Smoothing over textured ceiling above a shower

bubbatj

Hoping for some advice on how to cover up a stippled ceiling in a shower room. The stippled effect is only directly above the shower for some reason. The paint was badly peeling so bit the bullet and removed nearly all the paint in this area and some other areas of the room but now i'd prefer to cover the textured effect and repaint the whole room. Its a pretty small area as its only directly above the shower with the rest of the ceiling in the room being flat. I'm wondering if I'd have to use something like pollycell smooth over or are there alternatives for such a small area. I've done my share of 'pollyfilla'ing' but never done any plastering, especially on a ceiling so don't want to make a complete hames of it. I'm planning to re-sealing around the shower etc if that makes any difference.

I've included two pictures below to give an idea of the area size and the ceiling itself. Appreciate any advice!

awec

Rip it down entirely and replace with some MR plasterboard?

bubbatj

Thanks, would ripping it down and replacing with plasterboard be a big job/ something a relative novice could do with limited tools? I was also inclined to cover it rather than remove it because I'd heard ceilings like that can contain asbestos.

ILIKEFOOD

Reviews of smooth over are not good online. It seems to be really tricky to work with. I had a similarly small area to cover and did a real nice job with No Nonsense Ready Mix Plaster from Screwfix. It's €22 for a 10kg tub. it's not really plaster, it's joint compound. Paint the area with PVA glue and let it dry overnight. Then apply a watered down PVA - milk-like to the area again and wait until its sticky to touch. The apply the ready mix plaster. I user a trowel and filling knife. I needed three coats.. I let each one dry overnight. For your final coat you can use a wet paintbrush to help smooth out any lines. These will sand down super easy. You'd then need to seal it with a mist coat and then a bathroom ceiling paint. I'm a total DIYer and this stuff was very easy to work with, no need to worry about getting you plaster mix right..

bubbatj

Thanks! That's probably something I'd be more comfortable doing myself. Do you think it be best to use the PVA on the whole ceiling (areas Im just going to paint) or just over the shower areas in the pictures?

ILIKEFOOD

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118710154#Comment_118710154

You just need to use the PVA on the area you are going to cover over with the plaster. Its to help bond the plaster to the area you want to cover. You dont need it in other areas. So just the shower area. Definitely make sure you seal the plaster well with the mist coat of paint and then a good layer of bathroom ceiling paint. For sanding it down the plaster I've used a very fine sandpaper.

ILIKEFOOD

Oh and I would add, get the plaster on the ceiling first. For your first coat dont worry about it being smooth or not. Try not to lather it on, you want it thin enough. Definitely better to work it up in layers. For you final coat again get the plaster on and spread it out first and then try and do your smooting. The plaster dries quick enough.. maybe like 30 minutues before it becomes tricky to spread about with ease. Shouldn't be a problem as you have a small enough space to work with. I found the trowel the best tool for the smooting. You want the edge of it angled when youre spreading the plaster, you dont want it flat on top. Have a look at some vids on youtube.

Deregos.

If you dampen the stippled artex and leave it for half an hour, it should just scrape-off back to the plaster board.