I tried and I tried to figure out how to google this question, but just could not figure out a way to shorten it enough to get any hits OR there are no answers to my question on the internet! LOL I need to texture my ceiling. I don't think it matters but it's plaster ceiling. I patched and primed. Now I'm trying to decide how I want to texture, but my question is do I have to texture the whole ceiling at one time? Or if I pick the right kind of texture can I just do a section at a time? I guess I'm afraid that wet "mud" won't stick well to the dried mud or will crack at those areas if I don't do the whole ceiling at the same time. If I'm correct, what if I prime where the edge of the dried mud is before I started new mud? Would it stick well enough then? Just a thought. I just need to plan how much time I'll have to dedicate. Plus, that's a LOT of pain in the neck ceiling work! LOL Thank you in advance for your answers.

Hi All, I'm very new this forum and a relatively new DIY though I've done minor home repairs since HS. (had a deadbeat dad, so gotta learn everything by myself). So pardon my ignorance. At our house, we got these weird markings on the wall that shown through the matte paint. I can't imagine what it is but probably water that's seeped from the exterior brick wall. It's been a couple years and the markings have not increased in size, changed shaped or color. So I guess whatever has been causing it has stopped for that length of time. I'm pretty sure this is not mold/mildew as we live on the second floor and there's been no flood. One of these markings on wall is by an electric outlet. I took out the outlet plate/cover to check the exposed drywall, and it seems to be in good shape without any obvious discoloration or brittleness. I took the outlet out itself. The outlet and the wires look fine to me. So I presume the other parts of the wall where I cannot see the cross-section is possibly of the same condition. I know ideally I should to take apart the wall find out what the hell is going behind it. It's happend to my neighbors and they have taken their wall apart, but could not find any source of leak from the interior or exterior of the building. I rather not go through the headache of doing so and end up not finding out the cause. I probably will in the future when I finish school and get enough money saved. My question is: Can I paint over this so that I dont' have to keep staring at this? It's quite an eye sore. I really don't want to cut out or take apart the wall (not sure how I would go about doing this anyhow). Would appreciate any expert opinion on this.