How can I repair 3 inch hole in the wall on my own?

Question

I just purchased my first condo, and accidentally put a 3 inch hole in my living room wall while moving furniture. The wall is very thin. How can I fix this? Thanks, Lisa

Answer 1

Go to local hardware store, Lowe's or Home Depot and get these things:

-Spackle
-Mesh fabric square big enough to cover hole in wall
-Spray Texture (orange peel or whatever your condo has on the walls)
-Matching paint
-Putty knife
-Sandpaper foam block

1. Cut mesh to fit over hole, leaving about and inch or more overlap around the hole.
2. Use putty knife to spread Spackle over mesh and cover hole, it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth, just try to get it fairly even.
3. Let it dry overnight.
4. Sand it down so it is smooth and as flat as possible
5. Spray on the texture. Let it dry, how ever long the can says to wait.
6. Paint it with the matching paint

And you are done!

Good Luck!!

Answer 2

I am going to assume this is painted sheetrock.

If the hole is where there is a door knob that would hit it, you can purchase an 'oversized' door stop, that will cover the hole. They are simple peel & stick knob gaurds.

If youve knocked a hole somewhere else in a wall, then you need to patch it. You can buy a 'patch kit' for sheetrock, that will include everything you would need to repair the hole.

Here are two basic approaches:
First approach - replace the hole with another piece of sheetrock, of the same thickness.
Using a square, mark out a rough square larger than the hole.
Cut away the sheetrock on these lines leaving a square opening.
Cut a new piece of sheetrock to fit inside this square hole.
To add some support behind the 'patch', take a couple of small strips of wood (could be anything that is flat, and about 1" to 2" wide.
Using sheetrock screws and glue, attach these wood strips to the back side of the wall, so that half of the width of the wood strip can be seen. (this will give the 'patch' something to brace against)
Apply a little glue to the back of the patch, where the wood strips will be, and set it in place, anchoring it firmly in the glue, to the wood strips.
Now, go over the joint around the patch, with some sheetrock tape. (I prefer the open mesh, to paper tape) If you are using the open mesh tape, it has a slight sticky to the back of it...makes it handy to go ahead and cover the joints, then start adding the wall joint compound (or 'mud' as some call it)
take a putty knife (3" to 4" wide), and press some 'mud' into the joint, thru the mesh tape. (try not to leave any big humps or streaks..... the smoother you leave it, the better. Note -- you will have to do this a couple of times yet, so don't worry about trying to get it 'perfect')
Let this dry...12 hours minimum...preferably overnight.
If you left any large humps, or streaks, then they will need to be sanded down just a bit. Most likely, the 'mud' has shrunk inside the joint.
Apply a second coat of mud with a 6" to 8" knife...smoothing it out, making it as 'level' with the wall as possible.
Allow this to dry about 4 hours, and you can 'sand' it with a damp sponge, to eliminate any high spots/ridges.
This may be smooth enough at this point to go ahead and prime and paint the patch.... if not, then a third application should take care of it... again using a wider taping knife..."10 to 12".... just kind of 'feather' the mud on, in a thin coat over the whole thing. The idea is to make as smooth a transition as possible over the patch.

Ok, assuming you do not have a small piece of sheetrock to use to patch the hole with....you can take some newspaper, and bunch it up, and stuff it in the hole (this will add some support behind the hole, to help hold the 'mud' in place')
Now cover the hole with either a mesh patch, or several overlapping rows of mesh tape.
Apply your first coat of 'mud' as directed above. This first coat is going to be fairly thick, and you need to give it plenty of time to dry, because it WILL shrink.
I like to apply a second mesh patch, or mesh tape, running the other direction, to help add some support to the 'mud'.... again use a slightly wider putty/taping knife, leaving it as smooth as you can.
After that dries, you can apply another coat of 'mud' with an even wider taping knife. (The 'mud' is leveled out better, or 'feathered' smoother, by using wider putty knives.... you do not end up with an obvious 'hump' right over the patch.... instead it is blended in with the wall)
Give this a light sanding, and see how it looks... if it is fairly smooth (no shrinkage cracks)...then you are ready to prime & paint. If you still have some cracks in it, or the 'hump' is too obvious, then add another layer of 'mud' using a much wider taping knife, again, leaving it as smooth as possible.

Kilz is an excellent primer. If you buy the water based kind, it is easy to clean up too... tho, for a patch this size, you may just want to get it in the spray can.

If you have any cans of paint left there, from when the room was painted last, then you can easily paint over the patch. If you do not know the original color, then before you start the patch repair, get a small sample of the paint from off of the wall, at the repair location, to take to the paint store, so they can match it.

In the event they cannot match the paint adequately, then I would just paint the whole wall.

Fixing a hole like this isnt as hard as it sounds... just takes a little patience =D

Have Fun!

Answer 3

I am assuming the wall is sheetrock.
Go to Home Depot, and get a sheetrock repair kit. They come ready packed to fix most small holes.
You can also put together a kit yourself. First, measure the thickness of the sheetrock. Most residential rock is 1/2 inch thick, but it varies from 3/8 to 5/8, so check it out. Then buy a small pail of bedding material, and some sheetrock tape. Make the hole a uniform size buy trimming, or cutting it to a square, about 4 x 4 ought to be good. then cut your sheetrock to fit the hole. Cut a piece of 1 x 4 to about 10 - 12 inches, and use it for a support for the new piece of sheetrock. screw it inside the wall, in such a way that you can screw the patch to it as well. You will put the screws through the wall from the front, into the wood behind the wall. After fastening the patch to the wood, then tape & bed the patch, wait for the bed to dry, then match the texture and paint it. Simple as that.

Answer 4

Go to Lowes or home depot and get a small sheet of drywall mesh. Then purchase some spackle or plaster. take the mesh and place it behind the hole and you can secure it with tape. Then take your plaster and fill in the hole, make sure you use a putty knife. Let it dry then go back and if it sank in you may need to repeat the a few times. When it no longer looks sunk in sand it with a 120 to 150 grit sand paper and prime and paint. Good Luck!

Answer 5

Pretty much everybody else has answered it right with the whole mesh thing and stuff. Only suggestion I have to add is let the puddy extend out beyond the actual wall some. It will shrink some as it dries, but by leaving extra all you have to do is sand it back down flat. This prevents you from having to spackle a second time.

Answer 6

If the hole is huge, get a piece of wallboard, cut it to the appropriate size and secure it in place with screws. You would also need spackle and tape to cover the seams and screws. If it is small enough, just use spackle (quick drying patch stuff). Sand smooth and paint.

Take a picture of the wall with the hole to a local hardware store and ask for help.

Good luck!

Answer 7

Go to a paint or hardware store. There is a kit you can buy for less than 5 bucks....its a peice of metal and wall tape...you finish it by mudding over it. The directions are pretty easy. You'll probably need some wall texture spray to match the rest of the wall.... good luck.

Answer 8

Home stores sell patch kits. They are usually with the painting stuff. They are made for door knob holes, but they can be used for other things. It's a large "sticker" that you place over the hole, there is some wire mesh inside the sticker to give it strength. Then you use "mud" to smooth it out. VERY easy to do.

Answer 9

Put a picture over it or fill it with M+Ms so guests can snack while waiting for the main course. You could put another hole next to it and fill that with peanuts.

Answer 10

AK's answer is the best, but instead of sandpaper, use a sponge (no mess).