Fix a Hole in the Drywall

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Set up a fan to help the compound dry faster, as you’ll need to wait until it is dry to continue with the repair.

We Buy Houses | Sanger CA: The selling of a house requires that you do some repairs of obvious blemishes that might turn a prospective buyer around and send him away shaking his head. A hole in your drywall is certainly one of those repairs that will need to be made. Whether you accidentally put the edge of a chair through it when moving the furniture out or a tenant was having a bad day and took it out on your wall, you can fix it.

Move the loose material away from the area. Clear out the remaining crumbling debris and paper. Tear out any damaged drywall around the area. Brush the dust away with a soft brush and use medium sand paper to smooth it over. With a utility knife you can cut around the damaged area to make the uneven edges into a perfect square. You can then push the remaining debris from the square out of the hole gently and remove any leftover material. You should now have a symmetrical hole with smooth and even edges.

“In some cases you may need to paint the whole wall to get an even look.”

Cut a piece to fit the newly cut square hole from a fresh piece of drywall. Use a leftover piece if you have one. There’s no need to go out and buy a whole piece of sheetrock. Make the replacement piece very slightly smaller than the actual hole into which it will be inserted. Insert the patch piece into the hole and secure it with a drywall screw. Now using strips of sheetrock or drywall tape, you can tape the edges of the repair. With a putty knife, spread drywall compound in a very thin layer over the patch area and the tape, extending the compound out about 6 inches beyond the tape. Set up a fan to help the compound dry faster, as you’ll need to wait until it is dry to continue with the repair.

Once the compound is dry, sand the area smooth with medium sand paper. Brush off the debris and grit from the sanding. Paint the area of repair to match the rest of the wall. In some cases you may need to paint the whole wall to get an even look. Once the drywall has been repaired, you may not be able to tell that there was ever a hole there. As long as you get the paint matched correctly, it will look like any other spot on the wall.

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