How to Repair a Hole in Sheetrock

With these quick repair steps, you can patch a hole in a sheetrock wall in no time. And you won't have to call a professional

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Screwdriver
• Drywall screws
• Scrapboard
• Piece of sheetrock
• Mud (drywall compound)
• Hairdryer or heatgun (optional)
• Self-adhesive fiberglass tape
• Paint
• Sandpaper

1. Clean the hole. Feel around the backside of the sheetrock to see if it is cracked. Cut out the entire damaged area, saving a portion of the painted wall to use as a swatch if you don't have any matching paint.

2. Screw a piece of scrap as a backer board in place. This board will act as support under the new patch of sheetrock from the backside of the wall where the hole was.

3. Apply self-adhesive fiberglass tape around the edges of your replacement piece to secure it into place. This new method is used in place of the traditional 'tape and bed' method, and saves a couple of steps.

4. Apply the mud (drywall compound). It can be purchased in a small pail at the local hardware store. Use about a 6-inch drywall or putty knife to apply an even coat over the patch and fiberglass tape. Make sure to extend the mud about 6 inches past the edge of the tape for extra security and smoothness. Apply it as evenly as possible.

5. Wait for the mud to dry. You can wait for it to dry on its own, which can take up to 12 hours, or you can speed the process up. By using a hair drier, or heat gun it can dry in as quick as 30 minutes.

6. Use a piece of sandpaper on a sanding block or sheetrock sandpaper to sand the surface smooth. It may be necessary to apply a second coat of mud if some spots are too thin. If so, repeat Step 6.

7. Paint the wall. If you don't have matching paint, take the damaged piece of wall you cut out to the paint store and they can match it. The damage should not be visible after the paint has dried. If you can still see lines, repeat Step 5.

[TGoode]

on 4/19/2008 I would still attach the replacement piece to the scrap backer board with sheetrock screws before taping and mudding. Also if wall is textured you will have to roughly sand texture off the area where the mudding will extend to get a good smooth matching patch. An alternative to sandpaper in some areas is to use a damp rag(wring almost dry) to smooth the dried compound. This is particularly handy in feathering places where the mudding is lapping over or is very near textured areas. If it is a simple spatter pattern texture(like "orange peel"), the existing texture can be matched approximately using a a spray can of texture available from building supply stores. These cans have different size spray "straws" to adjust the texture. Matching is tricky though, practice with the spray can on a large piece of cardboard before tackling the wall. Also use drop cloths because there are inva