Home Projects

Drywall Repair - You Can Do It!

Projects can be overwhelming.  Boy, have I ever experienced that with the recent renovation to a home we bought in February.  We spent the next three months “destructing” – we were good at destroying and tearing things up!  We tore down drywall, ripped up layers of wood and laminate flooring, and generally just created a mess!  Thank goodness for the huge dumpster that parked itself in my driveway for months, because we filled it like nobody’s business.  I was covered in drywall dust and dirt for three solid months.  My hair was turning grey before my eyes, not from hair follicles but from drywall dust and paint.  And, when I needed quiet moments for coaching and customer calls, I retreated to a large walk-in closet that is now my office to do my business in the midst of dust, construction workers, and lots of noise!  There were times when 8-12 workers would converge on the house at once, each with their own task to bring our home to a state of livability that we are now enjoying.

Some people can’t see the good through the bad, whether it’s a neglected home or a person.  We are consistently judging everything we see, aren’t we?  I do have the gift of seeing something in a room or a house that isn’t there yet.  I think that skill came from my dad, who was in the home and commercial construction business.  He had an eye to visualize something from nothing.  I feel blessed that I got that from him, along with his big hands and uni-brow!  Plucking is a beautiful thing.

During this renovation project, I learned a few things about myself.  Even at the enlightened age of 56, an old dog can learn new tricks.  As the renovation project finalized, there were a few things I had to figure out for myself.  I will share more later about the renovation project itself, but this is about drywall repair.  Who would have thought that I could tackle a medium-sized drywall repair job??!!  As we neared the end of our project, and we were admiring our just-finished kitchen, we noticed a small drip coming from the ceiling at the cupboard line.  Above that is an upstairs bathroom, which was obviously the source of the water but we had no idea what was leaking.  THAT I called a plumber for!  Well, it involved the plumber cutting a large hole in our hallway wall that backed up to the bathroom.  Even though there was an access door to the shower plumbing, it was not leaking at the water valves and it entailed him cutting a 36” x 16” hole in the wall to get to the source of the leak.  So, I have been looking at the hole in the wall for several months now, not wanting to pay a drywall man to fix it or to find someone that would even tackle such a small job by their standards. 

 I decided I could do it.  I just needed to seek out counsel from someone who had done this before (my brother-in-law, Randy, was just a phone call away!) to get some advice on what to do.  I went to Home Depot, bought a piece of drywall, got my trusty drywall knife, measured the hole, and cut!  The tricky part is what to secure the drywall section to.  So, at Randy’s advice, I made the hole larger by cutting back to the studs flanking both sides of the hole so I would have something to nail the drywall section to.  After much fine tuning of the cut, I inserted the piece, nailed it in place and began mudding (is that a real word?).  That, honestly, is the most difficult part and it takes a lot of patience.  I used drywall tape first, and then proceeded to mud the whole area with a large scraper, using joint compound.  The key is small amounts of joint compound applied again and again.  Just keep “feathering” out the joint compound from the area you are filling away from the hole.  Smooth out the compound the best you can at each step until you feel like you have the whole area covered sufficiently so that the area can be sanded flat.  I think I mudded about 5 times, and let it dry in between each application before going over it again.  Now, a real drywall professional would have probably taken two steps to my five, but I was FREE.  Technique can be learned and patience is key. The workers at stores like Home Depot give great tips too; you just have to ask questions!  I had tried several drywall repairs before this one during the renovation and the skill, just like anything else, is developed through practice.  I also repaired another hole made by bad placement of a light switch that had to be moved, and that repair looks awesome too!

 So, once finished, I primed and painted the area.  I finished it this morning and it looks amazing!  I felt so proud of myself for having done this job all by myself!!  Now, it might not be perfect, but it’s pretty darn close and I did it all.  Every time I come up the stairs and see that spot, I feel so proud of myself.  I do not have to look at the gaping hole anymore!  Try a project you’ve never tackled before.  You can do it!