I need to hire someone to repair some water damage to a ceiling in one of my bedrooms. What kind of contractor am I looking for? Some of the plaster has fallen down so I would need someone to sand it all down and replaster.

Thanks for your help.

Is it 'real' plaster? A pasty substance applied over lath? Or is it just a 'faux' plaster, a thick paint applied over drywall (Sheetrock)to simulate plaster?

An experienced carpenter would be able to tell.

Also a good carpenter would want to get behind the surface to see if there is insulation damage or dryrot in the wood to which the ceiling material, whatever it is, is attached, resulting from the event that caused the water damage to the ceiling.

Ceiling work where water leaking is involved needs a smart carpenter with lots of experience to fix it properly.

Plaster requires a plasterer, dry wall requires drywallers, wood requires wooders, oops, I mean carpenters .

Plasters and drywallers usually can see if wood is damaged (rotter, cracked, molded over, warped, etc) and can tell you if you need a carpenter first.

Usually a general contractor can do just about anything - or your local jack-of-all-trades handy man who doesn't really specialize in one thing, but knows enough to make repairs.