Textured ceilings. Some people love them; other people hate them. Personally, I dislike them intensely. I don't think they look very good, they gather dust, and in humid environments such as bathrooms and kitchens, they are an excellent breeding ground for bacteria and fungal growths. My house was built in 1882, during the Victorian period. One of the previous owners of the property decided to texture many of the ceilings using modern materials and modern designs. They look completely out of place amongst the Victorian detail of the house.

Many people used the texture materials to cover cracked and damaged ceilings, without having to take any care about getting a nice, smooth finish. In a property of this age, that might have been the justification for using it. However, plastering is not difficult once you know how. A smooth finish on a ceiling can be obtained with a little effort and care.

The problem that I had was how to revert my ceilings back to their original smooth finish. There are several ways to get rid of textured ceilings. Some are more difficult than others. Each comes with their own problems and benefits which are outlined below.

Sanding

Note: If you are going to sand any kind of material, you should take care to wear the appropriate protection. Use the correct type of dust mask for the material you are sanding, and wear goggles to prevent the dust going in your eyes, where it may cause irritation. If you are sanding indoors, open a window to let the dust escape.

Sanding was my first approach to removing the texture material. I tried sanding manually with a coarse grit paper on a sanding block. That was proving to take a very long time, and it produces a lot of dust. That texture material is tough stuff. Next, I turned to a power sander, to which I attached a vacuum cleaner to minimise the amount of dust that entered the air. Despite the vacuum cleaner, the room was soon filled with a dense dust, which seemed to get everywhere.

That was obviously not the solution. After cleaning up, I investigated the next possibility.

Steam

I was advised by a colleague at work that you could remove texture material using steam. There are anumber of steam cleaners on the market, and many of them have attachments designed to assist in stripping wallpaper. This, I was told, was the solution to my problems.

I already had a steam cleaner, complete with paper-stripping attachment, so I filled it up, switched on and waited for the steam to build up. I applied the stripping attachment to the textured ceiling for about 20 seconds and tentatively dug at the steamed material with a scraper.

Amazingly, the steam had softened the material into a putty-like substance and I was able to scrape large lumps of it off. Further applications of the steamer and some more scraping and I had removed a large section of the texture material.

It's hard work, but a lot easier than sanding. Unfortunately, as hot air rises, it's generally warmer near the ceiling than it is lower down in the room, and with all the steam being produced, it became like a sauna up there.

If you decide to use this method, beware: The softened texture material, once heated by the steam, stays hot for quite some time, and as you are scraping it off the ceiling, naturally it falls down. If you have any bare skin (hands, arms, face) under it when it falls, you will soon realise how dangerous this process can be. Hot, softened texture material is very sticky, and it seems to stick particularly well to skin. Once you've made that mistake once, you won't make it again! Wear something with long sleeves, and wear gloves. Even with this protection, you are well advised to not stand directly under the part of the ceiling you are stripping.

Removing the texture material this way is not always very easy, and you might end up having to re-plaster over it using a skim-coat.

Skim Coat

A final alternative method of removing textured ceilings is to cover them up with plaster, or preferably, a material specifically designed for the purpose. Ironically, in the UK, the material sold to smooth over textured ceilings (Smooth-It) is made by the same company who made the texture material (Artex) in the first place!

Smooth-It is a plaster-like material designed for plastering over textured ceilings. It has a very good adhesion, even on painted surfaces.

First of all, prepare your ceiling. If the texture is quite deep, with many ridges and peaks, you can make the job easier by removing as many as you can. Knock off any particularly large peaks with the edge of a plastering trowel or something similar. Not only will this make it easier to apply the new coating, it will mean you don't need to apply it so thickly, thus saving money.

You can buy the skim-coat material ready mixed or in sacks of powder. My recommendation is to buy the powder and mix it yourself. It works out a lot cheaper. With the ready-mixed material, you're effectively buying water mixed into the powder, which increases the bulk and transportation costs, which is why it's more expensive.

You should remove any dust from the ceiling using a brush, and wash the ceiling with a sugar-soap solution. Always work on a clean surface, whatever the job.

Mix the material according to the instructions. After mixing to the right consistency, wait for about 2 minutes and mix again. Then it is ready to use.

Apply the material to the ceiling using a plasterer's trowel. Press the material firmly into the textured ceiling as you draw the trowel over the surface. Try to produce a relatively smooth surface, but don't worry about getting it absolutely flat because it is going to need at least 2 coats to complete the job. Basically, in this first coat, we're trying to bring the level of the ceiling back to around the depth of the highest peaks in the texture. As you apply the skim-coat, the trowel will judder over the texture. It's not a pleasant sensation, but you get used to it.

Don't over-trowel the area to which you are applying the skim-coat. This may cause air-bubbles to be produced in the surface, or even drag the new coating off. Gently go back over any peaks or tram-lines you have produced with the trowel. Sometimes it is easier to wait until the plaster has started to set slightly before smoothing away any excessive lumps and bumps you might have left.

After the plaster coat has dried, mix a second bath of the skim-coat plaster. I have found that for the second coat, it is better if the plaster is slightly more runny than for the first coat. It goes on more easily, requires a thinner coat than the first, and produces a smoother finish.

Again, with the plasterer's trowel, apply the plaster to the ceiling. Start at the edge and work your way across the ceiling. This second coat goes on surprisingly easily and is much easier to get smooth. Again, don't over-trowel a particular area - you'll end up with bumps, pits and tram-lines. Just carry on and we'll come back to it later.

Having completed the second coat and got it reasonably smooth, you want to get that final finish. While the plaster is setting, but before it is completely hard, get one of those spray bottles that gardeners use to mist plants with water. Alternatively use a large paint brush to flick water at the plaster.

Gently spray the plaster with water to just moisten the surface. Don't completely wet the plaster, or it will come off. Now gently smooth away the bumps and tramlines using either the trowel if you are confident enough, or with a clean rag rolled into a pad. In some case, you don't even need to moisten the surface - those bumps and lines just rub away.

Once you're happy with the smooth surface, leave it alone. Let it dry.

When it's dry you can paint it. Job well done.