skimming an artexed ceiling

[cyberdog]

Hi, I have three ceilings that have previously been artexed, and I want to skim them, Am I right in saying all I have to do is make sure they are sound, give them a good coat of PVA then skim them?? Thanks

[Rob graham]

I don't know what others think but I'd leave out the PVA. Being Artex, there must be a good key there already, no?

Rob Graham

[Rod]

I would take the biggest peaks off the artex to reduce the amount of=20 plaster required

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[cyberdog]

Hi, I should have said, the artex has been emulsion about four years ago.

[Marvin The Mouse]

I managed to get a perfect finish with not much effort by using a standard wallpaper stripper. I was gob smacked with the final result. It was a good ceiling tho

[Rob graham]

I would expect the emulsion to be tight to the ceiling and therefore make the PVA redundant. If it's not, then probably the PVA wouldn't make any difference anyway. I don't know whether PVA would soak thro' the emulsion and therefore bind it and the plaster to the ceiling better, but probably not. As Rod has said, take the high peaks off the Artex, This will reduce the thickness of the plaster and also provide a bit of a key without emulsion over it.

Rob Graham

[Bob Hill]

I would take the biggest peaks off the artex to reduce the amount of plaster required

[cyberdog]

Thanks All for your assistance. This makes sense.Thanks

[trenchfoot]

Still seal and glue for best results.Mix is 1:3 for seal,knock off any high points while the artex is soft with your trowel.Then glue with a mix of 1:2,let it go ticky tacky then two coat skim.Job done.

[cyberdog]

Hi,

I think I will PVA the ceiling anyway, it won`t do any harm. I am no expert plasterer, but it looks good when I have finished. I have tried the waiting until it is ticky tacky, then I start, but by the time I am half done the other half is no longer ticky tacky. Is it still ok to coat over it???. Also why two coats?? Is it one to fill in and then the second to finish nice and smooth??

Thanks

[trenchfoot]

How long is it taking you? If it dries out completely it just acts as a sealer and it will blow eventually.Two coat skim always gives you a better finish because your 2nd coat is going over a smooth decent 1st skim. The 1st skim should be about 2mm,then flatten out.2nd coat should be 1mm,flatten out,2 wet trowels, a dry trowel and you'll have a great finish with a bit of application.Just don't polish it too much or it'll be that smooth your paint wont stick and you'll have to sand it!

[trenchfoot]

Oops,forgot it was over artex.Depending on the thickness of the artex you can either two or three coat skim.If you make it two coat make your

1st coat a bit thicker.

[cyberdog]

I recently plastered a 12` X 8` wall. I watered down the PVA and gave it one coat. After that had dried over night, I gave it another coat, then when it was tacky I started to skim. Within 30 to 40 min it was no longer tacky were I had not skimmed. think maybe the problem is that I watered the second coat down to much.

[trenchfoot]

You don't need to leave the seal overnight but it certainly won't do it any harm if you do.If the glue isn't tacky any longer you can just reglue,the initial glue will just act as another seal with no detrimental effect at all.......but I've got to ask,how are you going about it,40 mins to do the 1st skim on a 12' x 8' wall seems quite long,have you got a lot of intricate areas?

[cyberdog]

Hi,

No intricate areas, I am just trying to perfect my skimming technique. I realise now that I should just get the skim on all the wall, then think about smoothing it out to a nice finish after. Instead I was making it look nice as I went along.

[cyberdog]

Hi,

Do I have to do anything with the first coat before I do a second coat?? (ie, pva, scratch,etc)

[Andrew Gabriel]

Not if you skim it immediately whilst first coat is still wet (and ideally not even quite fully set). This is the best option.

If it has dried, then you will need to PVA it.

Scratching it isn't viable -- it it's set, you won't be able to do so, and if it hasn't set, you'll create raised bits, which will likely mean you have to do another two skim coats.

[trenchfoot]

Yeah,what Andy says. The thing with plaster is if it dries it becomes high suction and will just suck the water out of your new plaster and it'll crack very much sooner rather than later.There's not a problem with it drying other than you should really seal'n'glue again when there shouldn't be any need.As you know, the secret to plastering is just to get the first coat up as soon as and not play with it as you're going along,this gives you loads of time to flatten it out before the 2nd skim. I can't think of any occassion where you would scratch a skim,a float coat,yep but never a skim.

[cyberdog]

Thanks for your help, Andy and Trenchfoot.