Artex removal
Most people who want Artex gone want it gone for the look of it, not because they are worried about what is in it. Fair enough, but some Artex contains asbestos and some does not, and there is no way to tell which is which just by looking at a swirled or stippled ceiling. Find that out first, and the rest of the decision gets a lot easier.
- Over 12 years in asbestos removal
- Qualified & insured
- HSE Compliant
- Most jobs completed within a day
What a textured coating looks like
You cannot tell by looking
- Swirled, stippled or an “orange peel” textured finish on a ceiling or wall, painted or bare.
- Two identical-looking ceilings on the same street can be different materials. Appearance and age are not proof either way.
- The only way to know for certain is a sample, tested by a laboratory that identifies asbestos.
- Painting over it, steaming it, or scraping a patch to see what is underneath does not answer the question, and any of those can disturb it before you have an answer.
Already know it is asbestos, and just want it dealt with? See our removal work generally, or read on: the jobs we will not touch come next, then how an Artex ceiling specifically comes down.
Careful, wet removal, whatever the coating turns out to be
Note
Most coatings come off by hand, wet
Careful, wet, by-hand removal of a textured coating is the job we do ourselves. Occasionally a coating turns out to need a different method, and we will tell you that plainly rather than force a job into the wrong technique.
If that method needs somebody with a licence, we will tell you that too, and what to look for when you are choosing them.
Note
Textured coating on an insulating board ceiling
This is the one most people have never heard of, and it is the reason we will not price a coating from a photograph alone. If the textured coating has been applied over asbestos insulating board rather than plasterboard, it needs more care than an ordinary ceiling. The coating on top can look identical either way.
It is one of the things a sample tells you and a photograph cannot. If that is what you have, we will tell you plainly, and what it means for how it needs to come down, including whether it needs somebody with a licence and what to check before you choose them.
Worth knowing
Never scrape or sand it dry
Whatever a coating turns out to be, dry scraping or sanding is the one method that reliably puts material into the air. We do not do it, and if a sample confirms asbestos, neither should anyone else.
Source: HSE, asbestos: locations and identifying the correct action, checked 13 Sep 2026.
Taking it off is not the only option
Leave it where it is
A coating that is sound and not being disturbed is not an emergency. If nobody is about to drill, sand or knock it about, doing nothing is often the safest and cheapest answer, and we will tell you that.
Board over it
Plasterboard fixed straight over a sound ceiling, without disturbing the coating first, is a real alternative to removal. It costs less and it is quicker, though it leaves the original material in place rather than resolving it, in the same way as sealing rather than removing elsewhere in a house.
Take it off
Worth doing when you are stripping a room back, rewiring or fitting new lighting through the ceiling, extending, or simply want it resolved rather than covered over.
We do not re-skim or repaint
We take the coating down. Making good the bare ceiling afterwards, skimming, painting, is a different trade, and we would rather say so than take the job and hand the finishing to someone else behind your back.
How an Artex ceiling comes down
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01
We look first
A photo, or a chat about where it is and how much of it there is, usually tells us what kind of job it is.
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02
Tested if nobody knows
If it has not already been identified, a sample goes to a lab before anything is disturbed.
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03
Wet, never dry
Dry scraping or sanding is the one method that reliably puts fibres into the air. Ours is a wet method throughout, and nothing is ever dry-sanded.
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04
Down as one job
The coating comes off and, where the ceiling or wall board is coming too, it goes with it, wrapped and bagged before anything is carried anywhere.
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05
Paperwork follows
The waste goes to a facility licensed to take it, and your consignment note follows by email.
What actually changes the price
We are not going to print a number we cannot stand behind. A single patch and a whole ceiling of several rooms are different jobs, and these are the things that decide where a given job actually sits.
- How much there is. A metre square patch above a doorway is a different job from every ceiling in the house.
- Whether walls are coated as well as ceilings.
- Height and access. Stairwells and high ceilings take longer to work on safely.
- Condition. A coating that has already been painted over several times, or is flaking, takes more care, not less.
- What happens after. Boarding or skimming the bare ceiling once the coating is gone is not part of what we do.
What people ask us
Can you remove Artex yourself?
There is no law stopping a householder taking down their own Artex. The practical problem is finding out what it actually is before you start, since you cannot tell by eye, and then keeping the work wet throughout so nothing gets thrown into the air. Get it tested first is the honest advice, whoever ends up doing the work.
How likely is it that Artex contains asbestos?
We are not going to give you odds that mean anything for your ceiling specifically, because it depends on when and where it was applied, and we do not have a source for a figure that would hold up. The honest answer is that it might, appearance alone will not tell you either way, and a tested sample is the only answer worth acting on.
Is it worth removing an Artex ceiling?
Depends what you are trying to do. If you are decorating around it, extending, or rewiring through the ceiling, it is usually simplest to resolve it before that work starts rather than during it. If you just do not like the look of it and nothing else is changing, boarding over a sound ceiling is often the cheaper route.
Can I plasterboard over an Artex ceiling?
Yes, fixing plasterboard straight over a coating that is sound and not being disturbed is a legitimate way to deal with it. It leaves the original material in place rather than resolving it, which matters if you ever want to run cables or lights through that ceiling later.
Do you have to declare Artex when selling a house?
That is a conveyancing question for your solicitor, not one we can answer for your sale. What we can tell you is what the coating actually is once it has been tested, which is often exactly the information a buyer's solicitor or surveyor wants to see.
Is it illegal to plaster over Artex?
There is no rule against covering a coating you are not disturbing. What the regulations actually control is what happens once material is disturbed, not whether you are allowed to leave it alone under a new surface.
Artex across the south east
We are based in Grays and most of our work is within an hour of it.
Further out than that? Ask anyway.
Tell us what you have found
A photo, a postcode and a phone number is enough to start. If you would rather talk it through, call and you will get someone who has done this before.