How To Repair Drywall Ceiling Corners

If you find yourself staring at damaged walls and ceilings in your dwelling house, it might be time for a little TLC and an update. The interiors of about homes are covered with gypsum wallboard, which is commonly known as drywall, or by its trade name, Sheetrock. Drywall is durable to a degree, simply it can only take so much before you lot start to come across holes, cracks, and dents—peculiarly if you've got toddlers or pets running around.

⚒️ You like fixing stuff. So practise we. Allow'south DIY some cool $h*t together.

Fortunately, most drywall damage can be repaired quickly and easily. All you demand are some bones tools, the correct materials, and a few tricks of the trade. This step-past-pace DIY guide will show you how to repair drywall—from doorknob impairment, to cracks under the window, all the way to saggy ceilings—just showtime, we need to become over some prophylactic measures.

⚒️ Tips To Stay Safe While Yous Repair Drywall

i) Lift Carefully. When patching extensive impairment, it's best to buy total iv-by-8 foot sheets of drywall, then cutting them downward to size as needed. But, be advised that a full canvas of standard 1/2-inch drywall weighs about 54 pounds.

Drywall sheets are awkward to elevator and carry, so you'll want to avert straining your back. If possible, always work with a helper and call back to lift with your knees, not your dorsum. Also, be careful when leaning drywall sheets against stuff. If a canvas should fall over, it could severely injure someone, especially a child or pet.

ii) Empty Saucepan Alert. Premixed joint chemical compound comes in various size buckets, which are handy to use effectually the house and m once they're empty. However, five-gallon buckets pose a serious threat to toddlers. The buckets are simply the correct height that if a modest child leans over the edge, they can tumble in headfirst and find themselves unable to scramble out. Therefore, if you use the bucket for conveying water, never get out the saucepan unattended, even if it's belongings only a few inches of water. And, never leave buckets outdoors where they can fill with rainwater, creating a potential drowning hazard.

If you utilize the buckets primarily for carrying and storing tools, gardening supplies, and other dry appurtenances, eliminate the possibility of a child drowning past drilling drainage holes through the side and bottom of the bucket.

three) Clean Up the Dust. Making drywall repairs typically requires sanding joint compound to produce a smooth, unblemished surface. However, joint compound dust is a respiratory irritant that contains super-fine gypsum and silica particulates. When sanding joint compound, always habiliment a grit mask, or better withal, a dual-cartridge respirator, to protect your lungs.

It'due south besides a good idea to spread a driblet cloth on the floor where you're sanding. When done sanding, wipe the dust off the driblet cloth with a damp sponge, then make clean the surrounding areas with a shop vacuum fitted with a HEPA filter. Once the air has settled, finish up by vacuuming. This two-step cleaning is necessary because most household vacuums tin can't capture super-fine sanding dust, and will just blow it back into the air.

Common Drywall Tools

⚒️ Know What Compound Y'all Demand

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The two most common types of premixed drywall compounds—also known as spackle—are lightweight and all-purpose. The lightweight product weighs nigh one-tertiary less than all-purpose, it dries more speedily, and takes less effort to sand smooth. All-purpose chemical compound dries harder and typically costs less.

Both types are piece of cake to use and have a shelf life at room temperature of virtually nine months. If you have drywall impairment in several rooms, buy a v-gallon saucepan of compound. For smaller repairs, something like this volition suffice.

Note that dry out-mix joint compound is also available, which comes in powder course. It must be mixed with water to the proper consistency prior to awarding. Dry out-mix compound is more affordable than the pre-mixed varieties, but pre-mix compound is easier and quicker to use for DIY repairs.

⚒️ Problem ane: Doorknob Damage

Stride 1: One of the most common drywall repairs occurs when a door is swung open a little as well forcefully and the doorknob punches a pigsty through the drywall. The simplest way to set up the hole is with a pare-and-stick repair patch. The patch consists of an adhesive-backed aluminum screen that'southward reinforced past fiberglass mesh. Simply skin off the protective backing and press the patch over the pigsty.

Footstep two: Apply a 4- or six-inch-wide drywall knife to utilize joint compound over the patch. Be sure to employ plenty pressure to force the compound through the mesh. Afterward the compound dries, sand lightly and use a second, thinner glaze of chemical compound, making certain to extend it a few inches beyond the first coat. Repeat a third and final fourth dimension. When dry, sand lightly, then prime number and paint.

⚒️ Problem 2: Crumpled Corner Dewdrop

Step ane: When ii sheets of drywall run across at an outside wall corner, they're protected by an Fifty-shaped metallic strip called a corner bead. Corner bead is nailed over the corner then curtained past 2 or three layers of joint compound. Metal corner bead is pretty tough stuff, but it'southward not indestructible. Information technology can become dented through whatever number of activities, including run-ins with the vacuum cleaner, a child flinging a toy, or when moving furniture. The skillful news is that, ordinarily, merely a small-scale department of the corner dewdrop gets damaged, making the repair much simpler.

Begin by using a hacksaw to cut through the corner dewdrop approximately 2 inches above and below the damaged section. Side by side, have a utility knife and cut along each vertical edge of the corner bead, making sure you lot slice through the paint and joint compound.

Step 2: Pry the severed slice of corner bead from the wall using a thin pry bar and direct-blade screwdriver. Try non to damage the surrounding drywall surfaces. Now, use aviation snip to cut a new piece of corner dewdrop to replace the damaged section.

Step three: Set the new slice into place and fasten it with ane½-inch-long drywall nails, which have very thin, flat heads that are easier to conceal with joint compound than drywall screws.

