How to Patch Drywall

There was a pipe leak in the wall that needed to be repaired in my apartment so I called my land lord and he came over and fixed it right away. After he fixed the pipe I decided to help him out with the drywall repair just to make things a little easier. The following will take you step by step on how we went about repairing the drywall that was removed.

• Cordless screw gun
• Drywall screws
• Drywall mud tape
• All purpose drywall plaster
• Putty knife
• Mud tray (convenience)
• Sanding paper
• Utility Knife
• Measuring tape
• Straight Edge
• Marker

Before we insert our drywall, we need to mark our stud locations to know where to insert our drywall screws. I used a sharpie and made a small mark in line with the stud for when its time to fix the drywall to the stud.

Now we need to measure the dimensions of the hole to know what to cut our drywall out to. When measuring the dimensions of the hole make sure to take off a quarter to a half inch from the full measurement or else the piece wont fit. For example the dimensions of the hole was 28 5/8 inches by 24 3/4 inches, and the drywall piece that was cut out came to 28 1/4 inches by 24 1/2 inches.

Once you have the dimensions laid out on the new drywall in which you are going to use, then use a straight edge to mark out where you will make your cuts. Use your utility knife to cut through the drywall, if you don't cut all the way through the drywall that is fine it should snap off if you bend the drywall the opposite direction you made the cut.

Now that you have your new piece of drywall cut out, here comes the tricky part. Now insert your new piece of drywall into the hole in which we are covering up. When fitting your piece in if you are forcing it then the piece is to big and you will need to shave off another quarter inch depending on which sides are catching.

Now that we have our drywall nice and snug its time to secure our drywall to the studs. I previously marked out where the stud location is to make securing the drywall easier. Using the cordless screw gun I secured five drywall screws into the studs. When placing your screws make sure they are evenly spread out not to close together and you want them to penetrate the drywall just a little bit so that they are not showing.

Finally we can begin our mudding and taping process now that we have our piece of drywall firmly secured to the studs. Cover the seams all the way down the edges with our drywall tape and cut off the ends and any overhanging tape with the utility knife. Press the tape to the drywall with your hands making sure its nice and secured so it wont get pulled up when we begin mudding. Using our putty knife and drywall mud apply a light even coat along the seams and let dry. Once mud is dry use sanding paper to smooth out any edges any spots need touch ups apply another coat and repeat process.