Artex and Covering Tutorial – Before you start
Our exerer based decorators recomend that before you start you are more than likley going to need: Dust sheets, a scraper, filling knife(s)-we recommend a 5” dry lining tool, caulking tool (300mm), Artex (or similar texturing finish compound), Artex sealer, hand mixer, pole attachment, coving (if required), cove adhesive (if using coving), scrim tape(if you have any cracks that need “losing”) mixing bucket 25l, clean water bucket 15l, Artex stippler 6” (or 20” for really big ceilings to be stippled), 1” paint brush, plastic bag (only for broken leather pattern), clean water, 9” roller frame, 9” roller sleeve, short extension pole (2-4 feet),paint scuttle (for applying sealer and stabiliser),
Our decorators advise tat you clear the room as much as possible and put all large furniture you cannot move out of the room in the centre and cover all surfaces to be kept clean with dust sheets (if anything needs to be kept completely dust free we recommend covering using polythene first then dust sheets on top of that).
There are several products, that our decorators will use, to texture your ceiling with the main 2 you find on sale are Wondertex and Artex, the latter is a brand name that most people think of when texturing ceiling, for arguments sake we have used the word “Artex” as a broad term meaning to texture. While us decorators say that Artex is mainly used on ceilings it is not exclusive to ceilings and can also be used on walls too, for the sake of argument, on this tutorial we are focusing on ceilings.
It should be said at this point Artexing and Coving should always be done before walls are decorated as it is unlikely you will be able to keep finished walls clean and unmarked during this process. Scrape the ceiling using a scraper, to get it as flat as possibly, (if you are Artexing a flat ceiling you can skip this part and go to the next paragraph) this is particularly important if you are re-Artexing a ceiling. You can then dust the ceiling off with a soft broom.
Next seal the ceiling with a water-based stabilizer such as stabilex, mix up according to manufacturers’ instructions and apply with a brush and roller. This will help seal up any friable areas (if your ceiling is a sound painted ceiling, in good order and not dusty and porous you may not need to do this.)
When the Stabilex is dry, if there are any cracks on your ceiling it is at this point that you should use self adhesive scrim tape to cover the crack(s). This tape will help to prevent the crack reappearing when your ceiling is decorated. The best way to cut the scrim tape for the first time user is to use scissors. You now need to “lose” the scrim tape by “flushing it out”, we recommend using the Artex you are going to pattern your ceiling with. Mix up some Artex, you shouldn’t need much if you only have a couple of scrim tapes to “lose”.
The Artex should be mixed up to a smooth paste, and should be a smooth easy flowing consistency, and using your filling knife, load some Artex evenly onto your 300mm caulking tool, evenly across the end of the blade and then using your caulking tool smooth the Artex across the scrim tape so you leave only a little on the face of the tape, but you “lose” the edge of the tape.
You should aim to leave the filler as smooth and as flat as possible with hardly any ridges, while still “losing” the tape(s), as the Artex gets misplaced on the caulking board during this process, use your filling knife to take the Artex off the caulking board and re-apply it to the caulking board, ready to go over the tape once more. Repeat this process until the Artex is flat and ridge free and you have “lost” the edge of the tape, and you channel of Artex over your tape is “feathered out” so it looks like it’s the same level as the ceiling and not bulbous or “proud”. You may have to repeat this a 2nd application of Artex when the 1st coat has “gone off” a little or dried.When any Artex you may have “lost” your tapes with and your stabilex is dry, apply 1 coat of Artex sealer, using a brush and roller, mixed up to manufacturers’ instructions. This should aid “working time” when flattening/ plastering, (see below), if this dries very quickly, give it a 2nd coat of Artex sealer.
For more information about this matter or any other service that our Exeter based decorators offer, please get in touch with us today.
