A Simple Wall Hole Repair

That contemporary abstract oil painting or the art deco-styled clock you got at an auction was great for a time but now that you’ve decided to redecorate and you’re faced with a small problem. Probably the greatest annoyance of owning a home is when you have to repair small holes in a wall caused by nails, screws, etc. used to hang items. Even when you fill it with putty, painting over the hole will usually leave a visible recess over time as the filler cures and contracts. By accident one day, I found an artistic method as a finishing touch to traditional hole-filling techniques. Here is how it works. . .

First take some sandpaper and sand down the rim of the hole until it is level with the wall. This is important since some fastener devices will sometimes push up material making the rim slightly raised from the rest of the wall. Next, once thoroughly sanded flat, fill the hole with commercially available filler putty as you normally would. Follow the instructions and let dry. However, instead of painting, you will need to take a thin piece of flat tissue paper and super glue. Cut or tear a piece of the paper so that it is just slightly bigger than the patched hole. Place the paper over the patch and then dab on some super glue. Now, the next step is a little weird as since you will need to blow on the paper as if you were trying to fog a mirror with your breath. The moisture will set the glue and cause it to harden. Let the patch stand for a twenty minutes or so to fully cure and then re-apply some more glue and blow on it again. Wait another twenty minutes before moving to the next step.

If you have a textured wall, you can get a small canister of stucco from a craft supply shop and apply it over the patch. With a moist sea sponge, you can then dab the stucco so that it mimics texture of the wall. If the wall is not textured, skip the stucco step. Then, lightly paint over the patch with a feather-like brush strokes. Let the paint dry and reapply.

Remember that a good repair job means thoroughly drying the site before going to the next step, applying small layers over time to build up the area, and correcting for an recesses and bulges until the finished product is a wall that is free of blemishes and where there are no signs of there ever being a hole. As with any artistic project, the key is to use finesse.