Drywall Repair + Dark Color + Repaint = Help

ClemsonJeeper

I have a semi-large (2.5") hole in a dark red (cherryish) painted wall. I obviously will need to sand the area and put a drywall patch over it along with patch compound.

What will I need to do to repaint the area and make it look even with the rest of the wall?

I planned on priming the area that was repaired (as if I was starting from scratch) and then repainting the entire section of the wall so I don't have any noticable "square" that is a darker patch than the rest. Is this the correct method?

I'm relatively new to painting in my house so I'm not sure exactly what to do.

Can anyone give some tips?

analog414

You do have it right. Paint corner to corner and you will be fine. If you have the original paint you could feather in this area. But I do not know what the lighting is in this room. Corner to corner you can't go wrong.

Put a piece of wood behind this hole and insert a small piece of drywall in this 2.5" hole. Use paper tape. Three coats of joint compound will be the charm.

ClemsonJeeper

So you would recommend doing it that way versus using one of the mesh drywall repair kits then applying drywall patch compound over it and sanding it? How do you mount the piece of wood behind the drywall to hold it in place while applying the drywall to it?

I have the original paint. This is the entryway to my house, and it has a window over my front door so it gets some decent light. I am a painting noob so can you please explain (or perhaps point out a link) what you mean by painting corner to corner and/or feathering? (I will do some googling on this now).

slickshift

Yes, that would be correct
If you are painting the wall red again, you may want to tint the primer, and/or "spot paint" a "pre-coat" of color over the area
Reds are tough to get right, and sometimes take several coats
A gray primer and a "spot coat" of color (or two) over the repair area would help ensure that the repair area blends in as well as possible
(it would be over kill for most applications, but reds can be tough)

ClemsonJeeper

Yes I have the primer I used for the original application which was a tinted red version of the final color. So should I just apply this primer to the drywall repaired area and then go for the final color?

It was tough the first time out too - I had to do 4 coats or so of the final color to make it look right.

sirwired

I would think that for a 2.5" hole, patching mesh could work just fine. Alternatively, square-up the hole, taper the hole so the inside edge is a little more narrow than the outside edge cut a drywall insert to fit, and then mud, tape, mud, mud. A backer board seems like overkill for such a small hole.

The handyman (former drywall guy) that I had do a lot of work in my house could do wonders with fiberglass mesh and about a half-dozen coats of hot mud... 6" hole? No problem! No backer board, no cut-to-fit patch, nothing but mesh and lots of mud.

SirWired

slickshift

Not surprising with red
You'll want to prime then spot paint it till it looks kinda like the rest of the wall...then coat the whole wall