Artex repair = polyfilla+emulsion paint?

[Harry W B]

I need to do a few small repairs to the artex on a ceiling, and neet to try to reproduce the swirls created by the original tradesman.

If I mix interior polyfilla and emulsion paint, I think this would create something of the right consistency. Anyone tried that?

I'm just trying to avoid doing a long trek to a DIY store to buy a load more artex than I need!

Harry W

[The Medway Handyman]

I moved a radiator for a lady recently, twas on an artexed wall. When I took it off, the wall had been artexed behind the rad, but not behind the brackets! This left two smooth patches about 10" x 2".

I used One Strike filler applied pretty thickly. Fortunately the Artex pattern was pretty rendom, so I kind of tried to follow it. By the time I'd moved the rad the filler was pretty much dry, so I dabbed some matching paint over and you could hardly tell where it had been at all.

[Harry W]

Yes, that would make the repair easy.

In my case the repair mix will need to be roughly the same consistency as the original artex, in order to reproduce the professional-looking swirls convincingly. They look like they were done with either a float (twist, then lift) or possibly some purpose-made rubber or sponge - covered float, using the said twist-then-lift technique. I will have to experiment.

I was mainly wonderingif the polyfilla+emulsion mix has been tried by anyone here to good effect. I'm just guessing that it would be a good imitation of genuine artex, regarding the way it behaves..

Cheers,

Harry W

[Cicero]

================================== Polyfilla will probably dry too quite quickly for your experiment. You might consider using 'One-coat' plaster which is workable for at least 30 minutes and it will be cheaper than Polyfilla if you have to abandon the idea.

Mixing a plaster filler and paint (usually gloss / undercoat) used to be called 'Swedish putty' and was used before modern fillers became available.

Cic.

[Harry W B]

Thanks for the tip. I just happen to have some of the Wickes' variety! Usefull stuff. It doesn't seem quite as smooth as polyfilla when wet.

I vaguely remember hearing about that. I wonder if oil-based paint is better than water-based for this purpose. Whichever one ends up with the most flexibility and adhesion, long-term, would probably be best for this job.

Harry W

[Cicero]

=================================== If you have a bit of plasterboard or hardboard lying around, try a few different mixes to see what you can achieve. Remember that nobody will notice your patching unless you make a complete pig's ear of it so you only need a close match and a lick of paint to deceive the eye.

Cic.

[Lobster]

I did a bit of Artex patching last week actually, using Wickes-branded 'polyfilla' on its own. Looks fine. Only a very small area though. The above advice is spot-on: once it's all painted it will not be noticeable - it's a different ball game to trying to patch a smooth area where any blemish will stick out like a sore thumb.

[Harry W B]

Yes - thanks for the input. It seems my hunch about polyfilla+emulsion was spot-on. The consistency was so artex-like that I was able to reproduce the professional-looking swirls almost perfectly - and I was applying it to a smooth area, where I had already done some plastering to fill some large holes. They biggest challenge was finding the right tool to create the swirls. I ended up using a stiff-bristled hand-brush (the dustpan-&-brush variety). The repair is virtually undetectable now, even before painting. You'd need a good eye to find it. I wish I'd discovered this technique years ago when I did some rather more botched-looking repairs in another room.

Harry W

[Mark]

You can buy "repairtex" which is precisely for this purpose. Better still get rid of all the Artex, it's horrible stuff

M