Patching Drywall
I recently had to patch 3 holes in a ceiling,
Very often plumbers will poke around looking for a leak,
or,
Electricians will leave places in need of a “drywall patch”
There are adhesive patch systems on the market, Home Depot even has a 12″ x 12″ one….WoW!,
My holes were slighty larger, at least one side,
A couple of reviews I’ve read didn’t recommend using the adhesive mesh patch in a ceiling application due to saggaing, I would have a tendency to agree,
On a vertical wall, could be a total time saver,
I’ve only always use drywall and tape, but I’m open to any product that works effectively and saves time,
I have about 4 or 5 of them and I plan on givin them a try, I’ll let you know my opinion,
For my three ceiling holes, I purchased (3) 2’x2′ pieces of 1/2″ drywall, I love these little panels for smaller openings, they’re are easier to manage than a 4’×8′ sheet,
The first step is to lay down a good/large drop cloth,
Grab the ladder and square out your opening with your very sharp utility knife, the more square (or rectangle) you can get them, the better,
The great thing about drywall is you can cut squares and rectangles out of square, to reduce the amount of cutting you’ll do with your utility knife, with the opening,
Now, what do you connect the drywall to?
Wooden cleates, rip a couple of strips of wood an inch or two longer than your opening, place them inside your opening and drill through the ceiling drywall into your cleat, place your cut out piece into you opening and secure it to your cleat with your drywall screw,
Time to tape, I prefer adhesive drywall tape when patching ceilings, as opposed to paper tape that I have to mud up in an awkward, sort of upside down position,
After the tape, time to mud it up with your taping knife, I like to slap it on with a 4″ and work my way up to a 12 or 14 inch to feather it out,
wait 24 hrs, sand and apply more compound if necessary,
Wait again, maybe 6 hrs if additional compound was needed, sand with your orbital sander,
If texture is needed, get youself some texture in a can and practice on a scrap piece of drywall, to get the matching textue (make sure you wait long enough but not to long to knock down the texture),
After the texture drys, paint the area and you should have an unnoticeable appearance,
Take your time, practice patiece, and most of all, have a fun time doing it,
gojoehandyman.com
