Hi Guys, my brother has just bought a house which is in need of a bit of work. Firstly, he has lath and mortar ceiling which has been artexed and the room has been converted into a single from two rooms, hence uneven artex pattern. Is it best to plaster over the artex or rip the ceiling down and start again with plaster board?? The room is about 35ft x 12ft

Also, the walls have different artex patterns on all walls!! but the walls themselves are in good condition. How can I remove the artex easily??
Ive got to add lights etc to some walls that have lath and mortar - that should be fun!

Thanks for your help

 

[kevplumb]

steam stripper but its messy

 

[jbonding]

you dont say how thick the pattern on the ceiling is, I tend to board straight over the ceiling and skim and scrape high spots off the walls, pva and skim, also some artex can contain asbestos cant remember what year it was used upto, but has been covered somewhere on here. just found it pre 1979.

 

[Zampa]

Skim.....trying to dry or wet strip artex normally results in wrecking the walls and they may end up needing skimming anyway....or at least loads of filling and maybe lining.

 

[sandwell]

How can I remove the artex easily??

Can't be done easily