Help with dry wall ceiling on old house

[Jason Holloway]

Replacing damaged ceiling drywall do you replace all drywall on ceiling or replace the small area that is damage ??

[David Lee Hall, III]

Is it drywall or plaster? If it is drywall, have a pro skim coat the whole thing and throw a skip trowel texture on there to hide any imperfections. If plaster, the keys holding it up have likely failed over time, Resurface it with 1/4” drywall overtop. You could always tear it down and redo it, but if on an upper floor could run into a mess with insulation- especially if it is blown in variety.