Ceiling is stained and sagging after a water leak
A ceiling stain that is dry and firm is a paint problem, not a structural one. Seal it with a stain-blocking primer and paint over it. If the drywall sags, feels soft under a light press, or the stain is still growing, that board is saturated and has to come out. Fix the leak above first, because a patch under a live leak fails within weeks.
Read the full guideCeiling is sagging or coming loose with no leak above it
A ceiling that sags with no leak above it has lost its grip on the framing, not its strength to water. On drywall, the screws or the seam tape have let go, and a finisher refastens the board, retapes the seam and blends the texture. On plaster and lath in a pre-1950 house, the keys that hold plaster to the lath have crumbled, and loose sections get screwed back to the joists or cut out and reboarded. Stay out from under any section that bows, cracks along a line or sounds hollow, because that is the part that comes down first.
Read the full guideDrywall is cracked with a piece missing after something hit it
Drywall that was hit is repaired, not replaced. The board is a 1/2-inch sheet screwed to studs, so a finisher cuts out the broken section, screws in a new piece, tapes it, and blends the texture and paint. Press the wall around the damage before you price anything. If the surface is firm and only the face is broken, it is a same-day patch. If the wall flexes, sounds hollow over a wide area, or the corner moves when you push it, the framing or the corner bead behind the board took the hit and that gets fixed first.
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