When repairing nail holes, nail pops in drywall, or pre-filling large gaps between sheets or in corners, you may use ordinary all-purpose joint compound. But, this compound takes a fairly long time to dry and also will shrink a fair amount, requiring additional coats (and time). A better way to do these types of jobs is to use a sand-able patching plaster (also known as spackle). There are many suitable products, but the one I tried and found to work well is DAP  Sandable Patching Plaster, available at most hardware or home stores. Just make sure the product states “sands easily”.

I used this product to fill in some nail holes and also I used it to fill in a dent in my drywall made from a door handle. In the case of the door handle dent I placed and excess amount of the  patching plaster (rather than skimming it level) just to see if it would sand off OK. It sanded just fine, almost as easily as joint compound. See photos below.

Another place you would want to use this type of compound would be to pre-fill in gaps between two sheets of drywall before you tape. Joint compound can take a long time to dry, and if the gaps are large, ordinary joint compound can even crack as it shrinks, requiring follow-up coats to account for shrinkage. A quick drying, low shrinkage sandable spackle or patching plaster prevents both of these problems!

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Cutting outlet boxes in drywall can be tricky. And even with the best measurements, you can be off enough to result in a sliver of black space to one side of the outlet, like shown in the top photo of this page. So what can you do? There are two solutions:

1. Get an oversized outlet cover for the box. Sometimes, this can look almost like clown shoes if all the other outlets have regular covers. But it works. And it is easy.

2. Fix the hole so the gap is filled in. This can be fairly easy to do if the gap happens to occur over the stud. What I do then is use some rolled up fiberglass mesh tape that is screwed to the stud in a few places. Then I apply compound to the mesh tape making the surface level. The mesh adds strength to this repair. If, however, the gap occurs over an area with no stud, applying mud to the edge won’t work – the mud will easily chip off. But, however, there is another solution – use the Straitflex repair panel. The procedure I used with these panels is shown below.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

First, I cut out the repair panel using the template printed on the panel as a guide. I had to cut out a few extra places where the wall outlet is attached so the template would lie flat on the wall. If you take a close look at the photos you will see what I am talking about.

I placed the template around my outlet where I wanted it and traced around it with a pencil so I would know exactly where to put in once the compound was on.

Then, I applied about a quarter inch of compound to the back side of the patch, as directed.

I placed the patch on the wall and then used a 4 inch knife to press it in place, squeezing much of the mud underneath out through the holes in the patch.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

As directed, I placed another coat onto the patch immediately. My guess is that they want the overcoat to form a nice bond with the mud under the patch through the holes in the patch. This gives the patch extra strength I am thinking.

After the initial coat was dry, I used my taping knife to scrape off any high spots. Then I over coated the patch with another coat. This coat may or may not be all you need. What I found was that I needed to use a trouble light (or lamp with no shade) to add additional small thin coats to touch up this surface. The trouble light will reveal ridges or scratches that must be filled or feathered out. Make sure to not sand till all coats are on but rather use your taping knives to scrape down the surface and remove any bumps or ridges.

When all compound is on, then use some 200 grit or 220 grit sandpaper to sand this surface. Prime the area and paint over with paint to match. In summary, this drywall patch, available at the Straitflex website, would be a nice item to have on hand to repair a drywall wall outlet hole after cutting just a little too big. For more info on taping and finishing drywall, see my main site at drywallinfo.com

With First Coat - CLICK ON IMAGE

With 2nd Coat - CLICK ON IMAGE

Note: The samples were sent to me to test upon my request. I receive no other compensation from Straitflex.

Black Mold on Drywall!

Our bathroom was getting mold on our ceiling and walls within 3 weeks of cleaning off the walls with straight bleach during fall and spring months. During these months, the inside humidity could be fairly high, yet a quick dip in outdoor temps could create cold spots on walls and ceilings. And to compound this even more, the hose on our bathroom fan disconnected at some point, venting damp air into the insulation. So I tore off all the ceiling drywall and exterior drywall, removed insulation, cleaned things up, and brought both my ceiling and exterior wall in 2″ to allow more insulation and increase the R-value. I also did a bang-up job on insulating my attic with brand new insulation using insulation chutes near the eaves. I replaced our tub and shower too as it had some cracks. I must admit this was a big job but I am glad I did it – mold is not something I want in my house! See removing black mold in drywall for details on this project.

