How to Repair a Hole in Drywall

Have you ever thrown a door open too far and had the doorknob go through the wall? Has anyone in your household lost their cool and punched a hole in the wall? Have you ever lost your hold on a piece of furniture, while moving it, and put a hole in the wall? If you covered it up with a picture or poster, because you didn’t know how to fix it, this article will show you how to repair a that hole in the drywall instead.

The following instructions will help you repair a hole in drywall from a fist, a doorknob or other similar sized hole.

Equipment Needed To Repair A Hole In Drywall:

· Piece of flexible cardboard such as the back page of a telephone book, cut into a circle about 1 inch larger than the hole
· Utility knife or single edged razor blade
· Hairpin, bobby pin, finishing nail or a toothpick
· Piece of string 6-8 inches long
· Drywall spackle (not the quick dry fluffed kind)
· Drywall spackle knife or putty knife
· Fine sandpaper or drywall sanding screen

Instructions For Repairing A Hole In Drywall:

Use the utility knife or single edged razor blade to cut away any hanging bits of drywall in the hole. Do not pull the pieces off or you may create more repair work as the paper covering on the drywall may peel away from around the hole.

Poke a small hole through the middle of the cardboard. Run the string through the hole and tie it to the hairpin, bobby pin, finishing nail or toothpick so that the string will not pull back through the hole.

Pull back the string so that the hairpin, bobby pin, finishing nail or toothpick is flush against the back side of the cardboard. Gently push the cardboard into the hole, then pull it flush against the back of the hole. Don’t let go or you may lose the whole thing down inside the wall.

Holding the string with one hand, apply enough drywall around the inside edges of the hole to keep the cardboard in place. Let this dry for a few hours, then apply a bit more drywall spackle. You want to layer the drywall spackle into the hole, while allowing each addition to dry. Trying to fill the hole all at once will result in sagging or cracking.

Once the hole is about half full and the spackle is mostly dry, cut the string so that it won’t be visible when you finish filling the hole.

Once you reach the wall level with your fill, try to apply the spackle as smoothly and as thinly as possible. You don’t want to create a large hump on the wall (sanding is not fun). Let this last coat of spackle dry completely. Then sand with fine sandpaper or a drywall sanding screen, until the area is smooth and matches the wall level.

All you need to do now is paint the repaired hole in the drywall to match the wall. No one will ever know!