Repairing Drywall Holes

How to Fix Damaged Sheetrock on Walls and Ceilings

© Kelly Smith

Nov 1, 2007

Repairing Drywall Holes

So there's a hole in the drywall. It happens. Whether the wall took a fist shot or it had a head on collision with a tricycle matters not. It's got to be fixed. Luckily, any DIY type person can tackle this job. Read on and learn all there is to know about repairing drywall holes. The process is just a bit more involved than repairing drywall seams.

DIY Trivia: Some people mix the terms but drywall is gypsum board and Sheetrock, on the other hand, is a brand of drywall. Confused? Don't be!

Tools and Materials for Fixing Drywall Damage

• Utility knife

• Drywall saw

• Tri-square or framing square

• Cordless drill with #2 screw tip

• Mesh drywall tape

• Taping knife

• Drywall (same thickness as the existing)

• Drywall compound (mud)

• Mud pan

• Sander with sanding screen or sandpaper

• Drywall screws

• Wood scrap

1. First, assemble the drywall tools. Use the square and pencil to draw a square or rectangle around the hole. The size of the drywall damage will determine whether to use the tri-square or framing square.
2. Using the drywall saw, cut out the square.
3. Sand off any texture surrounding the square.
4. Cut the scrap of wood to size; it should be four inches longer than the height of the square just cut out. Insert the scrap of wood into the hole and center it. A piece of 1” X 4” works well for this.
5. Hold the wood against the inside of the wall and secure it with three sheetrock screws at the top and three in the bottom. Be sure that the screw heads are slightly lower than the wall surface.

DIY Tip: If the wood is hard to hold, drill a hole through it, stick a piece of string through it, and tie a nail to it. Now it can be held tight to the wall by the string. When done, just push the string through the hole into the wall!

Apply the Drywall Patch

1. Cut a piece of drywall that will easily fit into the square.
2. Secure the drywall patch with screws. How many are needed depends on the size of the patch. Four drywall screws are sufficient for small repairs.
3. Apply drywall tape to all four sides of the patch. Next, taping and floating.

Drywall Finishing: Tape and Float

1. Put some drywall compound in the mud pan and use the taping knife to thin the mud just a tiny bit with water.
2. Now use the taping knife to spread mud on the tape and on the screw indentations. Use the knife to smooth it out but don't leave a thick coat. This step is just to fill the joints and secure the tape.
3. Let the mud dry.
4. Sand any ridges on the dry drywall mud.
5. Now comes the floating step. Once again, get some mud in the pan and apply it to the patch and a few inches beyond the tape. The goal here is to have the wall surface flush and even.
6. Let the mud dry and sand it lightly, feathering the outside edges to blend in with the surface.
7. Admire the patch! Is it good? Satisfactory? If not, float, dry, and sand again.
8. Match the drywall texture, paint with primer, match the paint color, and paint.

Job well done!

A Drywall Mud Pan and Taping Knife

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