Drywall Repair: How to Fix and Patch Drywall

Information technology's easier than you might think to exercise your ain drywall repair. We'll show you lot how to fix drywall and other damaged walls.

Time

A full day

Complication

Beginner

Cost

Less than $twenty

Introduction

Fix damaged drywall with these DIY repairs y'all can exercise. Don't cook down if a doorknob, misguided chair or an impromptu hockey game knocks a big hole in your drywall. With a niggling patience, a piffling joint compound and a few dabs of paint even a novice can complete a well-nigh invisible wall repair.

Tools Required

Materials Required

  • Drywall
  • Drywall screws
  • Drywall tape
  • Joint chemical compound

How to patch a large hole in drywall: Overview

Measure the thickness of the drywall (most probable one/2 in.), and look for a large enough chip from a damaged piece at a home center as you run across how to ready a hole in drywall, rather than purchase a full 4 ten 8-ft. sail. Cut it to size and screw it into identify, spacing the screws every 6 in. Taping the edges of the patch drywall to make it invisible is the trickiest function of the how to fix drywall job. Buy a gallon tub of drywall compound and a scroll of paper tape. You lot can use mesh tape, only it isn't as strong. If you take a lot of repairs, also buy a sack of xx-minute setting compound. It hardens quickly and doesn't compress, so it's ideal for filling cracks and gaps earlier applying the articulation tape. For smoothest results, also pick up flexible 6- and 10-in. taping knives.

Apply a coat of compound and tape to each joint. Thin the compound a chip with water to help embed the record. Smooth the tape with the half-dozen-in. pocketknife, pulling out from the center toward each end. Squeeze some, just not all, of the compound out from under the tape so yous don't create a large hump on the wall. Immediately apply a light coating to the topside of the tape, tapering it out onto the wall.

The 2d and third coats are to blend and smooth the taped joints so they'll exist invisible when painted. After each coat is dry, gear up a straightedge against the wall to cheque for obvious dips and bumps. Knock off bumps and ridges with your taping knife. Add more than coats as needed. And then sand, prime number and paint. The following will walk you through more than important tips and steps for how to fix a pigsty in the wall.

Projection step-by-step (12)

Step one

How to repair a large hole in drywall: Check for wires

how to fix drywall

Before cutting out the damaged area of this how to fix drywall projection, check the wall for obstructions. Oftentimes you lot'll find a wire, pipe or duct. If then, work carefully around them with a drywall or keyhole saw. Or make a shallow cutting past repeatedly scoring the line with a sharp utility pocketknife to begin a hole patch. It'due south easier to add capitalist board than to endeavor to cut the drywall over studs every bit you learn how to prepare drywall. Then cut out the section with a drywall saw or utility pocketknife.

Replacing drywall section tip:

When learning how to set up a hole in the wall, go out a few inches of drywall at corners so yous won't take to spread taping compound onto adjacent walls or ceilings and repaint them as well! Try to avoid common drywall installation mistakes.

Pace 2

How to patch a hole: Insert backer boards

how to fix drywall

Cut the backer boards about 4 in. longer than the height of the hole. Pine or other soft woods works well. Hold them tight to the backside of the drywall when fastening them. Hold the boards carefully so the screw points won't prick your fingers if they pop out the backside. The drywall screws will draw the boards in tight. Sink the screwheads slightly beneath the drywall surface.

Stride iii

Record the joints

how to fix drywall

Lay a 1/viii-in.-thick bed of patch drywall compound over the joints and press paper tape into the compound with a flexible half-dozen-in. knife. Immediately apply a sparse layer of compound on meridian of the record. Allow to dry out as you work your way through this how to patch drywall project.

Step 4

Apply a second and third glaze

how to fix drywall

Utilise a second coat of compound, drawing it at to the lowest degree 6 in. beyond the edge of the start coat to taper the edges of the repair. Let dry out, and so add a third coat to shine whatsoever remaining uneven areas.

Step 5

Sand the dry chemical compound

how to fix drywall

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

Step vi

How to ready a hole in the wall: Small-scale Holes

Small holes caused by screws or hooks, wall fasteners or drywall fasteners that pop up are simple to repair, but over again time consuming because you most always accept to repaint the walls. Smash pops are common and particularly irritating, because y'all're likely to accept more than one. But drywall screws sometimes pop up as well, as a upshot of damp framing that dries out and shrinks during the first year or two in new construction.

The get-go step of how to patch a minor hole in the wall is to drive nails back down using a nail set. If you lot have screws, dig the drywall compound from their heads with a utility knife and plow them in tight with a screwdriver.

Then dimple the hole slightly concave with a hammer to indent any raised edges. Just take care not to crush the drywall core. In addition, cut away any paper tears with a sharp utility knife. This is a good technique to utilise with old wall fasteners likewise. It'south 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 pocketknife in a "+" pattern, should fill the holes. The kickoff coat volition compress a bit, leaving a slightly smaller paring to be filled by the 2d coat. Scrape the excess off the surrounding wall so you don't build up a hump. Sand lightly to alloy with the surrounding wall. Be certain to prime the spot. Otherwise the topcoat volition absorb into the patch and brand the area expect different from the surrounding paint. And utilize a roller when priming to help raise the surface texture to match the surrounding wall.

How to fix a pigsty in the wall fast: 20-Minute Setting Chemical compound

20-minute setting compound is a great production for filling deep holes and gaps and for your first taping coat because, unlike regular joint chemical compound, it hardens quickly without shrinking. That means less fourth dimension spent filling. And yous can apply a 2nd glaze of compound as before long equally the start hardens. You don't have to await for it to dry out completely as y'all complete a how to fix drywall project.

For nearly uses, buy the lightweight type. It comes as a pulverization in sacks. Mix just what you tin utilise in about 10 minutes. It hardens quickly, oftentimes in your pan if you're also slow! Completely clean your pan and knife before mixing a new batch in your how to set up drywall job. Otherwise it'll harden even faster! To avoid clogging the sink bleed, throw leftover chemical compound into the trash.

Bulldoze a popped blast beneath the surface

how to fix drywall

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

Step 7

Bulldoze in drywall screws

how to fix drywall

Drive drywall screws about one-1/two in. in a higher place and below the popped nail. Sink the screwhead just beneath the surface of the drywall.

Stride viii

Fill the holes

how to fix drywall

Make full the holes with joint chemical compound, swiping starting time across the holes, then down. Let dry out, use a second coat, then sand, prime number and paint.

Footstep 9

Cracked corners sheetrock repair

Every home settles unevenly as information technology ages. This sometimes causes inside corners to cleft or ripple. Often the fissure will run from floor to ceiling. Once you spot this problem, watch it for two to three months for continued movement and set up it subsequently all move stops.

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

Retape the articulation following the techniques shown in below of this how to fix drywall article. Pucker the paper tape down the middle so it fits into the corner easily. Information technology's hard to spread compound smoothly on one side of the corner without marring the other side. The fob is to employ compound for the second and tertiary coats merely on 1 side at a fourth dimension. Let the 1 side dry, so do the other side.

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

Cut through the tape

how to fix drywall

Cut through the tape at the ends of the cracked area and slice, scrape and tear away all loose tape and chemical compound.

Stride ten

Employ joint compound

how to fix drywall

Employ a 1/viii-in. layer of joint compound, then fold and press paper record into it. Stroke the length of the record, squeezing compound out on both sides. Allow dry.

Step xi

Apply second and third coats

how to fix drywall

Utilize second and third coats to smooth the joint, tapering the compound about 6 in. out. Permit one side dry before applying chemical compound to the other side.