3 Sided Drywall Repair

Repairing drywall usually comes up during the course of remodeling projects. If you break a wall, cut a hole, have the plumber and electrician over for a run or two, like where the drywall got opened for running wire or cables. It is usually your job to repair the walls.

In the case of small holes, under a square foot, these  are small enough to make a 'tapeless' drywall patch. I have a photo gallery here: Drywall Patch which outlines this proceedure.

The gallery shows the steps to repair drywall using the face paper as the tape for patching the wall.

However, there are cases where your patch needs to be three sided, such as inside corners or abutting things that are not moving, like trim. Here is a method for handling this challenge.

This is a hole the electrician made at the top of a service panel. It is about 4'' square. The left side has a stud behind it, the interior is filled with wires and insulation, making it a candidate for a 3 sided repair.

 

After squaring the hole with a utility knife and keyhole saw, we measure and cut a piece of drywall to fit the hole. For this repair we cut a piece of drywall 6'' wide and 5'' tall. After cutting the drywall to size, we flip it over and make 3 1'' scores on the back, and remove the drywall, taking care to leave the face paper intact. This piece is our tapeless drywall patch, using the face paper for our tape to cover the seam.

This is a three sided patch as the service panel is not moving, and you do not under any circumstances be slinging wet drywall mud into a live electric panel. You will want to dryfit this to insure that it will fit the hole, and not be too loose. 

Be sure to mask off those areas that you do not want mud.

Next you butter the the opening with mud carefully. I am using a different image as I was using speed set on this repair, and cameras and drywall mud do not mix :)

 

You apply enough drywall mud  to seal the seam, and provide enough mud under your patch so there are no voids or dry spots under your 'tape'.

Wipe it down, being careful not to push the patch into your hole. It will probably sink a bit because there is no backing, and that's okay. Let it dry.

 

Apply additional coats as necessary to cover your patch and smooth the wall.

 

A light sanding, and some paint to match, and unless you post it, you and the folks who made the hole will be the only ones to know.

Comments

[Chris]

These are great How-tos, thanks for posting them! Any advice for repairing popped screw heads or popped tape seams in a heavily textured ceiling?

[Todd]

Nice repair tips. Taking your time with drywall repairs is the key. Obviously you thought this out and the end result was great!

[alan herrell - the head lemur]

Chris,
Thank you. For popped screw/nailheads you want to re fasten with screws, taking care not to sink them too deep. Most fastener failures are from driving nails screws below the face paper.

For the tape bubbles, you will need to use a small drywall or putty knife to remove the texture, cut out the bubbles, and depending on the size, mud or mud and re-tape.

You may also want to think about removing the texture entirely if you have a lot of problems, or retexturing the whole thing when you are done.

[Chris]

Thank you! The tape issue is on ceiling where a joint almost 3 feet long is coming undone, almost like it did not adhere correctly. In many places in the house the texture seems to pull off (or fall off)in large chunks from the walls or ceiling. Is this just bad drywalling or some other issue? Thanks for the clarification, and if this is not the right forum to ask this question or you do not have time to answer, no worries...I appreciate the posts all the same!

[the head lemur]

Chris,
Pulling off the tape and examining the back side will tell you if it was a bad application. The difference between a joint that was mudded correctly and not will be apparent. Bad taping will show up as having blotches that are the cream color of the tape and white areas where the mud was underneath the joint.

The texture issue is a bit more complex. You mentioned that the wall has texture that is failing, as well as the ceiling.

Ceiling first. Standard popcorn texture application was done on unprimed drywall, as the texture contained white pigment that acted as the 'finish' color, and created a strong bond, as folks who have removed it can swear by as well as swearing at.

Now if it is an older house, that a previous owner originally had smooth ceilings, and decided to texture later, texture failure in large sections especially in the areas between joists, is more likely as the surface was not properly prepared. (not many folks are going to wash and prime ceilings, or pay for it.The good news here is that removal is much easier.)

So for the most part, popcorn texture failure along joints is usually bad taping, or a structural issue involving a ceiling joist twisting either from drying out or getting wet.

The wall issue is somewhat the same in terms of cause and effect if it was done after the walls were painted prior to texturing.
Were the walls washed? Was a sealer applied? Semi gloss and glossy paints have a smoother surface making texture that much harder to stick.
It could also be a combination of bad texture and cheap paint as well.

However, even under poor prep and application conditions, drywall compound used for wall texture either sprayed like 'orange peel', 'knock down' or any of the varieties of hand troweling and subsequent paintings usually do not fail except in an aesthetic sense.

Exceptions to this would be extreme moisture like flooding, or water damage incidental to a fire, where there are exposed drywall edges that would allow the core to get wet, loosening the face paper, and causing delamination. But your walls would show this by bubbling across large sections. Your floor trims would show gaps and warpage. It could also be a result of fire damage covered up hastily, with poor prep work.

These are a few of the things that might cause what you describe, but without seeing the damage it is hard to determine.

In any case, repairs are going to take time and money, whether by doing it yourself, or hiring it out.

I hope this helps. Thanks for stopping by.

[Chris]

Thank you so much for the explanation. The texture is not popcorn, but more of a deep knock down. It almost looks like someone frosted a cake. The failure areas appear on a few of the joists, and in areas like the laundry room where water could have been the culprit. The tape joint failures are on the largest ceiling in the house and in the corners where the wall and ceiling meet. I would have to go with poor work as that describes most of the house (architects by trade turned builders...oh the joy).

Anyway, enough of my blathering, thanks again for all the help and keep the great posts coming. I should have you build some fish tank stands for my tanks!!!