Help - Patching a Hole in a Drywall Ceiling ...
 

Hey everyone ...

was looking for some help / advice. I finished drywalling my ceiling (basement) and had pre-wired pot lights in between every other floor joist.

I don't know what happened, but I cut my 3" hole with a hole saw starting in between the wrong joist!

anyone have advice on the best way to patch this hole? of course I'd like it to look as "smooth" as possible ... any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Take a piece of wood strapping that is slightly longer tha nthe hole diameter. If it is a 3" hole, use strapping cut to 7". Insert into the hole and lay it accross the hole. Leave 2" overhang on each side. Holding the strapping length firmly with your "off" hand, insert drywall screws through the sheetrock and into the strapping. Use 2 screws for each side.
You should now have the strapping firmly in place and secured to serve as an attachement surface for your sheetrock patch.
Then cut out a peice of sheetrock to match the 3" hole and attach it to the strapping that should be across the hole.
Tape, coat, sand as needed....

Tip: The key to hiding a patch like that is to make the final skim coat wide and blend the overall surface into the rest of the ceiling.

Good Luck.

hey there AtlanticWBConst ...

thanks for the great info ... I'll definitely give this a shot ... hopefully it works out, but we'll see ... I got a reply from another site suggesting that I remove the first couple of layers of 'paper' from the sheet rock - both around the 3" hole, and also within the patch piece ... is this a good idea?

Never heard, nor seen such a thing in 25 years. Trust me, stick to the way I suggested.

Apply paper tape to the seams. Apply a smooth filler coat. Apply one to two more thin coats, each wider than the previous one. If you have trouble getting the coats smooth, then sand between coats.

Don't remove the paper. The joint compound may stick a little better to bare gypsum, but you'll ruin the integrity of the drywall. Do what Atlantic wrote.

In my DIY experience -I'd like to add:

- cut the drywall patch first and slightly larger than your hole. Eg. I might cut a 3.5 inch square for your patch;take your time cutting out your patch. Use a straight edge - don't just score and snap; Use the patch as a template to enlarge the hole. Again use a straight edge and work carefully.

- Keep your trowel blade clean when applying mud - a stray hair, bit of gypsum, or paper stuck to your blade can quickly ruin a perfect feathering job.

- Don't forget to tape off or protect the floor under your work.

For me, this has always resulted in an easier patch - that is, easier for me to set it cleanly. I'm sure the pros eyeball and snap things like this. For that "perfect" look I always seem to rely on lots of mudding and sanding.

Oh, LBNL, check the thickness of your drywall before you cut a patch. More than once I've cut a 3/4 thick patch for a hole in my landlord's 1/2 thick drywall. Cheap B**tard.

3/4" Drywall? What's wrong with 1/2"?

"Cheap B**tard" - Whoops! I appear to have let my dissatisfaction with my former landlord leak into an editorial comment. My Bad. Nothing was wrong with the 1/2 except it would have taken a hell-of-a-lot of feathering to get it to match the 3/4 inch patch I tried to use.

hey there atlantic ... thanks for the info ... I tried exactly what you said ... 2 days later and 3 coats (sanding inbetween), everything looks awesome. put a quick coat of flat paint over the patch and it looks pretty smooth.

Glad to hear it all worked out. Hopefully you are now onto bigger and better projects.