Drywall Repair: How to Prepare and Patch Drywall

Information technology's easier than you might retrieve to practice your own drywall repair. Nosotros'll show you how to fix drywall and other damaged walls.

Fourth dimension

A total solar day

Complexity

Beginner

Cost

Less than $20

Introduction

Fix damaged drywall with these DIY repairs you can practise. Don't melt downwards if a doorknob, misguided chair or an impromptu hockey game knocks a big hole in your drywall. With a little patience, a little joint compound and a few dabs of paint even a novice tin consummate a near invisible wall repair.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • Drywall
  • Drywall screws
  • Drywall tape
  • Joint compound

How to patch a large hole in drywall: Overview

Measure the thickness of the drywall (about probable one/ii in.), and await for a large enough scrap from a damaged piece at a home center as you see how to fix a hole in drywall, rather than purchase a full 4 10 8-ft. sheet. Cut it to size and screw information technology into place, spacing the screws every 6 in. Taping the edges of the patch drywall to make information technology invisible is the trickiest part of the how to fix drywall job. Purchase a gallon tub of drywall compound and a roll of newspaper tape. You can use mesh tape, but it isn't as stiff. If yous accept a lot of repairs, also buy a sack of twenty-minute setting compound. It hardens quickly and doesn't compress, then it's platonic for filling cracks and gaps before applying the joint tape. For smoothest results, also pick upwardly flexible 6- and 10-in. taping knives.

Apply a coat of compound and tape to each articulation. Thin the compound a bit with h2o to assist embed the tape. Smooth the tape with the half dozen-in. pocketknife, pulling out from the center toward each cease. Squeeze some, simply not all, of the compound out from under the tape so you don't create a big hump on the wall. Immediately apply a light coating to the topside of the record, tapering information technology out onto the wall.

The second and third coats are to blend and smooth the taped joints then they'll be invisible when painted. After each coat is dry, set a straightedge confronting the wall to cheque for obvious dips and bumps. Knock off bumps and ridges with your taping knife. Add more coats as needed. Then sand, prime number and paint. The post-obit will walk y'all through more important tips and steps for how to gear up a hole in the wall.

Project stride-past-pace (12)

Step ane

How to repair a big pigsty in drywall: Check for wires

how to fix drywall

Before cutting out the damaged expanse of this how to set drywall project, check the wall for obstructions. Often you'll notice a wire, pipe or duct. If and so, work carefully effectually them with a drywall or keyhole saw. Or make a shallow cutting by repeatedly scoring the line with a sharp utility knife to begin a pigsty patch. It's easier to add backer board than to endeavor to cut the drywall over studs equally you lot larn how to fix drywall. Then cut out the department with a drywall saw or utility knife.

Replacing drywall section tip:

When learning how to fix a hole in the wall, get out a few inches of drywall at corners so you won't take to spread taping compound onto adjacent walls or ceilings and repaint them besides! Endeavor to avoid common drywall installation mistakes.

Step 2

How to patch a hole: Insert backer boards

how to fix drywall

Cut the backer boards about four in. longer than the elevation of the hole. Pino or other soft wood works well. Concord them tight to the backside of the drywall when fastening them. Hold the boards advisedly and then the spiral points won't prick your fingers if they pop out the behind. The drywall screws will draw the boards in tight. Sink the screwheads slightly beneath the drywall surface.

Stride iii

Tape the joints

how to fix drywall

Lay a one/8-in.-thick bed of patch drywall compound over the joints and printing paper tape into the compound with a flexible 6-in. knife. Immediately employ a thin layer of compound on tiptop of the record. Allow to dry as you lot work your way through this how to patch drywall projection.

Stride iv

Apply a 2nd and third coat

how to fix drywall

Apply a second coat of compound, drawing it at least 6 in. beyond the edge of the first glaze to taper the edges of the repair. Let dry, then add together a third coat to shine any remaining uneven areas.

Step v

Sand the dry compound

how to fix drywall

The final steps in how to fix a hole in the wall are to sand the dry out compound lightly with 100-grit sandpaper to remove ridges and blend edges. Prime and paint.

