Artex Removal Cost: UK Prices per m² and Asbestos Surveys

Artex removal cost per m²

Checkatrade’s Artex removal cost guide names five ways to deal with Artex. Steaming and chemical removal both soften the coating so it can be scraped off, one with a wallpaper steamer and the other with a gel. Boarding over tacks plasterboard to the ceiling and plasters it, plastering over (overskimming) seals the Artex and plasters straight onto it, and complete removal takes the Artex out with the plasterboard.

Checkatrade’s table, last updated in May 2024, gives these prices per m², with the boarding and plastering rows based on a ceiling of about 12m².

Way to deal with Artex	Line item	Price per m²
Steaming	Artex removal by steam	£15.45
Chemical removal	Artex removal with chemicals	£27.12
Boarding over	9.5mm plasterboard tacked to the ceiling	£16.59
Boarding over	12.5mm plasterboard tacked to the ceiling	£18.90
Boarding over	Thistle board finish plaster, 5mm in two coats, including scrimming the joints	£18.81
Plastering over	Febond Blue Grit bonding agent	£9.65
Plastering over	2mm Thistle Multi-Finish on 11mm bonding	£31.71
Complete removal	Artex taken out with the plasterboard	Not priced

Checkatrade’s guide also gives chemical removal a range of £22.60 to £32.54 per m², against the £27.12 in its table, and prices the asbestos survey and disposal separately.

Asbestos survey and disposal costs

Checkatrade’s Artex guide gives these prices for an asbestos survey and for disposing of Artex that contains asbestos. It rates online test kits as less accurate than a professional survey.

Item	Price
Asbestos survey, 1 or 2 bedroom flat	£250
Asbestos survey, 2 or 3 bedroom house	£350
Asbestos survey, 3 to 5 bedroom house	£350
Disposal of Artex containing asbestos, bagged up safely by the contractor	£300

Checkatrade says Artex containing asbestos must be disposed of as hazardous waste, so ask whether a removal quote includes disposal. Removal is usually quoted as a whole job rather than by the hour. The table states no VAT basis, so check whether each quote includes VAT.

Does Artex contain asbestos?

Artex can contain asbestos. Checkatrade’s Artex guide describes it as a textured coating combed into a repeating pattern of swirls, usually on ceilings, and says asbestos was used to strengthen it until the mid-1980s. The same guide says Artex applied before 1985 will most probably contain asbestos, and Artex added between 1985 and 2000 needs a survey to find out.

The HSE says asbestos may be part of any home built or refurbished before the year 2000, and names textured decorative coatings, commonly called Artex, among the materials that can contain it. Its page on asbestos materials describes textured coatings as hard, originally white and often painted over.

Asbestos rules for removing Artex

The health risk comes from breathing in asbestos fibres, which Checkatrade’s Artex guide says can be released as dust into the air when a material containing asbestos is disturbed. The HSE says asbestos materials in good condition and undamaged are normally best left where they are, and tells you not to try to repair or remove asbestos materials yourself if you have not had training for non-licensed asbestos work. An environmental health officer at your local authority can give advice.

The HSE says work on textured coatings is low-risk and can be carried out by non-licensed workers. Where the work is likely to break up the coating significantly, such as large-scale removal by steaming or gel, it has to be notified as non-licensed work. The HSE’s asbestos questions page also says tradespeople working in homes must take precautions so they do not put themselves or others at risk by disturbing asbestos.

Cost of boarding or plastering over Artex

Boarding over and plastering over both leave the Artex where it is. On Checkatrade’s figures, boarding over comes to £35.40 per m² with 9.5mm plasterboard and its board finish plaster, or £37.71 per m² with 12.5mm board.

Plastering straight onto the Artex is priced in Checkatrade’s table as two separate line items, £9.65 per m² for a Febond Blue Grit bonding agent and £31.71 per m² for a 2mm Thistle Multi-Finish on 11mm bonding. Checkatrade’s painting and decorating prices put a plasterer’s day rate at around £300 for larger plastering jobs.

Painting the ceiling after boarding or plastering

New plaster has to be fully dry before it is painted, and because it is porous it needs a watered-down mist coat first, or it soaks up the water in the topcoat, which can then blister and peel. Checkatrade’s guide to painting new plaster puts a typical mist coat at three parts water to one part non-vinyl paint, and says it takes up to 24 hours to dry.

A decorator can then paint the ceiling, and all ten of the Nottingham painters and decorators we compare give free quotes. Checkatrade’s painting and decorating prices put the cost of painting ceilings at £10 to £20 per m², or £15 on average, which comes to £120 to £240 for a 12m² ceiling.