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oh sh!t.. i got a 4 inch problem.

K

kt

Diamond Member
I was moving some furniture around in my room and accidently put a hole in the wall. The wall is made of drywall material. The diameter of the hole is about 4 inches in length. Is there a way to fix it without having to tear down the whole thing? The damage is pretty extensive, I am not sure if it's patchable. Gonna take a picture of it to let you guys see how bad the wall is.
 
Originally posted by: Gonad the Barbarian
I think they make a wire mesh that you put inside the hole, then drywall over it.
Click to expand...

exactly. We carry the stuff at kmart. Otherwise, you can goto any hardware store. The mesh creates a backing for the drywall to mold to. Just gob it on, let it dry, sand it, and if need be, reapply another layer.

-=bmacd=-

edit: is that your only four inch problem?
 
oh sh!t.. i got a 4 inch problem.
Click to expand...
yeah, talk about shrinkage man 😉



heh It should be patchable, go down to homedepot and tell the person from the right department to help you and theyll tell you everything you need to know, eather that or theyll keep pointing you to other random employes and youll never figure anything out...anyways goodluck 🙂
 
Thanks guys for the info.. gonna head on out to Home Depot to harass the employees there again. The procedure sounds easy enough for me to do it myself. I thought I may have to hire someone to do it.. I am all tapped out and can't afford something like that at the moment. Just finished renovating the whole house.
 
it won't take anymore than an hour of your time (that's even giving an idiot too much time). Most spackel (sp?) dries in under 10 minutes, so you should be set.

-=bmacd=-
 
The wire mesh will work but I like to back it up with something a little more sturdy. This is how I have fixed larger holes.

Clean the edges of the hole so the are straight and have no little cracks in them.

Find some thin wood sticks, (hint this is a good excuse to buy some popsicles) that are at least two inches longer than the hole. Put some glue on the ends of the sticks then put them into the hole so the glue will be on the inside of the wall. A good idea to hold them is to use a rubber band around them and another stick that you leave on the outside. Let the glue dry(wood glue works well) and then just cut the rubber band off.

Then use the wire mesh that the others have referenced to line the hole. One side will be sticky to hold it to the sticks.

You won't be able to patch the hole with only one application of plaster, joint compound, mud or whatever they call it there. Fill the hole even with the wall and let it dry for at least 24 hours. Use some 150 grit sandpaper with a sanding block and sand it down fairly smooth. It doesn't have to be perfect but make sure that all high spots are gone. Reapply the joint compound feathering it out a little further on the wall. Wait till dry and resand. When the area is perfectly flat and smooth, paint.
 
I found an easier way of doing the above... I would take a couple of thigs like a pen, chopstick, or stick and a peice of string (just bigger then the hole, same size as the mesh) Glue/tape them into an "x". Then you take the string and wrap it around the contraption, then take the ends of the string/twine and thread it through the mesh. Now feed the whole thing into the hole, The mesh should be a little bigger then the hole itself, but not by much. The pen/stick is now on the other side of the mesh and using the string, you can hold it in place. Then you can put putty/plaster around the edgesbut leaving about a dime size left in the middle. cut your strings and let the contraption fall into the wall (hey you won't see it, so who cares?) when the plaster is dry, go back and fill in the dime size hole, and texture it to match the rest of the wall.
 
fill hole with newspaper,first,use mesh,fiberglass screen works too!
cover with wallboard compoun,get disposable plastic spreaders, and i use a wet sponge they sell at home depot,its a Lot less messy than sandpaper!!
 
Originally posted by: etech
The wire mesh will work but I like to back it up with something a little more sturdy. This is how I have fixed larger holes.

Clean the edges of the hole so the are straight and have no little cracks in them.

Find some thin wood sticks, (hint this is a good excuse to buy some popsicles) that are at least two inches longer than the hole. Put some glue on the ends of the sticks then put them into the hole so the glue will be on the inside of the wall. A good idea to hold them is to use a rubber band around them and another stick that you leave on the outside. Let the glue dry(wood glue works well) and then just cut the rubber band off.

