Drywall repairs are not as difficult as they look.
Drywall replaced lath-and-plaster as the most common wall covering in American homes in the early 1900s. A paper-coated gypsum product, it is fire resistant and paintable. At some point, most homeowners face one or more of the common problems that develop with drywall, including holes, water damage, cracked seams and nails that have popped out. One of the benefits of drywall is that these repairs don't require much time, effort or expense.
Holes
Drywall is brittle, and if you hit it with a sharp object, such as a chair leg or a doorknob, you can make a hole. Repair holes smaller than about 2 inches in diameter with patching compound, and cover it over with joint compound. To repair larger holes, cut out a rectangular section of drywall that extends to the studs with a drywall saw, and cut a new piece to fill the section. Screw it to the studs, and tape the seams and topcoat them with two or three coats of drywall joint compound.
Mold and Water Damage
Your first clue that you have a leak in your roof, or leaky pipes in the wall, may be soggy or moldy drywall. After you have taken care of the leak, you can repair this type of damage in much the same way as you would repair a large hole. Cut out all the moldy or water-damaged drywall with a drywall saw, and make a rectangular section that extends to the studs. Fill the section with new drywall, and tape and topcoat it with joint compound.
Cracked or Bubbled Seams
Cracks can develop in drywall tape joints when your house settles, and bubbles may develop as a result of a substandard taping job when the drywall was installed. You can repair damaged seams with a utility knife and some joint compound. Cut out all bubbles with the knife, and lay new tape on top of the damaged seam. Use fiberglass mesh tape if the seams have a chronic cracking problem. It will form a grid-like substrate to hold the joint compound more firmly. Lay each topcoat with a successively wider drywall blade for best seam hiding.
Lifting Corner Bead or Nails
When drywall nails pop out, they create unsightly blemishes on the wall. The effect is worsened if the nails are holding metal corner bead, and the corner bead begins to lift. The best repair strategy is to pull out the nails, rather than pounding them back, and replace them with drywall screws. Sink the screw heads just past the surface of the drywall, drawing the lifted edges of corner bead down as you drive them. Cover the screw heads and repaired corner bead with two or three coats of joint compound.
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