How to Drywall Repair a Hole From Door Handle

So your teenager keeps crashing through the door, banging it against the wall behind, making a dent or a hole. There are both ways to prevent this (without making your teenager leave home) and easy ways to repair the drywall damage.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Metal mesh drywall repair screen
• Joint compound
• Sandpaper or sanding block
• Paint and painting tools

1. The easy way to prevent this from happening is to install a door stop. One type of door stop screws into the baseboard behind the door and it is very easy to install. The other type mounts on the door hinge. To install this type, the door needs to be taken off the hinges.

2. If there is a dent or hole from the door handle hitting the wall, the no-mess, easy way to fix it is with a door knob guard. These are small paintable plastic guards that are mounted on the wall where the knob hits. Generally they are affixed with 2-sided tape and take about 30 seconds to mount.

3. If there is a fairly shallow dent instead of a hole, you should be able to spackle it. When the spackle is dry, sand it flush. A sanding pad works better than sandpaper.

4. If the dent is large or there's a hole right through the sheet rock, the easiest way to repair it is with a metal repair screen. This is a flat piece of mesh available at most paint and hardware stores. It's sticky on one side, you just stick it over the damage and then apply joint compound.

5. Apply joint compound over the screen. It will probably take 2 coats. Make sure you extend the joint compound well past the repair itself so it will be easier to "feather in" and sand smooth.

[scottb992000]

on 3/24/2008 This seems to be a common occurrence at our house with 2 teenage boys. I think getting rid of them sounds ok...LOL. Just kidding. That door guard idea is great.

[grouch]

on 1/4/2008 Door knob guards have saved many a wall at my house.