How to Do It Yourself a Quick, Easy and Cheap Fix for a Hole in a Wall

I bought a repossessed house that had been badly abused. For some inexplicable reason there were a number of holes punched in the walls. I thought up a quick and easy fix for one of the holes that was beside a light switch in one of the bedrooms. I am exceedingly pleased with the results of the repair and it was extremely easy, surprisingly fast and outrageously cheap with the total cost of the project coming in under two dollars.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• One foot square self-adhesive linoleum
• Utility knife
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Fine point marker
• Wall plate

1. 
   linoleum

   Go to the home improvement store and buy a 12 inch square piece of self-adhering linoleum and a new light switch wall plate.

2. 
   Tools

   Gather the tools needed for the job, a tape measure, a utility knife, a screwdriver, a pencil and a fine point marker.

3. Lay the linoleum on a flat surface.

4. 
   Measure

   Measure to find the center point of the linoleum. This is not too tough since it is a 12 inch square you just measure in 6 inches in about the middle to find the center point.

5. 
   Measure wall plate

   Measure to find the dimensions of the new wall plate. This one turned out to be 5 inches by 3 ½ inches.

6. 
   Two and one half inches

   Divide the long dimension of the new wall plate by two. This one was 5 inches so that gives you 2 ½ inches for this wall plate. Measure over the 2 ½ inches from each side of the center point and make a small erasable mark with your pencil.

7. 
   One and three quarters

   Divide the short dimension by two. Since this one was 3 inches that gives you 1 ¾ inches for this wall plate. Measure over the 1 ¾ inches on both sides of the center point. Make sure you are marking at a 90 degree angle from the other marks.

8. 
   Line up

   Lay the wall plate on the center of the linoleum lining it up with your marks.

9. 
   Scribe

   When you have the wall plate centered to your satisfaction, scribe the screw holes and the light switch hole with your fine point marker. This gives you the guidelines of the area to cut out of the linoleum. You will want to cut out the area of the screws and the light switch without cutting out any area that will be outside of your wall switch.

10. 
    Cut

    Place a thick piece of cardboard under the linoleum and cut out the switch and screw area with the utility knife. Be careful and only extend the blade far enough to cut though the linoleum.

11. Remove the linoleum and the wall plate from the flat surface and take it to the hole to be repaired.

12. 
    Place in position

    Place the linoleum in the approximate area where you want it to be ultimately positioned. Make sure the holes for the screws are not covered.

13. 
    loosely fasten

    Loosely fasten the wall plate to the switch. It is very important that you have enough tension on the linoleum to hold it in place but you do not tighten the wall plate down so tight that you cannot move the linoleum freely to position it.

14. 
    Wall plate to linoleum line up

    Line the pencil marks on the linoleum up with your wall plate.

15. 
    Pencil mark

    When you are satisfied with the placement of the linoleum make light erasable pencil marks on the wall at the edges of the linoleum. I found it sufficient to only mark the two upper corners of the linoleum.

16. 
    Remove wall plate and linoleum

    Remove the wall plate and the linoleum from the wall.

17. 
    Peel protective cover

    Remove the protective cover from the sticky back side of the linoleum.

18. 
    Line up pencil marks

    Position the linoleum on the wall and line it up with your pencil marks.

19. 
    Stick

    Stick The linoleum to the wall by firmly pressing on it. Make sure it doesn't move.

20. 
    Tighten

    Screw the wall plate firmly to the switch on the wall.

21. 
    Finished!

    That's it, you are finished. Stand back and admire your work.

[crashfarmer]

on 9/18/2009 Thank you so much for the comment! Praise makes me feel so wonderful! I came up with this idea as a temporary fix until I getaround to repairing it the right way but I am so pleased with the results. I have quite a bit of work to do on this place.

[ringgold]

on 9/17/2009 Interesting way to repair a hole in the wall !!! I would have never thought of this technique !!! I would have been elbow deep in sheet rock mud and mesh tape !!! 5*