Got a Hole in the Wall?

Got kids? Then you've seen this from them slamming the doorknob into the wall. I'm going to show you how to fix this hole in the wall.Here is a sample piece of drywall with a hole in it that I will show you how to repair. There are many different ways to repair it. I'm going to show you what I think is the best and easiest way to do it.

Materials Needed: a keyhole saw, a circle cutter or a nice round object (slightly bigger than the hole in your wall), a cordless screw gun, some screws.

Step 1 - Using either use your circle cutter or a round object (remember: it should be slightly larger than the hole in your wall) draw a circle around the base of your round object making sure you completely cover the hole in your wall.

Step 2: Cut out the circle that you just drew in step 1 to make your damaged hole a perfectly round hole.

Step 3 - You are going to create another circle from the scrap piece of drywall to fit perfectly inside the hole you just created. To do this you need to measure the hole that you just made in Step 2. You can do this by using your circle cutter measurement or using the same round object as you did in Step 1. In this case my hole is 4 inches so I set my circle cutter to 4 inches.

Remember: if you don't have a circle cutter you can use the same object that you used in Step 1.

You can buy a scrap piece of drywall at Home Depot...or call me...I might have some laying around.

Step 4 - Create your plug from the scrap piece of drywall.

Step 5 - Cut out your plug.

Now that you have your plug you want to fit it into the hole in your wall.

Hmmm....but be careful...the plug will want to fall down into the wall!

What to do? What to do?

I got an idea!

Step 6 - Take a scrap piece of 2X4 no longer than 1 foot long so that you can get it into your wall. In my case I'm using a metal stud which is pretty much the same as a 2x4. Before putting it in the hole you'll want to put a screw directly in the middle of the stud.

As you put the stud into the wall be careful not to drop it. One way to make sure that doesn't happen is to keep ahold of the screw with a pair of pliers.

Step 7 - While holding the screw with a pair of pliers pull with the hand holding the pliers and screw the drywall into the stud. As you screw into the drywall make sure you countersink your screws about 1/8" so that later on you can fill those screws with mud (putty). Step 8 - Once the drywall is screwed into the stud you can screw the plug into the stud.
And....you're done! Again, like I said in the beginning, there are many ways to do this. To me, this is the best and easiest way. Now you have a stud behind your wall which will help prevent this from happening again. Next time your kid opens the door too hard you won't have to worry about him putting a hole in your wall! The stud acts like a door stop. You may get a ding or dent in your wall...but no hole!

You didn't think I would just leave your wall looking like that with a bunch of unsightly screws in it, did you? Check back later to see how we can get it ready for paint.