Summary: Painting an artex ceiling is straightforward decorating work, but only after one question is settled. Textured coatings sold under trade names including Artex can contain asbestos, and the Health and Safety Executive is clear that you cannot identify it by looking. Painting over an intact textured coating is low-risk work. Sanding it, dry scraping it or cutting into it is not. This guide covers what HSE actually says, the realistic options for a textured ceiling, and how to get a good finish on one.
Why artex is still a live question
Textured coatings were widely applied to ceilings and walls in British homes, and plenty are still in place. Some people want rid of the texture entirely. Most simply want the ceiling to look clean again, because textured surfaces hold dust, yellow with age and show water staining badly.
HSE describes these coatings as hard, originally white, and often painted over already, applied to produce decorative finishes on ceilings and walls under various trade names including Artex. That description is worth holding on to, because a textured ceiling that has already been painted two or three times is the normal case, not the exception.
The asbestos question, and what HSE actually says
This is the part most guides deal with in one line. It deserves more, because the answer changes what you are allowed to do to the ceiling.
You cannot tell by looking, and age is not a reliable guide
Asbestos fibres in a textured coating are not visible. HSE gives no cut-off date for textured coatings, and the dates offered by other sources disagree with each other, some pointing to the mid 1980s and others to the end of the 1990s. Because those sources conflict, no date in this article is offered as a rule to work from. The only reliable way to know what is in a particular ceiling is to have a sample tested by a qualified asbestos surveyor.
Painting over it is the low-risk option
HSE classifies work on textured coatings as low risk, and states it can be carried out by non-licensed workers, provided they are trained to recognise and work safely with asbestos. That classification is why painting is the low-disturbance route: rolling emulsion onto an intact surface does not break the coating up.
| Examples HSE gives of lower-risk, non-licensed work on textured coatings Drilling and boring through the coating. Inserting and removing screws through it. Removing an area of less than around one square metre using steam or gel methods. Cleaning up debris after a ceiling or wall covered with textured coating has collapsed. Source: HSE, Locations of asbestos and taking the right action. |
What crosses the line
Some work moves out of non-licensed territory entirely and needs an HSE licensed contractor. HSE gives two examples: removal using energetic methods, such as wet abrasive blasting, and removal of a textured coating that is covering asbestos insulating board, which is a far more dangerous material than the coating on top of it. HSE presents these as examples rather than a closed list, so anything beyond straightforward painting is worth checking before you start.
There is also a middle category. Where the work is likely to cause significant break-up and deterioration of the material, for example large-scale removal using steaming or gelling, HSE requires the work to be notified as non-licensed work.
| The one thing not to do Do not sand a textured coating, and do not dry scrape it. Neither appears anywhere in HSE’s list of acceptable non-licensed methods. The approved small-area removal methods are steam and gel, which keep the material wet and bound. Sanding and dry scraping do the opposite, turning a bound coating into airborne dust. This matters because sanding down rough patches is ordinary, sensible preparation on almost every other surface in a house. On a textured ceiling of unknown composition it is the wrong instinct entirely. |
Your realistic options
| Option | What it involves | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Paint it | Clean, seal any stains, fill cracks, then two or more coats of matt emulsion over the existing texture | Lowest disturbance and lowest risk. The texture stays visible. Best where the coating is sound and you only want the ceiling to look fresh |
| Skim over it | A plasterer applies a thin coat of finish plaster over the top, burying the texture and leaving a flat surface | Gives the modern flat ceiling without removing anything. The coating stays sealed underneath. Needs a plasterer, and the new plaster then has its own drying and painting timetable |
| Overboard it | New plasterboard is fixed over the existing ceiling, then taped or skimmed and decorated | Used where the texture is very deep or the ceiling is in poor condition. Fixings go through the coating, which is itself work on the material |
| Remove it | Steam or gel methods, or a licensed contractor depending on scale and what lies beneath | Rarely the right answer for a ceiling that is otherwise sound. Needs testing first, appropriate training, and correct disposal of the waste |
For most people whose ceiling is intact, painting is the sensible choice, and skimming is the sensible choice if a flat ceiling genuinely matters to them. Removal is the option most often reached for first and least often actually needed.
If the skim route is taken, the ceiling that comes back is fresh plaster, which cannot be painted straight away. Our guide to preparing and painting new plaster covers what happens next.