Then use the wire mesh that the others have referenced to line the hole. One side will be sticky to hold it to the sticks.

You won't be able to patch the hole with only one application of plaster, joint compound, mud or whatever they call it there. Fill the hole even with the wall and let it dry for at least 24 hours. Use some 150 grit sandpaper with a sanding block and sand it down fairly smooth. It doesn't have to be perfect but make sure that all high spots are gone. Reapply the joint compound feathering it out a little further on the wall. Wait till dry and resand. When the area is perfectly flat and smooth, paint.
Click to expand...

This is the best way up until the wire mesh part. The best thing to do is to cut the hole sqaure and the cut a section of drywall the same size. When you have the popsicle sticks securely in place you just put some glue on the patch of drywall and insert it into the hole. Then you just have to put on some drywall tape on the seams then joint compound. Sand, add more as needed then sand again. That should do it.
 
i kicked a hole in the ball before. it was way more then 4 inches. anyway, my dad just got some of that mesh stuff and patched it up. it kinda looks bad though, because you can clearly tell where it has been patched up. since the wall is a lot newer at the spot and the design isnt exactly matched.
 
Originally posted by: chiwawa626
oh sh!t.. i got a 4 inch problem.
Click to expand...
yeah, talk about shrinkage man 😉



heh It should be patchable, go down to homedepot and tell the person from the right department to help you and theyll tell you everything you need to know, eather that or theyll keep pointing you to other random employes and youll never figure anything out...anyways goodluck 🙂
Click to expand...

If mine was 4 inches I would be worried.
 
Originally posted by: yakko
Originally posted by: etech
The wire mesh will work but I like to back it up with something a little more sturdy. This is how I have fixed larger holes.

Clean the edges of the hole so the are straight and have no little cracks in them.

Find some thin wood sticks, (hint this is a good excuse to buy some popsicles) that are at least two inches longer than the hole. Put some glue on the ends of the sticks then put them into the hole so the glue will be on the inside of the wall. A good idea to hold them is to use a rubber band around them and another stick that you leave on the outside. Let the glue dry(wood glue works well) and then just cut the rubber band off.

Then use the wire mesh that the others have referenced to line the hole. One side will be sticky to hold it to the sticks.

You won't be able to patch the hole with only one application of plaster, joint compound, mud or whatever they call it there. Fill the hole even with the wall and let it dry for at least 24 hours. Use some 150 grit sandpaper with a sanding block and sand it down fairly smooth. It doesn't have to be perfect but make sure that all high spots are gone. Reapply the joint compound feathering it out a little further on the wall. Wait till dry and resand. When the area is perfectly flat and smooth, paint.
Click to expand...

This is the best way up until the wire mesh part. The best thing to do is to cut the hole sqaure and the cut a section of drywall the same size. When you have the popsicle sticks securely in place you just put some glue on the patch of drywall and insert it into the hole. Then you just have to put on some drywall tape on the seams then joint compound. Sand, add more as needed then sand again. That should do it.
Click to expand...
Right on yakko!

 
yakko, I would agree with using a piece of drywall for the patch if the person doing it has some experiance in patching. Im my experiance it is easier to get a flat surface just using the patching compound. A 4" hole is approaching the size that you would need the solid patch but is still small enough to just use joint compound.

I did forget to add one thing. If you use spackle or mud use a primer to paint over it first before painting. You'll have a lot better luck getting the color to match using the primer.

If there is a pattern on the wall, good luck, they can be a real pain to match. The pattern is usually made with dry wall compound. I have seen it thrown on the wall by hand and also sprayed on. They are usually brushed lightly after they have dried for awhile.

cavemanmoron
Yep, I forgot about that. Sponging the drywall is easier and less messy than sanding. I still like to sand the last coat though. I think I get a better finish that way.


amdskip
If that is all you have to add to the discussion, please don't bother.
 
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