How to fix holes in drywall?

HorizonXP

I punched a wall, and need to fix it by this Thursday the latest. It's more a dent than anything, but it's about 4 inches in diameter. There's also cracks in a 1 foot diameter around the hole/dent, but they look mostly superficial.

Help?

Iroh

HorizonXP wrote: »

I punched a wall, and need to fix it by this Thursday the latest. It's more a dent than anything, but it's about 4 inches in diameter. There's also cracks in a 1 foot diameter around the hole/dent, but they look mostly superficial.

Help?

To do it right, you'd have to cut out a square around the hole, get a new piece of sheetrock and cut it to fit, then fill in the edges with drywall mud and repaint it.

saltiness

Draw a picture and tack it up over the hole.

Cycophant

If it's just a dent rather than a full-blown hole, you may be able to fill it in rather than cut out and patch the damage. It's not the best fix, but it will hold if you need it done quickly. By far though, if you've got the time and/or you'd prefer it to be a permanent fix, Iroh's suggestion is best.

Kewop Decam

There are kits for things like this in Lowes and Home Depot. It comes with like a metal sheet thing that you put over the hole and then you cover that with like plaster or something. I dunno, go to Home Depot or Lowes and ask them the best way to fix the hole.

supabeast

Clean up the edges of the hole with an x-acto knife and sand the wall down to the drywall for about six inches around the hole. Get a big drywall patch, slap it over the hole, then cover it up with drywall plaster. Work slowly, using five or six very thin layers of plaster, sand in-between each layer, wipe away the dust after sanding, and make sure to feather the plaster out into the surrounding wall. Give each layer at least a few hours to dry; a day if possible. After it looks smooth prime it with Kilz primer and then paint over it.

This next part is very important—if you buy pre-mixed plaster, you'll need to add water to get it to a thicker, workable consistency. If you don't mix water on it will flake off and fall apart before it drys. The manufacturers don't put enough water in that stuff because it keeps shipping costs down, and for some stupid reason they don't bother to put a notice about this on the package.

blincoln

Does it not work to just use plaster exclusively? I would think it would work to fill in the dent, sand it flat, then prime and paint it. But I've also never had to repair a dent that large.

ViolentChemistry

blincoln wrote: »

Does it not work to just use plaster exclusively? I would think it would work to fill in the dent, sand it flat, then prime and paint it. But I've also never had to repair a dent that large.

Maybe, but it would be a pretty shoddy fix, and likely to break more spectacularly if the same spot gets hit again.

moniker

blincoln wrote: »

Does it not work to just use plaster exclusively? I would think it would work to fill in the dent, sand it flat, then prime and paint it. But I've also never had to repair a dent that large.

That should work since it isn't an actual hole. Use mud, though, not putty/plaster. It's basically the same thing, but still.

FyreWulff

I hope to god it was a white wall for you. I'm going to assume it is.

After patching, make sure you get the right kind of paint. If the wall is kinda shiny, get Glossy paint. If it isn't shiny, get Matte paint.

Also, the new paint will stick out for a bit, so wait until it dries before you panic and have to go buy the other kind of paint.

Kewop Decam

FyreWulff wrote: »

I hope to god it was a white wall for you. I'm going to assume it is.

After patching, make sure you get the right kind of paint. If the wall is kinda shiny, get Glossy paint. If it isn't shiny, get Matte paint.

Also, the new paint will stick out for a bit, so wait until it dries before you panic and have to go buy the other kind of paint.

but then their's semi gloss which is in the middle, so you gotta think about that too.

Also you'll have to sand it down to get it all smooth

supabeast

blincoln wrote: »

Does it not work to just use plaster exclusively? I would think it would work to fill in the dent, sand it flat, then prime and paint it. But I've also never had to repair a dent that large.

It all depends on how big the dent is and how deep it goes. The problem is that if there's much paint on the wall already, whatever you use to fill in the hole may not stick to begin with, or might fall off right after it dries. If the dent is small/simple enough that you can sand down past the paint first you should be fine just filling it in with a thick plaster/mud.