It takes me a lot longer to finish my drywall!

That sounds almost contradictory. After all, should one get faster, not slower? Not really.

When I first started, I gobbed the compound on, sculpting the thick layer with my taping knife, leaving it way too thick. Then, I followed with a good sanding. But things did not look right, so I gobbed on some more mud, let it dry, and sanded some more. At this point, I had all the compound I needed, so I just kept sanding. And sanding. And sanding. Finally, as things started to “level out” a bit, I started hitting paper tape and the paper drywall board. Sanded paper = fuzz. Oh well, the paint will cover . . . (wrong again!) I finished my wall in two days but it looked like a 6-year old’s art project.

Now, I put on the mud but take most of it off with a smooth stroke of the wide taping knife. Not two coats, but rather 4 or 5 along with some touch-up mudding. And I don’t touch the sandpaper till ALL coats are on and the surface could almost pass without a sanding. I now “knock” the surface down where needed with a taping knife. So now, it takes me nearly a week to finish a wall. But it looks like it was done by a good professional! (A good professional does not need to cover blemishes with texture). I use all-purpose compound for all coats. I guess if I were doing this for a living, I would use some faster drying compounds for the first coats. But as a DIYer, I am in no hurry.

For a free online 10-step video series on taping and repairing drywall, see Drywall Repair Videos.

Here is the nail pop!

What Causes Nail Pops?
Nail pops occur in drywall that has been secured with drywall nails as opposed to drywall screws. This commonly occurs in homes that are 30 or more years old but can also show up in newer homes. The nail pops are due to the nail working its way out which is caused by shifting of the structure or can be caused simply by someone pushing against the drywall (like next to a bed). In older homes these nail pops are to be expected and there is no need for concern.

Repairing Nail Pops is as Easy as 123!

Drive in the nail pop with several screws

To fix nail pops, simply drive in two or three screws next to the nail head so that the screw head pulls the nail head in below the surface. The screw heads should also be driven below the surface. You should use a star drive deck screw like the one shown here as it takes a lot of torque to drive this screw and you will have a difficult time with a regular drywall screw. Also, the head of a regular drywall screw may snap off. Once you drive the screws in, simply fill in the depression with a few coats of joint compound and sand level, taking care not to sand off a layer of paint. Then prime and repaint.

Fill, finish, prime and paint!

If you want to see an actual repair along with a few more details, go to Drywallinfo.com Nail Pops.

Scraping Off The Bumps

When I first tried taping and finishing drywall, it was quite a dusty mess! See my description on My Drywall Story page. Drywall dust is just plain dreadful. In my early days of drywalling, some friends told me about “wet sanding”. This is where you use a wet sponge to smooth out the surface between coats instead of sanding and is a method mentioned on the 649 6th blog that chronicles his home remodel. And yes, wet sanding does cut down the dust to practically nothing.

But . . . for me, anyway, wet sanding tended to take off a lot of compound. And worse yet, and I speak for my own experience, I ended up making gentle waves in my wall with the wet sponge. So I ended up adding a lot of extra compound to flatten the waves out, and I ended up doing a bit of sanding at the end anyway.

The method I finally arrived at, and this took several years, was to not sand at all until all the coats were on the wall. Yes, that’s right, NO sanding! Here is what you do: You put on even coats with slightly thinned mud and make an effort to draw off the coats level with a wide knife.  Then, after this dries, you scrape the surface level with a taping knife (see pic above), holding the knife with two hands if needed. The taping knife will not produce valleys, but will instead knock off troublesome high spots. And low spots or drag marks will be filled with the next coat, which will go on nicely on your nice level surface. Only at the very end do I sand, and then only lightly, producing only a relatively small amount of dust. To get lots and lots of details, see my Taping Joints page and videos.