Does Artex Contain Asbestos? How to Check and What to Do

Does Artex contain asbestos?

Some does. Artex is a brand of textured decorative coating. For a long stretch of the twentieth century, its formula included a small amount of white asbestos. It made the coating easier to work and helped it set.

The name stuck so well that people now use it for any textured ceiling. That includes ones made by other firms, and ones put up long after the asbestos came out.

So there's no simple yes or no. Two ceilings that look the same, on the same street, can differ: one has asbestos in it and one doesn't. The pattern tells you nothing. Swirls, stipples, fans and combed lines were all made both ways.

When did Artex stop containing asbestos?

The maker stopped adding asbestos to its coatings in 1984. Not long after, using asbestos in decorative coatings was banned outright.

That sounds like a clean cut-off, but it isn't. Tubs of the old mix stayed on shelves, in vans and in lock-ups for years. Decorators kept using them until they ran out.

So a ceiling done in, say, 1991 could still have the older material on it. That's why the rule to work to is about the building, not the product. HSE guidance is that any building built or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos.

• Before the mid-1980s: reasonably likely to contain asbestos. Test before disturbing it.
• Mid-1980s to 2000: less likely, but old stock was still in use. Test before disturbing it.
• 2000 onwards: should contain no asbestos. If you're unsure when it went on, treat it as older.

Most people don't know when their ceiling was last done. If you don't, assume the older case. A test costs far less than dealing with a ceiling you've already broken up.

How do you check yours?

A small sample goes to a UKAS-accredited lab. The lab looks at the fibres under a microscope and tells you what's in it. That's the whole answer, and there's no reliable shortcut to it.

Home test kits exist. But the hard and risky part isn't the lab test. It's taking the sample without releasing fibres in your own home.

Taking a sample disturbs the material, so it's worth having someone trained do it. A sample is small: a few square centimetres, damped down, cut rather than scraped, and sealed in a bag on the spot.

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Is it dangerous if you leave it alone?

An intact textured coating in good condition is low risk. Any asbestos in it is bonded into the plaster-like material, not loose. A sound ceiling isn't shedding fibres into the room. Many UK homes have lived with one for decades without trouble.

The risk comes from what people do to it. Sanding it flat, scraping it off dry, drilling into it without precautions, or pulling a ceiling down all turn a stable material into dust in the air. That's the difference that matters, and it's in your control.

• Low risk: leaving it alone, painting an intact surface with a roller, normal daily life in the room.
• Higher risk: sanding, dry scraping, wire-brushing, breaking it up, or removing the ceiling it's on.
• Worth checking first: drilling for a light fitting, a curtain rail or a smoke alarm.

What if you have already sanded or scraped it?

This is how most people arrive at this question, usually part-way through a job. Here's the plain answer.

Stop work now. Leave the room and close the door behind you. Don't vacuum and don't sweep. A household vacuum cleaner doesn't hold asbestos fibres and blows them back into the air, and sweeping does the same.

Leave the dust where it is until you know what it is.

• Keep people and pets out of the room and keep the door shut.
• Leave anything you were wearing in the room, rather than walking it through the house.
• Get the material tested before deciding how to clean up.
• If it does contain asbestos, the clean-up needs doing properly, not by you.

On the health question: the serious asbestos illnesses are linked to heavy, repeated exposure over years, usually at work. A single short exposure at home carries a low risk.

It's still worth telling your GP so it's on your record. And it's a good reason to find out what the material is before going any further.

Do you need a licensed contractor?

Usually not, and a lot of published advice gets this wrong. HSE classes work on textured decorative coatings as non-licensed work. The asbestos is bonded into the material, and the risk is low when it's handled properly.

That includes removing the coating, as long as it can be done without the material breaking down. It also includes drilling it to fix something to the ceiling.

For every material in a home, see do you need a licensed asbestos contractor?

Non-licensed doesn't mean unregulated, and it doesn't mean anyone can do it. Asbestos law still applies. Whoever does the work must be trained to recognise asbestos and work with it safely, use the right controls, and get rid of the waste correctly.

In practice, an Artex ceiling is usually a cheaper, less disruptive job than people expect. It doesn't need the sealed enclosure and four-stage clearance that licensed work does.

Remove it, cover it, or leave it

Once you know what's in it, you have three honest options, and no single right answer. It depends on the ceiling's condition, how you want the room to look, and whether you might alter it again.

Why covering is often the sensible answer

• Nothing is broken up, so nothing gets into the air.
• No asbestos waste to move or get rid of.
• Usually quicker and cheaper than taking it off.
• The material is still there, so it has to be managed if the ceiling is altered later.
• It lowers the ceiling slightly, which matters in a room that's already low.

Our guide on encapsulation versus removal goes through the same choice for other asbestos materials.

What it costs

A lab test on a single sample is a modest fixed fee. It's almost always worth paying before anything else is decided. It costs a fraction of removing a ceiling, and it's the only thing that tells you whether you need to.

Beyond the test, the cost depends far more on the material, the size of the ceiling and access than on where you live. Covering a ceiling is generally cheaper than removing one.

Our UK asbestos removal cost guide sets out current price bands by job type. You can get a free quote for a test or for the ceiling itself, with no obligation.

Getting rid of the waste

If the coating comes off and it does contain asbestos, the debris is asbestos waste. It can't go in a household bin or a general skip. It has to be double-wrapped, sealed, labelled and taken to a site permitted to accept it.

If you'd rather take it yourself, council rules vary a lot. Some take small amounts of bonded asbestos at a recycling centre, often by appointment and with a limit. Some run a paid collection. Some won't take it at all. We've gathered the published rules for 189 UK councils: check what your council does about asbestos disposal.

Council schemes are for small amounts that have already been taken down and wrapped. For anything more, or anything still in place, we arrange the whole job.

One rule applies everywhere: asbestos removed by a contractor is business waste. It can't go through a household route, whatever your council lets residents do.