Patching and Plastering - Ceiling drywall needs repair at corner

Any help/suggestions on repairing a 3-way corner in my ceiling would be greatly appreciated. There was a water leak from the roof over this part of the kitchen and it looks like significant damage to the drywall with some mold forming. I am taking care of the water issue today but will need to repair the drywall soon as well. Pictures are at the site below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/PatnReb/Kitchen

Thanks for helping,

Pat Russell

Probably the most important thing you need to know is COVER,COVER,COVER.
When you take down the ceiling insulation and dirt are going to go everywhere. maybe they are still damp which will help a little. If possible seal up the effected room to keep the dust contained.

Then make a hole with a hammer and pull down what comes easily. After that cut it nice and square. Make the repair go over to a joist on the ceiling and a stud on the walls. Don't be timid. It isn't actually much harder to patch a hole four feet square than one two feet square. Once you have cut out the damage to the edges of studs or joists you will need to put nailers beside the studs and joists to screw new drywall to. These can be 1 X 4's or ir you really ant a big target to screw the drywall to: 2 X 4's. Screw the edges of the existing drywall to their respective studs and joists and then cut a new piece to fit the hole neatly and screw that in. I like to put a piece of plywood about 5 or 6" wide between the joists and studs and screw it such that half is screwed to the old drywall and half is exposed to screw the new drywall to. That way you have the whole new piece screwed to the existing. Put the ceiling up first then the sides. The side pieces will push up tightly onto the ceiling and help hold it up. Then tape and finish. There are plenty of posts about how to do that. At some point you will want to insulate. You can use batts before you put up the new panel or wait and blow some in later.

Thanks for the reply!

Just one question...

I can't quite picture what you are doing with the plywood. If I cut over to a joist/stud how do I secure it to the old drywall?

Thanks again...

Pat Russell

The plywood will go between the joist or stud to join together the edges that don't fall on the stud or joist. I like to do it that way.

It doesn't have to be plywood, I usually use a piece of scrap whatever wood. The main thing is to have something to attach both to the old rock and the new peice to make a nice solid repair - it will prevent a sag or a weak spot between joists/studs.