Can an amateur plaster a ceiling or best left alone?

Question

I've just bought my first house, and I'm trying to get lounge redecorated.

The ceilings have an old artex 'stipple' effect and have been scraped back in places.

Is it advisable to attempt to 'skim' the ceilings as an amateur, or is this a job for the pros only?

I've tried to read up on it, and from what I can gather I need to roughly do the following:

Remove any large peaks from the 'stippled' effect, scraper or similar?

Paint the ceiling with two coats of watered down PVA (unibond?)

Mix up multi finish plaster (pinky colour) and cover the ceiling as evenly as possible. After 1/2 hour appx, trowel over to smooth out as much as possible. The spray/brush water and go back over to 'finish' the surface smooth.

Will this be likely to end in embarrasment or should I try? Roughly what would a plasterer charge (in Surrey area) to plaster the ceiling in a 24m2 room?

Any advice most appreciated :)

Answer 1

why do you want to plaster? sure u can do it, its not rocket surgery. or brain science. worst case, you have a big mess. getting a good bond to the ceiling will be the most difficult. by the way, you can get similar effects with ordinary drywall mud if that is what you are trying to do. myself, i wouldn't bother with plaster. you want a really cool old fashioned look? get those stamped metal panels like they used to use way back when. they are making them again....you can even find them in paintable plastic..the plastic being cheaper and easier to cut and fit of course.

I can not see any advantages at all to plaster. sooner or later, even if you do a perfect job, the house will settle and it will crack and need repairs. why bother with it? too many other ways to go, some would even be cheaper. heck, the rented texture machines won't run you that much, and are a heck of a lot less work. bout as messy if not more so though.

Answer 2

I had the ceilings of 3 rooms, kitchen, dining, living and a hallway done in my house when I first bought it. we originally had drop ceilings in it. i would leave it to the expert, trying to get it smooth and even may cause you to go crazy. it cost me around $1500 to do the three rooms and hall, but keep in mind that was starting from nothing, my guy had to supply the dry wall and labor to put it up as well as the plastering. It took him 2 days to do everything. now my ceilings look great. worth every penny.