DIY: Fix the hole in your drywall

By SJW

July 4, 2006   •   Fact checked by Dumb Little Man

Holiday party get out of hand? While we are all adults (cough), accidents do happen so I spent the morning on the 4th of July patching a hole in my foyer. Before you spend anything substantial ($), try it yourself.

Here are the steps I used and it cost me all of $20.00. Note – the hole in my wall was the size of an apple.

  1. If there is any loose drywall paper, remove it but try not to take of more then necessary.
  2. Smooth out the edges of the hole and where the paper was ripped. A fine sandpaper will do fine.
  3. Use a putty knife to apply spackling compound. You want to over apply it because it shrinks as it dries. If the spackle is sticking protruding from the wall a little, it’s fine. You will sand it later on.
  4. Wait a couple of hours until dry. Dry spackle looks white, as opposed to having a brown/gray color (see image). Sand it down until it’s smooth.
  5. Apply a second coat on top of what you just did. This will reinforce the strength. With this coat, you do want it to be as smooth as possible.
  6. Wait a couple of hours. Once dry, sand it down again. The goal here is to get it as smooth as possible. When you run your hand over the area, you should not feel any grooves or bumps.
  7. Once dry, prime it and paint it. If you don’t have leftover paint from the original paint job, you will want to paint the entire wall over again because even though Home Depot uses computers to match colors, they never match exactly.

Tip: Make sure you apply the spackle a good 3-4″ around the hole. This will help blending it in while sanding.

SJW

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