Repair that Hole in the Wall

Every once in awhile, homes get a hole in the wall. Door knobs are great at breaking a hole in drywall. Children are good at putting an unwanted hole in a wall. Regardless, of how it gets done, the hole has to be repaired. This article will give you a step by step procedure to repairing that hole.

1. Gather your materials and tools. You will need 3/4 inch plywood, drywall screws, power screwdriver, saw, tape, spackling paste(drywall compound), paint, brush, tape measure, spackling knife and floor tarp.
2. Cover your floor with the tarp in the work area.
3. Check the hole area for electric and phone wires, screws, nails, metal and wooden studs. You don't want to cut these.
4. Cut and square off your hole. Keep it as small as possible. However, you want as smooth a cut as possible.
5. Use your tape measure and mark off the piece of plywood you need, for your patch. Cut a piece of 3/4 inch thick plywood. It should be about 1/4 inch smaller in width and 6 inches longer in height. Next, find the center of this piece of wood and place a drywall screw in it. This will be a finger holder. It should be in a short way only.
6. Place this board through the hole. Twist it so that the 6 inches can be secured with other drywall screws. Depending on your hole, you will need at least 4 drywall screws to secure the plywood behind the hole. You will place these through the existing drywall and the new plywood.
7. Remove the center screw (finger hold).
8. Use your tape measure again and cut your drywall patch so that it is just 1/8 inch shorter all the way around. Smooth the edges as best you can.
9. Put your patch in place and use two drywall screws and attach it to the plywood behind.
10. Put in some spackling (drywall compound) into the cracks an the drywall screw heads. Smooth everything out. Let it dry.
11. Paint over the repaired area with matching paint.

Repairing a hole in a drywall wall can easily be done, with a little patience.