How to Install Drywall Over a Lath and Plaster Ceiling

Set up your ladders and scaffold in one corner of the room. Hold the first drywall sheet up to the ceiling with help from an assistant.

Shoot drywall screws every 6 inches over the surface of the course to secure it, using a screw gun. You should feel the screws gripping joists at several places around the board. If it doesn't, sink screws in additional locations until it does.

Set another sheet of drywall off the end of the first one. Secure it in the same way. Repeat, hanging as many sheets in the first course as will fit.

Measure the space between the last full sheet that will fit and the end of the ceiling. Mark out the measurement on a full sheet. Hold a level on the mark, so it crosses the the 4-foot width of the sheet. Score the sheet alongside the level with a utility knife. Bend the piece back at the scored line until it snaps in two. Hang the sheet with the cut side facing the wall.

Hang the next course in the same manner, but start from the opposite end of the ceiling, with a full piece next to the cut piece at the end of the first course, so the ends of the sheets don't form four-way intersections anywhere. Repeat and continue, covering the whole ceiling.

Press self-adhesive drywall tape along the seams of the drywall sheets. Spread joint compound over the tape with a 6-inch drywall knife, so the line of compound just covers the tape. Get it smooth and flat. Let it set for six hours.

Spread a second layer of compound over the first layer, using a 10-inch drywall knife and making the seam 1 or 2 inches wider than the original seam. Let it set. Apply a third layer, making the seam slightly wider again. Let it set overnight.

Sand the seam flat with a drywall sanding pad. The ceiling is ready to be painted.