Hi, Everyone; I am in the process of remodeling an inherited house to rent out. I am using a process of doing some of the work myself, and contracting the stuff I feel is beyond my ability. Here is my current portion of the project: The Ceiling in the living/dining room. The ceiling in this room was covered with the ubiquitous “popcorn” coating that was common in the 70’s. It was covered with cracks and it was discolored as well. The cracks were long and wide in places. I was not quite sure what to do about this. I did not like the “popcorn” (it might have been better with butter and salt), and when I have looked at other popcorn ceilings that had been repaired/repainted, I never saw one that looked really good….you could almost always see the lines where the cracks had been repaired. I had a local handyman who did this kind of work come over and take a look, and he poked at the ceiling and discovered that it was a false ceiling made of 12X12 tiles that were made of a thick cardboard-like substance. He suggested that we remove the false ceiling and simply repair/paint the original ceiling. He also suggested that it would be very easy to remove the old one, and it would be something that my Son and I could do in a couple of hours. It was, in fact, very easy and we pulled the old tiles down in short order. BUT…..what was underneath the tiles was a little troublesome. The entire ceiling was covered with a matrix of (I think) 2X2’s, to which the tiles had been stapled. There are a LOT of them, and they are very securely nailed to the original ceiling. Numerous nails hold each board in place. So, here’s my dilemma; Should I remove all of the 2x2’s and patch all of the hundreds of little holes left by the nails (and the big holes that might be left by removing the nails and wood) and use the original ceiling?....OR should I use the existing 2x2’s and create a new ceiling using drywall, or whatever kind of material is used for a ceiling? Your thoughts? Thanks!! Dave

We had a toilet overflow (considerably) on the 2nd floor, and the result was damage to the ceiling on the 1st floor: it's been dry 6 months now but you can see water marks outlining the drywall sheeting, and the mud is gone over the joints. The area affected covers the joints between 4 sheets, going north/south AND east/west. I have reduced the stain as much as possible, and it's time to fill in the damaged areas again on the textured ceiling. It's a stippled effect, not smooth or popcorn. So what instrument is best to reapply mud? I have been told to just use a scrunched up plastic bag (like a grocery store bag) to apply it; and I'm not real impressed with the (circular shaped) 'brush' applicators I find at the local box stores that are designed for this type of ceiling. Any suggestions on what to use, so that my work will blend with the existing ceiling? Thanks