How to: Fix a hole in your wall

There are some unfortunate instances in life that you have to realize and say to yourself over and over and over again....its alright, it can be fixed....it could be worse...its not that bad...etc etc etc.
Well, we had one of these instances a few weeks ago.
I'm proud to say, that I kept my cool.
Just in case you missed that
Yes, that its a gigantic hole in my wall. In my entry way wall. The wall that everyone sees when they come into my house.
Impressed that I didn't freak out?? lol, me too.

I'm not going to embarrass anyone and tell you how it got there.
Lets just say accidents happen and I still love our friends :)

And I thank goodness for my mom and teaching me how to fix holes in walls and how to mud and how things like this aren't really as big a deal as they seem while growing up, cuz goodness knows if it wasn't for that knowledge (and my husband calming me down) I would be in a loony bin right now. lol
So, now that I have a hole in my wall. How do I fix it?
Well, you can't fix a crazy jagged edge thing...well, I guess you could, but this way will be easier.
First thing was to use our dremel and cut a nice square and get that baby out of there. 
Next was to put support in the hole for when we fill it. we used a 1x4 and secured it with some finishing nails using the nail gun.

We then used the cut out piece of drywall as a stencil. Placed it onto a new piece of drywall, traced around it, and used the dremel to cut it.

Next, place it in the hole in the wall. it should be a perfect fit. If not, clean up the edges a bit.
Then use some netted tape to secure it the wall.
Now, start mudding. We mudded the square first, and then realized it looked too much like a patch job. Luckily our walls were mudded everywhere, with crazy lines and indents of mud. So much so that we thought we had plaster on the walls.
According to the guy at home depot, it just looks like a bad paint job. lol.
We don't think so, we really love the look.
And this look totally helped with this patching the hole job cuz our mudding didn't have to be perfect.
We mudded the square first, let it dry, sanded it down, and then made more stray mud marks to match the rest of the walls characteristics and sanded them down a little also.

Next, we took the cut out piece to home depot for a color match for the paint.
I gotta say, they are pretty darn good at that.
It was the perfect match.
See? Can't even tell.
I painted a square about three times the size of the original square just to make sure and tried to blend it in with the rest of the wall.

In certain lights, I can still see the imperfections, but all in all. Job done and anxiety out of my stomach! I would call it a good day.

If anything though, this also gives me a good reason to put up some board and batten here :) Now I don't have to worry about the putting holes in the wall. lol :)

Alicia

7 comments

  1. wow! so handy and helpful. you would never know the hole was there in the first place.
    -bridget
    www.delightfulbybridget.blogspot.com

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  2. Fantastic job. I just love a handy woman! :)
    Anne xx

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  3. I've fixed a few holes in the wall and I can always tell where they were because I can't seem to get it perfect!$*)(&$%@* Looks great!

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  4. any suggestions on fixn a hole in a hollow door i really dont want to replace it

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  5. This is awesome! We linked to it today on Decor Hacks. Here's the URL (it's a wordpress shortlink! sorry it looks weird): http://wp.me/p1sgY7-ib

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  6. Very awesome Job! thanks for this. I'm a female and I can definitely fix the same thing that my cousin left behind. I would find buying the bits and pieces yourself is a lot cheaper than what your landlord would charge you. I have a hollow door myself, so I will try all the necessary things to fix it. I may spend like $20 to $30 to do the job when landlord charges $100-$150..Phew!!

    Thanks for sharing mate!

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  7. We square the hole like you did but after that just cut a piece of drywall about 1/2 inch larger than that hole score the back and peel away the plaster that 1/2 inch leaving the paper. Wet it to adhere and place over the hole then mudd and sand as usual saves that extra step and works like a charm

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happy DIYing! Alicia