Seven easy steps to drywall repair

Copyright (c) 2008 Smoky Mountain Painting

To many people repairing a hole in drywall may seem like a difficult task, but it is really a simple task. To complete the task properly take a few hours but if you follow these seven steps you will have a flat, seamless wall.

1. Mark off the area to be patched. Use your square and mark off an area that is slightly larger than the hole you are repairing.

2. Using a drywall knife, cut around the four sides that you have already marked off, leaving you with a square hole in the wall.

3. Prepare a piece of wood to reinforce the patch. To do this, cut a thin strip of 1x2 or 1x4 slightly larger than the height of the hole. Slip the wood into the hole and position it so that the wood extends equally above and below the hole. Attach the wood using drywall screws attached through the surrounding drywall.

4. Create a drywall patch for the hole. Using a tape measure, utility knife and a square cut a piece of drywall to fit inside of the hole.

5. Secure the patch using drywall screws attached through the reinforcement board that you have already installed. Screw down the patch until it is flush with the surrounding wall.

6. Spread a thin coat of joint compound on the patch using a drywall knife. It may be necessary to apply drywall tape around the perimeter and apply another thin coat of joint compound. Let the area dry and then sand the area using a fine grit sandpaper.

7. After the joint compound is completely dry, apply another coat of joint compound using the drywall knife, blending in the repaired area with the surrounding wall. Allow to dry completely and sand again with fine grit sandpaper. Once you have completed the steps, you should have a seamless patch.

All that is left to do now is paint the repaired area and your job is complete. To do this you need to prime the newly repaired area first. You can use a latex based primer to do this such as Kilz or Zinsser. After priming the repaired area and allowing it to dry, you are ready for the finish coat. If you have touch up paint it may not match perfectly because even interior paint will fade over a period of time. If the paint does not match, you have two options. The first option is to repaint the entire room which is another project altogether or you can paint from corner to corner of the repaired wall. I would advise you to try and paint from corner to corner of the repaired wall first and if it does not match with the rest of the room you can always paint the entire room.

So the next time you have some damage to your sheetrock, if you follow these steps you should have no problem repairing it to its original state. Good luck.