Step half dozen

How to ready a hole in the wall: Modest Holes

Modest holes acquired by screws or hooks, wall fasteners or drywall fasteners that pop upward are elementary to repair, simply over again time consuming because you almost always have to repaint the walls. Nail pops are common and particularly irritating, because you're likely to have more than ane. But drywall screws sometimes pop up too, as a effect of damp framing that dries out and shrinks during the get-go twelvemonth or two in new structure.

The starting time step of how to patch a small hole in the wall is to drive nails back down using a nail fix. If you lot have screws, dig the drywall compound from their heads with a utility knife and plough them in tight with a screwdriver.

And so dimple the pigsty slightly concave with a hammer to indent any raised edges. But take care not to crush the drywall core. In addition, cut away any paper tears with a sharp utility knife. This is a adept technique to utilize with onetime wall fasteners too. It's usually easier to tap them into the wall slightly rather than pull them out.

Two coats of drywall compound, applied with two swipes of the knife in a "+" pattern, should make full the holes. The offset glaze will shrink a bit, leaving a slightly smaller dent to exist filled by the 2d coat. Scrape the backlog off the surrounding wall so yous don't build up a hump. Sand lightly to blend with the surrounding wall. Be certain to prime the spot. Otherwise the topcoat will absorb into the patch and make the area await unlike from the surrounding pigment. And use a roller when priming to aid enhance the surface texture to friction match the surrounding wall.

How to fix a hole in the wall fast: xx-Infinitesimal Setting Compound

Twenty-minute setting compound is a great production for filling deep holes and gaps and for your first taping coat because, unlike regular joint compound, information technology hardens chop-chop without shrinking. That ways less time spent filling. And yous can apply a second coat of chemical compound as presently equally the first hardens. You lot don't take to wait for information technology to dry out completely as you consummate a how to set drywall project.

For near uses, buy the lightweight type. Information technology comes as a pulverisation in sacks. Mix only what you can use in most 10 minutes. Information technology hardens quickly, often in your pan if you lot're as well tedious! Completely make clean your pan and pocketknife before mixing a new batch in your how to fix drywall task. Otherwise it'll harden fifty-fifty faster! To avoid clogging the sink drain, throw leftover compound into the trash.

Drive a popped nail below the surface

how to fix drywall

Bulldoze a popped smash below the surface of the drywall with a hammer and a nail set. Cut away loose articulation chemical compound and paper shreds.

Step seven

Drive in drywall screws

how to fix drywall

Drive drywall screws almost i-1/ii in. above and below the popped nail. Sink the screwhead but below the surface of the drywall.

Step 8

Fill the holes

how to fix drywall

Fill the holes with joint compound, swiping first across the holes, then down. Let dry, apply a 2d glaze, so sand, prime and paint.

Step 9

Cracked corners sheetrock repair

Every home settles unevenly as it ages. This sometimes causes inside corners to crevice or ripple. Often the crack will run from floor to ceiling. Once y'all spot this trouble, watch it for two to iii months for continued movement and prepare it after all motility stops.

The key to renewing the forcefulness of the corner is to remove all loose tape and drywall compound. If the drywall below has crumbled, cut information technology abroad with your utility knife and fill up the gap with setting chemical compound.

Retape the joint post-obit the techniques shown in below of this how to fix drywall commodity. Crease the paper tape downward the heart so it fits into the corner easily. It's difficult to spread chemical compound smoothly on ane side of the corner without marring the other side. The trick is to apply chemical compound for the second and 3rd coats only on 1 side at a time. Let the one side dry, then exercise the other side.

Finally, buy a fine-grit sanding sponge to polish the corners. It'll do a squeamish job without gouging.

Cut through the tape

how to fix drywall

Cut through the tape at the ends of the croaky expanse and piece, scrape and tear away all loose record and compound.

Step 10

Apply joint compound

how to fix drywall

Apply a 1/8-in. layer of joint compound, then fold and press newspaper tape into it. Stroke the length of the tape, squeezing compound out on both sides. Allow dry out.

Step 11

Apply second and third coats

how to fix drywall

Utilise 2nd and 3rd coats to smooth the joint, tapering the compound virtually half dozen in. out. Permit one side dry earlier applying compound to the other side.

Originally Published: February twenty, 2022