Artex in Swavesey's 1960s and 1970s houses
Skimming over a textured ceiling gives a flat modern surface without taking the ceiling down. The room is sheeted, fittings come down, and the surface is prepared so the new plaster bonds. Lewis, our plasterer, or the master plasterer we work with carries out the skim, and our decorators follow on once it has dried.
On one whole-house renovation, two plasterers skimmed old Artex ceilings while our decorators stripped and prepared walls in other rooms, which kept the programme short.
Plastering in Swavesey's older cottages
Council Tax records list roughly 160 homes in the parish from before 1919. Older walls can hide lath and plaster or patched repairs that only show when paper is stripped. In a Cambridge bedroom, stripping revealed tired lath and plaster, so our plasterer skimmed it before we decorated, as the bedroom strip and skim case study shows.
Not every old wall needs skimming. Sometimes filling and lining paper are the better answer, and Graham will say which at the visit.
Swavesey at a glance
- 14 milesby road from our Landbeach base, about 20 minutesOSRM routing
- 6%were built 1945 to 1964VOA Council Tax stock
- 23%were built 1965 to 1982VOA Council Tax stock
- 14%of properties were built before 1919VOA Council Tax stock
- 1,167householdsCensus 2021
- 5%date from 1919 to 1939VOA Council Tax stock
How we approach plastering
We cover floors and furniture, take down fittings, and prepare the surface before our plasterer skims. The plaster dries fully, then we sand off nibs with Mirka dust-free sanders, apply a thinned mist coat, fill anything it reveals and finish with two full coats. Water-stained areas are sealed with Zinsser first. The full method, products and FAQs are on our plastering page.