When you have lived in a house for a considerable period of time and/or move into one which had been occupied previously, there are bound to be repairs to crop up at some point or another. One of the most frequent repairs that come up is filling in holes in the drywall. From nail holes, to accidental holes, any and every cavity becomes an eyesore till it hasn’t been filled in properly.
The best thing about such repairs is that they are fast and easy to do. You need not call in a professional, spending a hefty amount to bring everything back to rights. Read on to learn just how you can repair holes in drywall.
Although there are ready-made drywall patches available at any home centers or hardware stores, the better solution is to patch it with a new piece of drywall. The former uses a peel and stick method however it would not hold up well to wear and tear.
To patch with a new piece of drywall simply follow the following steps:
- Trim and clean the edges of the hole and press back any chunks of drywall hanging around the area
- Cut a piece of drywall patch – slightly larger than the hole to make it easier to attach to the drywall
- To make adhesion most effective, clean the area and make sure to remove any greasy spots. You can either use soap water to do so, but make sure that the drywall is not too wet before you start with the actual repairs or you can simply use TSP – easily available in paint stores.
- After you attach the patch to the dried area, smoothen it with a putty knife to remove air bubbles. After that using the same wide-blade putty knife, apply joint compound around the whole patch and the edges. This coat helps to even the repair area with the rest of the wall. The wider the blade, the smoother the results. Allow the area to dry, before you apply additional coats of compound and/or to sand the area down.
- Small imperfections in the drywall (especially nail holes) can simply by covered with a thin coat of joint compound. Hairline cracks too can easily be repaired by this simple step.
Once the hole has been patched it is time to color the repaired area; to do so, simply apply two coats of primer and let it dry overnight. Once the primer has fully dried, paint the patch the same shade of color and voila, your hole has been repaired.
Holes in the drywall are a regular occurrence. Due to whatever reason holes start sprouting all over the household – making for a great eyesore for the inhabitants. With these easy steps to repairing what once was a headache, you can now breathe easy – knowing your efforts have paid off. Show off your skills to those around you and never again call in a professional for this ever again!
