Drywall Repair and Patching Holes in Drywall is Easy

Over the years I’ve learned that drywall repair and patching  holes in drywall is relatively easy and during those years I have learned several ways to patch them. All of them will work however there is one way that I want to show you that is the quickest and easiest. If the hole is small enough you can easily  put some mesh tape over the hole and fill it. I will explain taping in another post. If the hole is too large to fill with tape and compound, you have several options. One, is to cut out the drywall from stud to stud  and screw a new piece of drywall on. Another way is to cut the hole big enough to slide a piece of wood behind the hole and screw it in. Then cut a piece of drywall to fit the hole and screw that on to the piece of backing, then tape. The easiest way to fill a smaller hole without using wood for backing or cutting the hole from stud to stud is with a piece of drywall and taping compound. If the hole happens to be round, make the hole square like the photo below. This hole is from an abandoned cable outlet.

Measure the hole. Say the opening is 2″ wide by 4″ tall. You will need a piece of drywall 4″ wide and 6″ tall. After you cut a piece 4″x 6″ flip the piece of drywall over and on the back side mark a 1″ line in from all 4 sides.

Score the drywall from the back on your 1″ marks. Snap the drywall. Instead of cutting the drywall after you snap it pull the piece apart. Do this all the way around. You should have a 1″ face paper all the way around.

Now take and spread some mud on the cut edges of the drywall. Doing this will bond the patch to the drywall, making it a stronger patch.

Also spread some taping compound around the hole in the wall you want to patch.

Then stick the patch into the hole and spread the compound out with a taping knife.

Don”t push to hard on the patch you don”t want to pull the paper from the repair piece. If the face paper starts to pull away from the patch, you will have to start over. Gently smooth out the patch and squeeze out excess mud.

After smoothing out the patch, apply the first top coat of mud.

After the first coat  has had a chance to dry you can then finish taping.