How to fix a hole in drywall

Start by sizing up the hole

Measure the hole at its widest point, including any torn paper face around it. That number picks your method. Then look inside with a flashlight. Wiring, pipes and ductwork often run behind drywall, especially around outlets and switches and in walls shared with a bathroom or kitchen, so never cut blind.

Tools and materials

• Lightweight spackle for nail holes; all-purpose joint compound for anything bigger (premixed is fine)
• A 4-inch knife and a 6- or 10-inch taping knife
• Self-adhesive fibreglass mesh patches, or scraps of drywall the same thickness as your wall, usually ½ inch
• Utility knife, drywall saw and a fine sanding sponge
• Primer, because bare compound soaks up paint differently from the wall around it

Nail and screw holes (under ½ inch)

1. Push any loose paper or crumbs into the hole, or trim them off with a utility knife. A raised edge will show through paint.
2. Press lightweight spackle into the hole with a small knife, then scrape across it so the fill is flush with the wall.
3. Let it dry, usually 30 minutes to a couple of hours. Deeper holes can sink slightly, so add a second thin coat.
4. Sand lightly, wipe off the dust, spot-prime and paint.

For a popped nail rather than a hole, drive a drywall screw an inch or two above or below it to pull the board tight to the stud, then set the old nail and fill both. Filling a popped nail on its own does not stop it coming back. Drywall crack repair explains why nails pop.

Medium holes (up to about 4 inches)

Doorknob strikes and ripped-out wall anchors land here. A self-adhesive mesh patch bridges the gap so the compound has something to hold on to.

1. Trim torn paper and cut away any crumbling gypsum so the edges are firm.
2. Centre a mesh patch over the hole with at least an inch of overlap on every side and press it flat.
3. Spread a thin first coat of joint compound over the patch, pressing it into the mesh. Feather the edges a couple of inches past the patch.
4. Let it dry fully, usually overnight. Knock down any ridges with the knife, then apply a second, wider coat.
5. A third coat, wider again and very thin, hides the outline of the patch. Sand lightly between coats only where needed.
6. Prime the patched area, then paint.

Large holes (4 to 6 inches): the California patch

A California patch uses a piece of drywall with its paper face left on as its own tape, so no mesh is needed.

1. Cut the damaged area into a neat square with a drywall saw.
2. Cut a scrap of drywall 2 inches larger than the square on every side. Score the back and snap off the gypsum border, leaving the front paper intact, so you have a plug the size of the hole with a 2-inch paper flange around it.
3. Butter the edges of the hole and the back of the flange with joint compound, press the patch in, and squeeze the excess out from the centre with your knife.
4. Once it is dry, skim two more thin, wide coats over the patch, feathering well past the paper edges.
5. Prime and paint.

Holes bigger than 6 inches

Past about six inches, a patch has nothing solid to sit on, so you add backing and install a real piece of drywall.

1. Mark a rectangle around the damage and cut it out. If you can reach a stud on one or both sides, cut to the middle of the stud so the new piece has something to screw into.
2. Where there is no stud, screw strips of wood inside the opening, behind the edges, as backing.
3. Cut new drywall to fit with about ⅛ inch of gap all round, and screw it to the studs or backing every 6 to 8 inches, with the screw heads just below the surface.
4. Tape the seams and finish with two or three thin, widening coats of joint compound, the same as any drywall seam.
5. Sand, prime and paint, ideally the whole wall from corner to corner.

Water-damaged drywall is a different job. Fix the leak and let the wall dry completely first, and cut out any board that is soft, stained through or smells musty rather than patching over it.

Condos, townhouses and rental suites

Walls between units in strata buildings, and between a house and a legal secondary suite, are often fire separations built with fire-rated (Type X) drywall. A repair to one of those walls should use the same rated board and keep the separation intact. In a strata, check your bylaws before opening a wall; alterations to common property or fire separations may need strata approval.

Making the repair disappear

Most visible patches are not bad patching. They are finish problems:

• Texture. Smooth walls are forgiving. Orange-peel and knockdown textures have to be recreated with spray texture before priming, and heavy hand textures are hard to match over a small area.
• Primer. Unprimed compound absorbs paint and dries dull, leaving a visible spot called flashing. Prime every patch.
• Paint age. Fresh paint rarely matches five-year-old paint, even from the same can. Repaint the whole wall and the patch vanishes.
• Raking light. Check your work with a flashlight held flat against the wall. It shows ridges and dips that overhead light hides.

What it costs to have it done

A small hole costs more to hire out than most people expect, because each coat has to dry before the next one. That means two or three visits for ten minutes of work each. One small hole is usually worth doing yourself; a hired repair makes more sense when several holes, a ceiling or textured walls are involved. The full numbers are in our drywall repair cost guide.