# Pretty clever way to patch a wall.



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)




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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I been doin' it that way for years*

A 4" hole will allow your hand to get inside and reach for wires etc. I then glue a 2" wide drywall or wood backer inside the hole held with 2 drywall screws. When the glue is set up, I replace the plug back in the hole and fill the gap with compound. Sand it flush and you can't tell it was ever there.... PS, I didn't watch the video so .....:nerd2:


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Huh, neat. Ill have to keep this one in mind


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

woodnthings said:


> A 4" hole will allow your hand to get inside and reach for wires etc. I then glue a 2" wide drywall or wood backer inside the hole held with 2 drywall screws. When the glue is set up, I replace the plug back in the hole and fill the gap with compound. Sand it flush and you can't tell it was ever there.... PS, I didn't watch the video so .....:nerd2:


This technique works on a wide range of hole sizes. Use multiple backers on larger holes. Difficult to do with hole much smaller than 2".

George


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## shoot summ (Feb 21, 2014)

I use these, quick, not as cheap though.

https://smile.amazon.com/Walboard-T...&qid=1477999155&sr=8-6&keywords=drywall+patch


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

What I've been doing is cut the hole square and screw a couple 1x2's over the back side of the hole for the patch. Then a little mesh tape and it's ready for mud.


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## shoot summ (Feb 21, 2014)

Steve Neul said:


> What I've been doing is cut the hole square and screw a couple 1x2's over the back side of the hole for the patch. Then a little mesh tape and it's ready for mud.


That's the way I've done it for years, basically any scrap I have laying around that will take a screw, ply seems to work best as solid material tends to split. Depending on the patch, and what scrap I have I will sometimes bridge the hole, or just make support "fingers" that come in from the edge.

For smaller one or two hole patches I go with the pre-made ones I listed above. Not cheap material wise, but really cheap time wise, peal and stick...


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*the hole saw won't won't if ...*



Steve Neul said:


> What I've been doing is cut the hole square and screw a couple 1x2's over the back side of the hole for the patch. Then a little mesh tape and it's ready for mud.


If you already have a small hole to repair and can get the pilot started just away from the hole, the hole saw WILL work. If not, you'll need to cut a rectangular hole and use Steve's method. The hole saw method does eliminate measuring and fitting a scrap in an irregular size hole.:smile3:


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

My only issue with the hole saw method as shown in the video is when he was tearing off the excess rock from around the center plug you could see he was tearing the paper loose in spots on the plug too. This would create a void in the paper that would show up when you mud over it. He must have worked some glue under the paper not shown in the video. 

Even using the hole saw I think I would be inclined to put wood behind the patch.


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## m.n.j.chell (May 12, 2016)

Using a hole saw on dry wall, I run the drill backwards until it cuts through the paper, then run it forward to complete the cut. Makes for a much cleaner "exposed side" cut.


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

It is what it is, another way to patch a hole, probably used more by apartment maintenance people than the average home owner due to the simplicity of only needing a random thickness of drywall to do the job.

Chances are that I will have forgotten about the method next time I have to patch a hole and just use my backer board system again.


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