Drywall is not an invincible substance. Over the course of time, drywall experiences natural wear and tear just like all of the other substances in your house. Drywall's wear and tear can be accelerated through things like accidents that involve wall impacts, repeated hitting of a doorknob against a particular spot or anything else you can think of that could cause impressions or wear on a wall. Repairing drywall is relatively easy to do. The whole job can be done quite easily, making drywall repair one of the easier DIY tasks inside the household.

Materials

The good thing about drywall is that the vast majority of the required tools are likely going to be tools you already own. These include:

1Level

2Nail bar

3Hacksaw

4Sander

5Drill

6Drywall saw

7Screwdriver

8Hammer

9Utility knife

In addition to that, you will want to invest in flexible spreading knives of the 3-inch, 6-inch and 8-inch varieties, as these will be your main spreading tools throughout the different drywall tasks you perform. You should also purchase an inside-corner knife as these areas of your house will wear down the natural drywall layers a lot quicker than others. In addition to the tools, you also need to make sure you invest in the actual compound for the drywall, tape of the mesh and paper varieties. You will also need both nails and screws specifically designed for drywall projects.

Small Holes

The most common small hole is doorknob damage. If this is what you are fixing, use an aluminum screen patch to cover the hole before running at least three coats of drywall over the patch.

Almost as common as doorknob damage, are outside corners that are damaged. Your first step in this case is to use your hacksaw to cut a large swath of material away from the corner, exposing the metallic bead within the wall that has been damaged. With that done, you can then take your nail bar and pry the damaged metallic section lose before using nails to attach a new one. You must make sure you sand it down beforehand if you are dealing with glossy paint on the wall. With that done, you can then apply as many coats of drywall compound to the area as you feel are necessary to complete the task.

Another common small hole that can occur in walls is the crack that runs down from a window or up from a door. These cracks just seem to get longer with time so stop it in its tracks right now by purchasing a sanding sponge and use it to smooth the crack down. Once the crack is smooth, you can apply a coat of compound to cover it, sanding the coat down and then applying one more coat for good measure. Once the second coat becomes dry, use some sort of elastic crack coating compound to finish the job off.

A similar symptom of wall cracking is when nails and screws that were already in the wall end up popping out of the wall because of shrinking wood panels. When this happens, you should use your utility knife to clear away some room from the nail or screw before using a hammer or screwdriver to push it back in. With that done, turn back to your trusty drywall compound friend and apply three coats of compound around the area of the head and you should have that problem nipped in the bud.

Water damage can be another bane to the existence of drywall, especially on the ceiling. If you come across this, you should immediately take steps to fix it. Sand away the area of the ceiling that has been affected and make it smooth before using nails to repair any water damage that has been done to the actual drywall layer above the immediate ceiling. You should also take this opportunity to paint over the affected area with some sort of stain-stealing primer to prevent the water stains from coming back. With that done, you can then take some compound diluted with water and roll it over the affected area, using a stomping brush to make its texture similar to the surrounding ceiling area.

Finally, one other small hole that is fairly common appears in inside corners that have become worn down. You can start fixing these by removing the damaged tape and applying a base layer of compound. With that done, you should then fold a good piece of drywall tape (paper) in half and then attach it to the compound while it is still wet. You should then take your inside-corner knife (refer to the materials section) and hold it at an angle of about 15 degrees to the compound layer in order to smooth everything down.

Large Holes

Large holes are a bit more complicated and the process for repairing them starts with you finding a stud near the large hole. Once you have the stud in question, draw a square around the hole, making sure that one of the lines in the square goes through the center of the stud. With that done, cut out the three non-stud sides of the square, removing debris as you go. Then, take your utility knife and carefully remove the part of the drywall over the stud, cutting out the entire square as delimited by the earlier line that you drew. To finish preparation of the hole, take a 1 x 4 pine board, apply adhesive to it and then use two C-clamps to attach the board behind the drywall. This will act as a backing for the rest of the project.

With that preparation done, cut out a repair panel to match the wall and then use drywall screws to fasten that panel to the stud on one end and the backing board on the other. Fiberglass mesh can then be applied around the seam between the panel and the original wall, before the first layer of drywall compound is applied over the whole thing. Use a hand sander to smooth the layer over, before applying additional coats as necessary to create the best repair job possible. Make sure that the only other layer you sand is the final layer of compound you apply.

Conclusion

Drywall repair is not the easiest job in the world, but if you are diligent and focused, it is relatively easier than several other Do It Yourself Projects. Just follow the above instructions and refer to other sources for assistance as needed and you'll find the job to be a lot easier than you probably expected.

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Comments (2)

• |2008-11-20 14:17:00 William  - Repair drywall dry time before painting?
  How long is best to let the repair from drywall dry before painting and does it matter at all based upon paint type?
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• |2008-11-22 16:42:05 Timothy  - What Grade Sandpaper?
  What is the best grade sandpaper to apply when going with a flat paint and do you use different grade sand paper depending the paint type? does it matter????
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