Pace 4: Apply two to three coats of articulation compound, making sure to sand betwixt coats. Spread the final coat with an eight-inch drywall knife. When done, prime and pigment to match the walls.

⚒️ Problem 3: Creeping Cracks

Footstep 1: Vertical drywall cracks will often announced to a higher place and below windows and doors. These hairline cracks are usually caused by lumber shrinkage and settling in the business firm frame. To repair the cracks, starting time by using a sanding sponge to sand the crack smooth. After sanding, vacuum the crack to remove all loose dust and debris.

Step two: Next, apply a narrow putty knife to utilize a sparse coat of joint compound to the crack. Wait for it to dry out, then sand it smoothen. Echo, applying a second thin coat.

Step 3: To dissuade the crack from reappearing, spray the repair with a thin coating of elastic crack cover-upwardly, such as Expert-Cheerio Cracks.

⚒️ Problem 4: Nails That Go Popular

Step 1: Nail and screw pops are also acquired by lumber shrinkage. To set up a popped nail or screw, beginning by twisting the tip of a utility pocketknife into the wall to cleave away the joint compound from the fastener head.

Stride 2: Utilise a screwdriver to tighten the screw, driving it well below the surface. If information technology'due south a popped nail, use a hammer and boom set to tap it in deeper. If it feels every bit if the boom isn't hit solid wood, yank it out with pliers and drive in a drywall screw, making sure yous hit the center of the wall stud or ceiling joist.

Step three: Hide the repair using a drywall knife to apply 3 sparse coats of lightweight joint chemical compound. Sand between coats, so prime and paint.

⚒️ Problem 5: Saggy Textured Ceilings

Step 1: Water impairment volition ordinarily stain a drywall ceiling, just in some extreme cases, the drywall will actually sag down from the joists. This is a especially catchy repair on a textured ceiling. Commencement by using a hand-sanding pad equipped with a sanding screen to remove the texture and smooth out the area.

Step 2: Next, press the drywall up tight confronting the joist and secure it along the seam with drywall nails or screws driven into the center of the joist.

Step 3: Water stains will often bleed through standard primer. To prevent the stains from reappearing, castor on a glaze of primer that is specifically formulated to block out the toughest stains.

Step 4: To blend in the repaired area with the surrounding textured ceiling, apply a thick-nap roller to apply a thick mixture of drywall chemical compound, thinned with a trivial water.

Step v: Before the thinned drywall compound dries, add texture to the ceiling with a brusque-handled brush. If your ceiling has a popcorn texture, try concealing the repair with popcorn texture in a spray can.

⚒️ Trouble 6: Loose Within-Corner Record

Step i: Seams between sheets of drywall are hidden behind paper drywall record and several thin layers of joint chemical compound. Occasionally, the paper tape will pull loose and peel up, especially in bathrooms where the tape is repeatedly exposed to hot, moist air. And this problem frequently occurs at within wall corners.

While information technology's tempting to only glue down loose tape, it'southward all-time to cut information technology out with a utility knife and supplant it with a new piece of tape. Subsequently cutting away the loose tape, apply a thin bed of drywall chemical compound to each wall in the corner.

Footstep two: Side by side, cut a new piece of paper tape to length, fold information technology lengthwise along its center crease, and press it into the wet joint compound.

Step 3: You can press the tape into the compound and smooth it out with a 4-inch knife, but using an inside-corner knife makes the job much easier. This specialty tool smooths both sides of the inside corner at the same fourth dimension.

⚒️ Problem 7: Patching Large Holes

Step 1: To repair a large hole in drywall, showtime describe a square outline around the hole using a 24-inch level. As you lot marker the four lines, be sure to eye one vertical line on the center of a wall stud.

Stride 2: Cutting iii sides of the square using a drywall saw, which is also chosen a jab saw because you start cutting past jabbing the saw'due south pointed tip through the drywall. Elevator away the debris as you cut to keep information technology from falling into the wall cavity.

Step 3: Remove the drywall on the remaining side of the outline by using a utility knife to cut down the center of the stud.

Step 4: Cut a one-past-four foot pine board six to eight inches longer than the square opening in the wall. Squeeze some construction agglutinative onto the ends of the board.

Footstep 5: Sideslip the 1-by-iv into the hole with the glued surface facing the dorsum of the drywall. Position the lath and so information technology extends into the opening by at least 1½ inches. Secure the board with 2 clamps.

Step 6: Later on the adhesive dries, cut a drywall patch to loosely fit into the hole. Apply some construction adhesive to the exposed surface of the one-by-four, then printing the patch into identify and secure it to the stud and to the one-by-four backing board with 1¼-inch drywall screws.

Footstep 7: Wipe downwardly the wall and drywall patch with a slightly dampened sponge to remove any dust. Side by side, utilize agglutinative-backed fiberglass mesh drywall tape over the four seams of the patch. Overlap the tape at the corners for maximum strength, and center each slice direct over a seam. Firmly printing down the tape for good adhesion.

Step 8: Use a four-inch drywall pocketknife to employ the outset layer of joint compound over the tape. Allow the compound to dry overnight.

Step 9: Smooth the dried compound with a hand-sanding pad fitted with a sanding screen.

Step ten: Utilize an 8-inch knife to apply several skim coats of joint compound over the repair, making each 1 slightly larger than the preceding one. Sand the last glaze smooth with 220-grit sandpaper. Finish by rolling on a coat of primer, followed by two topcoats of paint. And note that, in some cases, information technology might be necessary to paint the entire wall to ensure the patch is undetectable.