Professional plastering in Sutton, Surrey & South West London
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Sutton, Surrey & South West London
Turn a dated, textured ceiling into a flat modern surface — usually without the mess, dust and disruption of removing it.
Skimming over Artex means preparing a textured coating and applying finish plaster over the top to leave it flat and smooth. It is normally possible where the existing coating is sound and firmly bonded. Because textured coatings applied before the year 2000 may contain asbestos, covering them over is generally safer and cleaner than removing them.
The process
We check whether the texture is well bonded, how heavy the pattern is and whether the ceiling beneath is sound.
Heavy peaks are carefully taken back without sanding or dry-scraping, so the skim thickness stays reasonable.
A suitable bonding agent is applied so the new plaster grips the textured coating properly.
Finish plaster is applied in coats and trowelled flat, leaving no trace of the original pattern.
Common problems
Deep peaked patterns need more plaster and more knocking back. Sometimes overboarding the ceiling is the better answer.
If the texture itself is coming away, skimming over it will fail with it. Overboarding gives a sound new base.
Some old coatings are painted with finishes plaster will not bond to. We test and treat before committing.
Textured coatings applied in the UK before 2000 can contain a small amount of asbestos. Left in place and undisturbed they are generally not regarded as a risk, which is precisely why skimming over is so often the preferred route: nothing is broken up, sanded or made airborne.
What you should never do is sand, dry-scrape or aggressively remove an old textured ceiling yourself. If you want certainty before work starts, the coating can be tested.
Skimming over suits sound, moderately textured surfaces. Overboarding — fixing new plasterboard over the existing ceiling and skimming that — suits heavy textures, ceilings that have cracks or movement, and any coating that is not firmly bonded.
Overboarding costs more but produces a completely new surface and gives an opportunity to correct a ceiling that is not level. We will price the option that suits your ceiling rather than the one that suits us.
If you have been searching for popcorn ceiling removal, you are probably looking at a textured or Artex-style ceiling — "popcorn ceiling" is simply the American name. In most cases a sound popcorn ceiling can be skimmed flat rather than removed, which avoids disturbing a coating that may contain asbestos.
Our Artex and popcorn ceiling removal guide (in the guides list on this page) compares skimming over, overboarding and stripping, with honest pros, cons and rough guide costs.
Textured ceilings are extremely common in 1960s to 1980s properties, and in inter-war houses around Worcester Park, Morden and Mitcham that were updated during those decades. Covering them is one of the single most cost-effective improvements a homeowner can make to a room.
Related services
Internal plastering for walls and ceilings, from single rooms to full house renovations, finished flat and ready for decorating.
View serviceA fresh 2–3mm finish coat over sound existing surfaces to remove imperfections and leave a smooth, paint-ready wall or ceiling.
View servicePatch repairs to cracked, blown or damaged plaster — repairing only what needs repairing rather than replastering an entire room.
View serviceTell us what needs doing and we will give you an honest price. Photographs by WhatsApp are often enough to get started.
