Posted: 2/27/2005 10:25:38 AM EDT
| I accidenty shot my dogs dummy launcher in the house and it put about a 6" hole in the wall. What's the beat way to fix a hole in the wall? |
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Hang a picture over it. Or... Buy a bucket of mud (5 gallon, not that crap in the little tub) and a roll of tape. Buy a piece of sheetrock (good luck finding part of a sheet) and a couple of trowels and a hawk. Insert some scrap wood in behind the hole and screw it tight to the existing wal. Cut a patch and screw it to the wood you installed behind the sheetrock to fill the hole. Mud, tape, mud, mud, sand, prime, paint to match. |
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Being a former college student myself, this is how you fix holes in sheet rock "guerilla style". 1. Cut out a surrounding hole to a square size (even inches helps instead of fractions of inches) 2. Get a cheap yardstick at any hardware store or lumber company, usually free. 3. Elmer's glue 4. Cut off a section of the yardstick about 1-2"s longer than your hole, do a few pieces this way if the hole is big. 5. Put Elmer's glue on the ends of the piece of yardstick, thread the stick into the hole and glue it to the BACK of the hole using a rubber band around the yardstick, then loop the rubber band across another section of yard stick NOT GLUED to the outside of the hole. Leave it for one hour or until the glue dries and the yardstick piece(s) are glued to the BACK of the sheetrock. This will give support for the next step... 6. After the stick is glued to the back of the hole, then cut a piece of sheetrock to fit snug into your now-squared hole using the yardstick that is glued to the back of the hole as a support and glue it to the face of the stick. 7. Bed and tape as normal 8. Sand and paint (I have used toothpaste as bedding and spackle before) Get your deposit back before the landlord finds out 
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The way I said is this easiest way, you can also take a short length of 2x2 put a screw into the dead center of it, then position the 2x2 with about 3 inches of the 2x2 past the hole on either side and run a screw threw the dry wall into 2x2 securing both ends of the 2x2 in this manner you will use that screw you put in the center to hold the 2x2 firmly against the sheetrock while you run the other two screws in then remove the center screw and cut a piece of drywall to fit the hole, then screw the plug to the 2x2 use mesh tape around the edges and apply mud there is also a thin piece of aluminum with a sheet of mesh glued to it that you can cut to fit, then mud over. The was I described is the best way, block off the stud bay below the hole and then take your time filling it with spray foam. It will be stronger than the rest of the wall then and not a weak patch. |
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Cut out a square two inches bigger than the largest part of the hole. Score the backside one inch in all the way around. Snap and peel off the gypsum around the outside leaving a one inch piece of the front paper. Trace the shape of the patch (minus the overhanging paper) and cut out the damaged part of the wall. Mud around the hole, and on the cut edge. Put the patch in and press the excess mud out with a taping knife. Let that dry, then just feather out the paper edge to the wall. |
you dont use Hawks and trowels for drywall unless you are doing a skip trowel texture, drywall mud is applied with knoves and pans, Hard Coat or Veneer Plaster is applied with Hawks and Trowels ala old school stuff |
That's the way we do it in the trades. As an electrician I've patched many a wall after snaking a wire to a new outlet or switch. Oh, and a couple ceiling after stepping through it from the attic. ooops |
great idea also |
This is a good way to do it we call it a blow out patch |
How does one "accidentally" do that?
Ahh I remember the days of toothpaste and TP mix. I still can't believe it 'works' so well. |
Easy to do. Simply ask at the Homeless Depot pro desk for a busted sheet. Often they'll simply GIVE you a free chunk. Edges may be rough, but that's what sharp knives are for. |
| I recently re-did my kitchen and had a variety of holes in the drywall from removing electrical outlets, holes found when the old cabinets, and holes from fishing cables. I got a nice almost 2/3 sheet of sheetrock for the asking at Home Despot. I used the cut and fit over some new back brace mentioned above on a few, also used that new sticky netting to fillin some wierd and uneven holes. If you cut and fit in carefully you can use one of the small jugs. You can get a 5 gallon bucket put what are you going to do with the 4 -5/8 gallons or more you have left over? |
-any of the above will work.|
Your hardware store will also sell metal clips. You square off the hole as described above, then insert the clips on the edges of the old sheetrock and secure them with short sheetrock screws. Insert the patch as described above, and secure it to the clips as well. break off the exposed tabs, mud, tape sand and paint. Very easy, very solid repairs. I saw those on Ask This Old House and bought a pile of them pretty much right away. Great little trick. |