Swirled and stippled Artex ceilings are common across Edinburgh, from ex-council flats and 1970s bungalows to tenements that were modernised decades ago. Some of that coating contains asbestos, and you cannot tell by looking. Here is how to find out what you have, and what your sensible options are.
Often, yes. Textured coatings like Artex were commonly made with a small amount of chrysotile (white asbestos), typically around 1 to 4 per cent, to strengthen the mix. Manufacturers phased it out during the mid 1980s, but old stock carried on being used and asbestos was not fully banned until 1999.
The working rule is simple: if the coating went on before 2000, treat it as suspect until a lab says otherwise. That covers a large share of Edinburgh housing, including post-war estates, 1960s to 1980s builds around the edges of the city, and Victorian tenements where Artex was applied over the original lath and plaster.
Left intact and painted, Artex is low risk. The fibres are bound into the coating and are only released when it is sanded, scraped dry, drilled or broken up.
Testing is quick and inexpensive compared with the cost of getting it wrong. A small sample is taken and analysed by an accredited laboratory, with results usually back within a few days.
As a rough guide, a postal sample kit costs around £30 to £60 per sample, while having a local asbestos surveyor attend and take samples typically runs from £100 to £250 depending on how many rooms are involved. Test each room separately, because ceilings in the same house were often coated at different times with different products.
A positive result does not automatically mean removal. In many homes, covering the coating is safer, cheaper and less disruptive than taking it off.
Skimming is the usual choice where the texture is shallow and the ceiling is sound. A bonding coat goes on first, then two coats of finishing plaster, with no sanding of the old surface. Deep patterns or weak ceilings are better overboarded with new plasterboard and then skimmed. This is common in tenements, where old lath and plaster may not hold a heavy skim and where original cornices need working around carefully.
Removal makes sense if the ceiling is damaged, coming down anyway, or you are fitting downlights and doing rewiring that would mean cutting lots of holes.
Removing asbestos textured coating is generally classed as non-licensed work, but it still has to be done by someone with asbestos training, using controlled methods. In practice that means keeping the material wet. The coating is softened with a steamer or a gel stripper and lifted off in damp sheets, or the whole ceiling is taken down in large sections with as little breakage as possible.
The room is cleared, floors and walls are sheeted in polythene, and the operative wears disposable overalls and an FFP3 respirator. Cleaning is done with a Class H vacuum and damp wipes, never a household hoover.
The waste is double bagged, labelled and disposed of as special waste through a registered carrier, with paperwork you should be given a copy of. Do not assume an Edinburgh household recycling centre will accept it. Check with the City of Edinburgh Council before moving anything.