How to Repair Drywall Holes

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Repairing Holes in Drywall

Using Self Adhesive Fiber Tape

Medium holes are from 1/2" to 2" in diameter. Using fiber mesh tape, cover over the hole with the tape. Before you press the tape securely into place, put your thumb on the tape over the hole and depress it into the hole, then smooth the tape down around the perimeter of the hole. Put one more piece of fiber mesh tape down over the hole criss crossed over the first piece and again depress it into the hole then smooth it down firmly adhering it around the perimeter of the hole. You now have fiber tape in an "X" over your hole with it depressed into the hole. Using quick set (Easy Sand 5) compound fill the hole once and blow it dry using a hair dryer. As soon as it is set up, fill again smoothing the compound over the tape, and blow it dry. Repeat one or two more times and you are ready to sand it smooth. You can do 4 coats with a blow dryer in about 5 minutes and blowing the last coat dry and be ready for sanding.Before priming and painting be sure the patch is dry through and through.

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Quick patching is essential for the painting contractor. You cannot afford to get bogged down on repairs while the painting awaits commencement.

Drywall holes come in an assortment of shapes and sizes, and there are different methods to the repair of each.

Small holes

Small holes can be simply filled with spackle. Any hole that is less than 1/2" in diameter can be filled with one or two coats of spackle.

Medium size holes

A medium size hole can be repaired a several different ways. The first method is to apply a surface patch. This is an easy and quick way to patch a hole. Surface patches come in two varieties: Metal and vinyl. The downside of surface patching is that the wall is hollow where you patched. See Metal Drywall Patch

The next method is the splice method. in which you will square cut the drywall damage out and splice in a new piece in the cut out.

I like the splice method because you are not leaving a hollow int the drywall as you would with the surface patch method. This splicing can be done three different ways.

Cutting Back to the drywall studs.

If your repair is of a larger size, and if you don't have metal clips or a large piece of wood for a backer, the only thing you can do is to square cut the damaged area back to the drywall studs. You will screw to the studs only in this method. Remember for better holding power to caulk or use construction adhesive on the stud in conjunction

Method #1 - The Paper Face Flange Splice

With this method you will square up the hole, and then cut a piece of drywall that is two inches larger in length and width. On the back side of the drywall splice you will trace a one inch perimeter on each side. Once traced, you will have an inner square that is the size of your squared hole in the wall. Cut the back side of the splice at this inner square - but not all the way through - just up to the paper facing. Next you will "peel" off the outer sections of drywall leaving just the paper facing.

Next you will "butter" around the squared hole in the drywall with drywall compound, place the splice into the hole and smooth down onto the drywall compound. Next, apply a thin coat of drywall compound over the whole splice. Allow this to dry and apply another thin coat of compound two inches beyond the border of the last application. Allow to dry and repeat one more time. After the final coat is dry, sand smooth, prime and paint.

Method #2 - Wood Backed Support

The hole preparation for this method is the same as method #1. Instead of cutting a paper face flange you will cut the hole to size and use a wood backer to screw the splice to. The wood backer can be anything that can be screwed into. A paint mixing stick will work as will other items. The finishing is exactly the same as with method #1. This method will work on a little larger holes than method #1.

Basically you put a clip every few inches and then insert the splice and screw it to the clips. I put caulk on the clips for extra holding power. The advantage of the clips for the contractor (or homeowner) is that you can do larger size holes without the need to hunt down a large enough wood backer.

This method is suitable for larger sections of drywall replacement too. On larger sections you will use the clips in conjunction with drywall studs to secure the drywall section. Always glue to the stud as well as screw to it.

Method #2

Method #1

Method #3

Method #3 - Using Metal Clips

Instead of making a wood backer, you can use special drywall clips made to hold the splice in place. USG is one manufacturer of these drywall clips.

with drywall screws.

Typical building code construction will have the drywall studs on 16" centers on the walls and the rafters on the ceiling on 24" centers.

You can use a "stud finder" to find the stud or rafter, or use the method used by some professionals - simply knock on the wall until the hollow sound turns into a hard backed sound where the stud is located.

Cut the drywall back to expose the stud. Use a square to make a straight "box" cut out. Measure the cut out, and cut a new piece of drywall using these measurements (i.e. width X height).

Apply some construction adhesive to the studs, and insert your new piece. Screw the new piece also to the stud.

In my example above I used to "clips", one on top and one on the bottom, where there are no studs. This will keep the drywall flush with the new piece. You should use a clip every 8" on the top / bottom.