How to Fix a Hole in Drywall without a Patch? [3 EASY Ways]
Fixing a hole in the drywall is an easy do-it-yourself task that can save you a lot of labor costs. And, no matter how careful you are with your movements in the house, you’ll always find that mistakes happen. Some of which dent your drywall, leaving it in need of fixing.
Another scenario is when you find that some section of the wall is badly stained and weakened and needs reinforcement. Your only option is to cut out the weakened wall section and replace it with a stronger patch.
But what if you don’t have a patch? We’ve got you. Here we’ll go over ways to fix a hole in your drywall without a patch.
How to Fix a Small Hole with Tiny Nails or Screws?
If the hole in your drywall is less than 6″ in diameter, a cheap and easy option would be to use nails or screws to provide structural support. The idea behind using nails and screws inside the hole is that the paste has to attach itself to some stronger object inside the gap.
Here’s how you can use nails and screws to fix a hole in your drywall.
- Use a utility knife to cut out the hole into a circular shape while ensuring to trim out the edges into a concave. Make sure that the hole is slightly smaller than the diameter of the nails or screws. If it’s equal or too big, your nails and screws won’t attach firmly to the sides and may fall off.
- Prepare the area you plan to spackle using fine-grit sandpaper or a putty knife. Coarse surfaces lower the spackle’s sticking power.
- Carefully insert nails or screws into the circular hole one at a time while making sure they’re attaching firmly to the sidewall.
- Next, you’ll cut out the backing mesh and place it into the hole and over the nails or screws. You don’t need to secure the backing as its main role is to hold the spackle.
- Afterward, spackle your wall using a pre-mixed paste. You can use two spackle pastes: the pre-mixed paste and the powdered one that you’ll have to mix with water before using. For small holes, I’d recommend the lightweight pre-mixed paste over the all-purpose variant as it has vinyl binding agents suitable for small holes.
- Once the hole is filled with your spackle, hold the putty knife at a 90-degree angle and scrape away excess paste. Be cautious not to pull out any spackle from the hole.
- Use a wet cloth to wipe all excess spackle on the hole’s edges.
- Now, wait for some time for the spackling paste to dry fully before sanding the wall surface. Add more spackle, wait for it to dry, and sand again until you’re confident that the surface is smooth and flush with the surrounding wall.
- Finally, you can clean the wall, prime it, and paint it.
How to Fix a Small Hole with Just the Spackle Paste?
Fixing a hole in the wall with just the spackle paste is quite riskier and requires skill to execute perfectly. You won’t put any structural support into the hole in this method. As a result, you can only use it for holes smaller than 3″ in diameter.
Here’s how you fix a hole in your wall with just the spackle paste.
- Use a utility knife to cut out the hole into a circular shape while ensuring to trim out the edges into a concave. We need the edges to be strong enough to support the mud/spackle paste for this method.
- Prepare the area you plan to spackle using fine-grit sandpaper or a putty knife. Coarse surfaces lower the spackle’s sticking power.
- Once the hole is in good shape, your next move is to coat the edges with the mud/spackle paste. Dip the edge of the putty knife into the spackle paste, scoop a fraction of it, and apply it to the hole’s edges.
- Apply the same process all over the hole’s edges to form a bowl. This step is very important as the bowl should be just strong enough to support additional coats but not too heavy that it doesn’t attach to the wall.
- Use your putty knife to smoothen the wet spackle paste around the hole to make it easier for you when sanding. Now, you’ll wait for some minutes for the paste to dry.
- Next, you’ll add more spackle pastes until you’ve filled your hole.
- Leave it to dry, sand, prime, and paint.
How to Fix a Small Hole with a Paper Towel?
Using a paper towel isn’t as effective as a patch, but it’s still good, especially for smaller holes. If the hole in your drywall is bigger than 8″, I’d recommend using a patch or mesh, as any other method will give you mixed results. Using a paper towel works just fine if you need a quick patch.
Here’s how to use a paper towel to fix a small hole.
- Use a utility knife to cut out the hole into a circular shape while ensuring to trim out the edges into a concave shape.
- Prepare the area you plan to spackle using fine-grit sandpaper or a putty knife. Coarse surfaces lower the spackle’s sticking power.
- Next, insert the paper towel into the hole. Make sure that it’s firm and able to support the weight of the spackle.
- Add some spackle into the hole and monitor its response as some paper towels shrink when wet. After a minute, add more and more spackle until the hole is fully covered.
- Let it dry for two to twenty minutes and sand the surface.
- Then, apply more spackle to the hole and its surroundings, wait for it to dry, and sand again. Repeat the process until you’re confident that the surface is flush with the surrounding walls.
- If so, dust, prime, and paint the wall.
Wrapping It Up
Fixing holes in the drywall is an easy task that doesn’t require much experience but needs caution. How you apply the spackle paste and how you sand affect the quality of your drywall repair.
Therefore, apply the mud beyond the hole’s edges so that your repairs blend in well with the wall. Also, apply the mud in a “+” manner whereby you apply a coat upwards or downwards and sideways.
For larger holes, it’s best to use a patch since fixing the hole using one of the methods we’ve gone through lowers the wall’s structural integrity, and it may collapse again. And if you can’t find a patching material, another option is to cover the hole using a mesh and then apply the mud.
Sources
How To Fix a Hole in a Drywall Without a Patch: Four Methods