We have ceilings that have designs on them. I do not know what this is called. It looks like someone used a trowel and made very nice designs. Each room is different. Our problem is that with the years, the ceilings in 2 of our rooms have developed cracks. Is there any way to repair the cracks without ruining the design? I have pictures but I can't seem to figure out how to get them in this post. The house is 30 years old. Thanks, Kathy

I'm redoing a mud room and have taken down all the walls and ceiling to the studs. I hope to get to putting up the new ceiling and walls soon and have a couple questions before tackling that job. 1. Should the ceiling go up before the walls? 2. If the ceiling does go up first do I run the sheetrock right up against the studs (or top plate), or do I leave a little gap? If the walls go up first do I run them up against the floor joists above or leave a little gap? 3. It appears the sheetrock is typically run horizontal, length is run perpendicular to the wall studs so there is a single seam roughly 4' from the floor. Is this true? 4. When I do the walls, I was told to put the top sheet up first and then the bottom. I guess that makes sense since the top seam is visible and you want that to be nice and tight and the bottom one will be covered by the baseboard. Is this the way to go? 5. I'm guessing tapered sheetrock helps reduce the bulging of the wall seam, is that correct? I was planning to use tapered sheetrock, however, what about the top sheet on the wall where it meets the ceiling? Should that be a tapered seam? 6. Should I use mesh tape or paper tape? 7. If using paper tape should that be wet before applying to a seam? 8. Where the wall meets the ceiling seems like a tricky spot. How do you get that looking nice? Should paper tape, as opposed to mesh, always be used here? Is there a special tool for spreading the joint compound at this seam? Feel free to point me to links which provides answers to these types of questions. Thanks, Nick