Drywall Repair
Drywall Repair Service
Drywall repair service is really the only choice for holes in drywall. Handyman Services gets at least 1 call a day for patching holes in drywall. What we are informing you of now is the process in getting a hole patched in your drywall. To do this you will need to understand that drywall repairs takes a process that will be outlined below.
Cutting out the bad drywall from stud to stud is the first step depending on how big the hole is. If the hole isn’t completely punched through and only indented then you can get by with a mesh patch if the hole is 6 inches or smaller. A mesh drywall patch will only work on those size holes that are 6 inches or smaller because the patch is only 8 inch square.
Now back to cutting out the broken drywall from stud to stud is necessary to prepare a patch that will be put in place of the cut out. What we do is add cleat boards to the studs and between the studs to screw the drywall patch to. This gives the patch strength from being pushed out in the future. It maybe necessary to cut out drywall over the top of another stud if the broken drywall crosses a stud.
The next step that we do is frame out the hole with wood and then attach the drywall to that wood. We do not cut halfway over the top of a stud to attach drywall. By doing this you leave the drywall edge weak to be broken in the future. After we attach the drywall patch we add joint tape over the top of where the two drywall edges meet.
Our next process is the apply joint compound over the tape and drywall edge pressing the compound between the edges of the drywall patch and drywall edge. We do not worry about perfection at this time as it is a process. Apply 1st coat and scrape off excess to a thin layer where the edges should be covered and the tape still visible. For a level 3 finish we do 3 layer coats and for a level 5 we do 5 layer coats. After each coat we go and work on other projects and return to do the next coat until we reach the level we desire.
Sometimes if the patch is small enough we can finish it in 1 day other times will require multiple trips to complete. A pro tip for a patch that is no bigger than 8 inches is the make a patch using drywall with paper edges to take the place of joint tape. To do this requires a 12×12 inch piece of drywall and marking and cutting out 2 inches around the perimeter of the drywall patch leaving just the paper backing so don’t cut all the way through it. The actual drywall that will be left is an 8×8 with a 2 inch paper joint tape around it for the joint compound to be applied to.
After all the coats have been applied and no part of the patch can be seen and there isn’t a mound of wall compound piled in the middle it is time to sand the area and get it ready to be painted. When the sanding is complete we check for physical imperfections to make sure its smooth. If all is good wipe it down with a damp cloth removing the chalky reside from sanding. If you skip this step your paint may not adhere properly and peel off later down the road. At this point we can apply the paint in two coats.
Though this was not meant to be a tutorial it was meant to give our customers understanding of the process so that they know that patch a hole in drywall isn’t just slapping mud on a wall and walking away. It requires much more attention to detail and leaving it to someone who leaves out a step will make it look bad and you won’t be happy with the results.
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