Patching drywall is easier than it appears.
When making a drywall repair, matching the texture of the surrounding wall can be difficult. Some professional contractors elect to retexture the entire wall rather than attempt to cover the new patch with texture and make it blend with the old texture. With the proper tools, however, an acceptable repair can be made that isn't very noticeable in most settings. The key to making a good looking patch is working carefully and using the correct tools. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Cut away the drywall around the damaged area of the drywall. Measure the thickness of the old drywall so you can match the original wall. Measure and cut a square piece of drywall to use to make the repair marking the edges with the T-Square or chalk line depending on the size of the patch. Draw around the edges of new patch on the old drywall. Cut the old drywall away along the marks with the drywall saw. Smooth the edges with the rasp.
2. Cut 3-inch wide wood strips and attach inside the repair hole overlapping the edges. Screw through the drywall into the strips to hold them in place to make an edge for the patch to rest against.
3. Apply drywall compound around the patch, apply drywall mesh tape and cover with another layer of drywall compound and smooth flat.
4. Prepare powdered drywall joint compound to a consistency a little thicker than sour cream. Spray the patch and wall area around it with the water spray bottle.
5. Blot the drywall compound over the patch with the sponge. Smear on the compound, press against the wall gently and then roll the sponge away. Experiment with different ways of rolling and lifting, pulling, swirling and blotting to try and reproduce the original pattern on the wall. If the original texture was applied with a roller, try to find the original textured roller and roll over the wet compound.
6. If your first attempts to match the texture fails, just dab at it with the wet sponge and rub the first texture off. Don't scrub the paper sheathing on the wallboard. Let the drywall dry out before you try another run at texturing the patch. Try different tools, trowels and applicators. Some have good success with their bare fingers, wadded up paper or rags of different textures.
7. Feather the new texture into the old by laying gradually lighter coats of drywall into the surrounding area. For some textures this may only make the repair more noticeable. Blot the compound up and wipe it away and try again.
Tags: drywall compound, drywall into, edges with, make repair, patch with, with sponge
