Grex Do-it-yourself Conference

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Grex Do-it-yourself Item 45: Drywall / Plasterboard
Entered by ball on Fri Apr 14 00:58:15 UTC 2006:

I find myself having to patch some holes in drywall.  Does
anyone have tips to share?

4 responses total.

#1 of 4 by rcurl on Fri Apr 14 04:38:38 2006:

I just dealt with a towel rack that got pulled out of drywall when someone 
grabbed it to keep from falling. If the hole through the drywall is not 
larger than a dime, or so, you can fill it directly. Otherwise you may 
have to replace a section of drywall - which is a much bigger job.

If there is loose paper or plaster in or around the hole cut that back 
with a box cutter or other sharp knife.

Get pre-prepared spackle and a broad enough spackle knife for the hole. 
Shove some in the hole(s) and level it off with the knife. Let dry 
overnight. Respackle if the first filling was large and the spackle sank a 
bit. You could sand it gently if there are some imperfections. Finally, 
repaint.

#2 of 4 by ball on Fri Apr 14 05:23:57 2006:

Some of the holes are small enough that I may be able to
fill them.  At least one of them is not: it's probably about
13cm or 5" across and approximately oval.

#3 of 4 by glenda on Fri Apr 14 08:14:20 2006:

There are a couple of ways to handle the big holes.  You either cut the hole
to a smooth even edged hole and cut a piece of spare drywall to fit, taping
and mudding it in the same fashion that drywall is putup in the first place.
Another is to make a plug by cutting a piece of sturdy cardboard slightly
larger than the hole.  You then gently bend it until it can go through the
hole (you need a piece of twine or wire in the cardboard) then pull it up snug
against the back of the hole and fill with mudding compound or plaster.  Let
dry, sand and fill any depressions left by the shrinking of the filling
material during drying.

#4 of 4 by rcurl on Fri Apr 14 18:05:38 2006:

Now that you mention it, that is exactly what I did with an about four 
inch hole in drywall, except that after gluing in a backing piece of 
cardboard, I glued in a piece of drywall cut to fit and spackled in any 
gaps. This used much less (expensive) spackle. 

(Truth to be told, I had cut that hole in the drywall as we had lost a 
gerbil and I thought I heard scratching from behind the drywall at one 
point, so cut the hole to fit a live trap. Never caught it, though.)

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