posted
Yesterday, I kicked the wall and my foot went through. Now I must fix it. Any suggestions? I know there are a few contractors here...doesn't OSC paint houses?
Posts: 1753 | Registered: Aug 2002
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How big is the hole? Is the wall sheetrock or plaster? Does the hole go all the way through, or is it mostly a big dent with a small hole in the middle? And do you have matching paint for the wall?
Posts: 7954 | Registered: Mar 2004
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I'm pretty sure with drywall you're supposed to cut a square around the hole, then fill in the square with another piece of drywall. (That's assuming you put a pretty big hole in it.)
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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1) Don't kick the wall. 2) If it's a little hole, buy a patch kit and paint that matches your wall. If you don't want to buy a kit and already have some of the following, you need:
1) Patch compound 2) Adhesive mesh or drywall tape 3) Metal spatula or spreader 4) Sandpaper
Steps: 1) To patch the hole, apply the mesh over the hole and put a very thin layer of compound over it, basically just enough to fill the holes in the mesh. You are not looking to fill the entire underlying hole with spackle. Allow this to dry. 2) Sand any exposed spackle smooth, then apply another layer. The goal here is now to conceal the lines of the mesh. Try to taper and thin out the edges a bit so that you're blending the patch into the wall. Allow to dry. 3) Sand smooth, then apply a third layer. Again, let dry. 4) Sand smooth one last time, paying special care to any obvious malformations. You want the patch to be a mostly unnoticeable raised spot that slowly eases back to the level of the wall. Once it's sanded, paint with matching paint.
If it's a textured wall, a plaster wall, or a big hole, let me know.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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It's kind of a big hole - a rectangle about five inches by three inches. Does that count as a big hole? No matching paint for the wall, sadly.
--- Hey, that WAS anger management. I also learned that the posts are solid wood but the wall is not. Good to know.
Posts: 1753 | Registered: Aug 2002
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In the future, it's safe to assume that any wall that doesn't obviously feature solid wood isn't solid wood.
If it's a house that's been built in the last 20 years it's most likely a stud wall with sheetrock hung over it. Then the sheetrock is painted or wallpapered.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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*sigh* I know that, JT. I wasn't thinking about the wall at all. The last part of my post is mostly a joke.
Posts: 1753 | Registered: Aug 2002
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I danced a pretty big hole in the wall once. We had to cut out a large rectangle of drywall, install some braces between the studs and stick in a new section of drywall. It wasn't terribly hard, but it wasn't particularly easy either.
Posts: 2596 | Registered: Jan 2006
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If you kick high you can hang a painting in front of it. If you kick low, try a bookshelf or dresser Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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Too big a hole for Tom's patch. You need to cut the hole square (with a keyhole saw) and patch it with a piece of drywall of the same thickness.
Extend the square hole to the nearest stud, exposing about an inch of the stud. Screw the patch piece into the exposed stud w/ drywall screws and use the mesh drywall tape for all the seams. Putty and sand.
quote:Originally posted by Javert Hugo: *sigh* I know that, JT. I wasn't thinking about the wall at all. The last part of my post is mostly a joke.
There're plenty of people who honestly have no idea what their walls are made of. I apologize if my assuming that you were one of them was an insult.
Posts: 5462 | Registered: Apr 2005
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Three by five is about the limit of what you can do with a basic patch. You CAN patch a hole that size, but I wouldn't advise it.
What you'll want to do:
1) Cut around the hole with a utility knife until you've got a smallish square with even, mostly smooth edges. If you can see the nearest stud, cut to the stud (as described above). Otherwise, for a hole this small, you can also do what's described below. 2) Buy a small piece of drywall, a piece of flat wood at least four inches longer than your square, and some screws IN ADDITION to everything else mentioned in the patch kit. 3) Cut the drywall to size to match the hole you cut. 4) Insert the wood inside the hole so that the edges overlap the existing drywall. Try to center it across the hole. 5) Holding the wood carefully and pulling it gently back against the drywall, use your free hand to drive a screw through the existing drywall and into one of the overlapping wood edges. Repeat. (The goal here is to wind up with a board across the gap, each of its ends screwed into the drywall from outside.) If you're really concerned, you can use locking screws or apply glue to the screws. 6) Fit the drywall square into the hole, then gently drive a screw through its center into the board, anchoring it in place. 7) Apply drywall tape along the edges of the square. 8) Apply patch compound and sand as described above. 9) Paint. If you don't have matching paint, take the biggest piece of the drywall that you've cut out of the wall to the hardware store when you buy the rest of the stuff. They'll be able to match the color for you.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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JT - I was just sad that my joke didn't look like a joke anymore.
Tom - Awesome. Thank you very much. I can do that. In fact, I can totally do that. I even have a friend who works at Home Depot, so I might have him get the stuff for me, although that might be an awkward conversation. Maybe not. Still, I wanted to paint the wall anyway. Sadly, not that wall, but as long as I'm in the paint department picking up some fire glow, I can get a little bit to match.
[ July 06, 2007, 10:48 AM: Message edited by: Javert Hugo ]
Posts: 1753 | Registered: Aug 2002
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This reminds me I need to paint over the patched areas in my bathroom. My ex was a wall-puncher; I got to patch up five or six holes after he moved out. Those are the only two I haven't painted over yet; I guess cause they're on white walls they're a little less noticeable than the ones on the gray walls.
Posts: 957 | Registered: Aug 2002
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This is only the second time in my life I've put a hole in the wall. This time the damage was worse because I was wearing shoes.
Posts: 1753 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Since I'm not a fan of having to moor drywall patches to wood and/or existing studs, I've become a fan of the complicated Hollywood Patch maneuver, or simply cutting the patch to the nearest stud for anchoring.
The hollywood patch is neat. It involves snapping the sheetrock and then peeling it in such a way that you have overlapping paper skin, in a way that's hard to describe non-visually. Then you can just gunk the whole thing in with mud.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by vonk: I danced a pretty big hole in the wall once. We had to cut out a large rectangle of drywall, install some braces between the studs and stick in a new section of drywall. It wasn't terribly hard, but it wasn't particularly easy either.
That's a story worth telling.
Posts: 1766 | Registered: Feb 2006
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