Home Projects & Repair

Small nail or screw holes, and cracks up to the size of about a dime in sheetrock or plaster can be patched using lightweight spackling compound. You simply press a small amount of it into the hole, then smooth off the area by scraping over it with the flat edge of a putty knife, or anything with a flat edge.

However, if the hole is larger, such as a fist or foot hole, it will take a little bit more work.

A sheetrock saw makes this job easier. They look like keyhole saws but have a sharp point that lets you punch into the sheetrock to get the cut started. If you don’t have a sheetrock saw, a utility knife will work as well, however, it will not be quite as easy.

1. Get a piece of sheetrock [also called drywall or wallboard] a few inches bigger than the hole (scraps from construction site, maybe?). The edges of sheetrock are thinner than the main area of the sheet so, stay a few inches away from the edge. Draw a circle just larger than the hole and, cut it out. It doesn’t have to be a perfect circle. Lay this patch piece over the hole and trace the outline on the wall–that is, draw around it. Cut along this outline making a hole in the wall roughly the same size and shape as the patch.
2. Find, cut, or make a piece of wood that is narrow enough to go in the hole and about 3-4″ longer than the diameter of the hole. Thickness doesn’t matter much so long as you can get it in the hole but, thinner is usually easier to work with. A piece of 1/4″ plywood is perfect but, a wide range of things will work, including a couple of thicknesses of corrugated cardboard glued together. (If the hole is in the ceiling the backer needs to be stiffer than for a wall so don’t use the cardboard trick.) This is called the backer piece.
3. Insert the backer into the hole such that it extends on each side of the hole and attach it to the inside of the wall.
4. To hold the backer while you’re attaching it to the wall, drill a small hole in its center. Tie a string to a nail, stick or something and thread the other end through the hole. Now, after you put the backer in place, you can pull on the string to hold it in place against the inside of the wall while the glue sets or while running down the screws. Then cut the string and let the nail fall inside the wall. Another way to do this is to put a long screw where the string hole is and use the screw as a handle to hold the backer in place with your fingers or pliers. Remove the screw, of course, when your done.
5. Some common ways to attach the backer are:
   • A Hot Glue Gun
   • Caulk
   • Construction Adhesive
   • White Glue
   • Screw it in place by running screws through the wall.
6. Cold glues require you wait up to a day before finishing. The most common method is screws. If you use screws use flathead screws and tighten them so they just dimple into the sheetrock but, don’t tighten them until they cut the paper around the screw head. If you use an electric drill/driver set the screwdriver clutch to the lowest setting and work up to the right torque.
7. After the backer is in place, attach the patch to it using one of the same methods — thereby filling the hole except for the seam/edges. Now, using a putty knife press a glob of joint mud or spackling against the wall, forcing it into the seam (and the screw dimples if you used screws). Then scrape off the excess making a smooth surface. Allow this to dry, about a day if you are using mud or an hour or so if you are using spackling. Mud will shrink as it dries so you will probably have to apply a second layer. Once it has dried use a sanding block or a damp sponge to make smooth. Joint mud takes longer than spackling, but it is much more forgiving, you can use a damp sponge to remove it and do it over again if you have to.
8. If you have some PVA (polyvinyl acetate) primer handy use it, otherwise just paint.
9. If the wall is stippled (textured) you will want to match the stippling.
   For advice on this you will want to look around a little more on the internet.
10. Now you can fix that hole in your sheetrock. Look around some more to find out how to fix or repair all of the other holes you have.

A note of caution. This method works well for a repair that is in the central area of a sheet of sheetrock, such that the patch is attached to the surrounding sheetrock and not attached to studding. When the patch is attached to studding, it and the sheet it abuts can move independently, so you’re safer to tape and float the seam to resist cracking.

Another method is to do the repair much the same way but, make a square patch, then tape and float the seams.