Painting a textured ceiling properly
Assuming the coating is sound and you are painting rather than removing, the job is ordinary decorating with a few quirks that catch people out.
- Budget for far more paint than the floor area suggests. A textured surface has considerably more actual surface area than a flat one, so coverage per litre drops sharply. Peaks and swirls take more again than a light stipple.
- Use a matt finish. Any sheen catches the light across every peak and ridge and makes the texture look harsher and more uneven than it is. Matt flattens the visual effect of the texture, which is usually what people want.
- Use a longer pile roller. A short pile skates over the tops and leaves the hollows bare. A longer pile pushes paint into the recesses, which is the difference between two coats and four.
- Work the paint in, do not just roll it on. Textured surfaces need the roller worked in more than one direction to fill the pattern evenly, then laid off consistently.
- Seal water stains before you start. Ceilings are where old leaks show. A stain painted over with emulsion alone will bleed back through, and it will do so unevenly across a textured surface.
- Cracks need more thought here than on a plain ceiling. Movement cracks painted over will simply reappear, but filling means working into the coating itself, and raking a crack out is exactly the kind of disturbance to avoid. If the ceiling is cracked rather than merely tired, have the coating checked before anyone starts filling it.
On why finish matters so much on this kind of surface, see our guide to choosing the right paint finish. Landing and stairwell ceilings are very often textured and are the hardest in the house to reach safely, which we cover in our hall, stairs and landing guide.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | What happens | Better approach |
|---|---|---|
| Sanding the ceiling to key it | Turns a bound coating into dust. If asbestos is present this is the single worst thing you can do to it | Clean it instead. Never sand or dry scrape a textured coating |
| Assuming age rules asbestos out | Sources disagree on dates and none of them can tell you what is in your ceiling | Have a sample tested if the coating will be disturbed |
| Scraping off flaking paint with a stripping knife | Easy to cut through the paint into the coating itself | Treat flaking paint carefully and get advice if the coating beneath is exposed |
| Using a silk or soft sheen emulsion | Raking light picks out every peak and the ceiling looks worse than before | Use a matt ceiling emulsion |
| Short pile roller | Paint sits on the high points and the hollows show through as shadows | Longer pile, worked into the texture |
| Buying paint by floor area | Runs out part way through the second coat, and a new tin rarely matches exactly | Allow well above the tin’s stated coverage for textured surfaces |
| Painting over a water stain | The stain bleeds back through within weeks, unevenly | Find the cause, then seal with a suitable stain block |
| Drilling into it for a new light fitting without thinking | This is work on the material, even though it is a small hole | HSE treats this as non-licensed work, but it still needs doing properly |
When to get a professional involved
Painting an intact textured ceiling is within reach of a confident DIYer. The points at which it stops being a straightforward job are fairly clear.
- The coating is cracked, flaking, water damaged or coming away, rather than simply dated
- You want the texture gone rather than painted, which means testing before anything else happens
- There is any possibility the textured coating has been applied over asbestos insulating board, since removing a coating that covers AIB is licensed work
- The ceiling is over a stairwell or landing and cannot be reached safely from a stepladder
- The ceiling has already been painted several times and the finish is patchy or flaking
Anyone carrying out work on a textured coating that may contain asbestos needs appropriate asbestos training, even where the work is non-licensed. That applies to tradespeople as much as to homeowners, and it is a fair question to ask of anyone quoting for the job.
Arrange a quote for your ceilings
| Thinking about getting yours done? Alan Cox Decorators prepares and paints ceilings and interiors for homes across Leicester, Loughborough, Coalville, Markfield, Nottingham, Derby and the wider East Midlands. We are members of the Painting and Decorating Association and hold public liability insurance. For interior work we use modern water-based, low-VOC paints, and we protect floors and furniture with heavy-duty dust sheets, leaving the room clean at the end of each day. Call 01530 249799 to arrange a free home survey. You will receive a detailed, transparent quotation with no hidden costs before any work begins. Please note: we are decorators, not asbestos contractors. Where a textured coating needs testing or removing, we will tell you so and recommend you appoint a suitably qualified specialist. |
For what a proper quotation should contain, see our guide to what to expect from a decorating quote, or browse our full range of domestic decorating services.
