Taking away Artex often reveals what it was hiding. Textured coatings were sometimes used to cover cracks, uneven joints and patched holes, and once a smooth skim goes on, any movement or unevenness becomes much more obvious. Fixing loose boards and taping cracks before skimming is what stops the new ceiling cracking again within months, and it is far easier to do while the room is already sheeted up for plastering.
Coving is often the other thing that dates a room. Old polystyrene coving or heavily painted plaster coving can be removed and replaced with a cleaner profile, and doing it at the same time as the skim gives a neat line between the ceiling and walls. Where a period property has original cornice, repairs are usually better than replacement, as matching a historic profile with off-the-shelf coving rarely looks right.
What is included
- Screwing loose or sagging plasterboard back to the joists
- Taping and filling cracks and plasterboard joints
- Filling old fixing holes and redundant light points
- Patching damaged areas with new plasterboard
- Removing old polystyrene or damaged coving
- Fitting new plaster or gypsum coving with mitred corners
- Blending repairs into the final skim
Who it is for
- Ceilings with recurring cracks or sagging boards
- Rooms with dated polystyrene or damaged coving
- Ceilings with holes from old light fittings or ceiling roses
- Areas damaged by a past leak, once the cause has been fixed
- Combining with an Artex skim for a complete finish
How much does it cost?
As a guide, fitting new plaster coving usually costs £10 to £25 per metre, and small ceiling repairs before a skim often add £50 to £200 to the job depending on the extent of the damage. See our full cost guide.
