This is such a common problem these days with most modern house-builders opting for dry-wall finishes instead of ‘proper’ plastering because it saves them ‘time’ but costs them ‘quality’. But even so, stud walls in bedrooms etc have been the usual choice for some years now sadly.
Now most of us have had the kids fighting, falling or just general horse-play amongst adults resulting in a dirty-great hole in the wall that is likely to cost you an arm and a leg to get put right. But fear not, if you have a lick of common-sense and minor DIY skills you’ll mend that in a couple of hours yourself and your granny won’t know the difference.
I’m going to put a ‘very artistic’ if faint diagram below here and then follow it with some simple instructions to follow, so pay attention now and we’ll get there together 🙂
#1 This is the hole in your wall, yours will look different I’m sure.
#2 This is the hole after you’ve squared it off using a Stanley Knife or your Bread Knife. It doesn’t have to be too accurate but it does need to be near enough.
#3 This is a small off-cut of plasterboard. If you’ve got somebody having work done in their house in your area they’ll likely have some kicking around, and if you ask nicely they’ll give you some, ask for a few plasterboard screws as well, and be sure that the thickness of the off-cuts are the same or ‘thinner’ than the plasterboard used on your existing ‘damaged’ wall 😉
Cut it a couple of inches or so longer than the hole and a bit shorter than the hole so that you can thread it into the space behind the hole.
Put a plasterboard or galvanised screw into the centre, leaving it proud enough for you to hold the plasterboard strip in place.
#4 While you’re holding it in place, (or getting someone else to help you) you should screw two more screws through the good wall into each end of the plasterboard scrap as show in the diagram. Do these two up tightly (but not too tight) and then remove the centre screw you left proud before.
#5 Now cut another off-cut of plasterboard so that it’s just slightly smaller than the hole itself and that will sit snuggly into the hole. You can then stick this into the hole using plaster, artex, filler or no-nails. It doesn’t really matter, as long as what you use goes ‘off’ fairly quickly. Leave a little bit of what you use on some old newspaper or something so that you can tell when it’s gone hard/off.
#6 Once it has, you’ll be able to scrim over the screws holding it in place and repair the gap around the new piece of plasterboard with some self-adhesive scrim (that stuff that’s like sticky bandages) and your choice of plaster/artex/filler. Be sure to fill the gaps and screw heads with your filler first, before you apply the scrim. Apply a nice smooth coat with your scraper or trowel, and if you’re not too competent, leave it slightly proud and then ‘gently’ sand it back once ‘really’ hard.
Simple enough EH? …… Good luck ……. Pete 🙂
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