Terrified of putting nail holes in your drywall or sheetrock? Calm down. You too can have a gallery wall if you want it because fixing holes in drywall is easy but there is a right way to do it. And toothpaste ain't it.
People seem to be terrified of the strangest things. Green smarties, Sasquatch, ageing naturally and gracefully. I'm all for ageing in the most unnatural way possible by the way and am currently experimenting with red light therapy for an upcoming post.
The other thing people are unreasonably terrified of is putting nail holes in their walls. Your face I can understand, I mean a hole in your face is definitely going to be harder to fix than a hole in a wall.
With a hole in your wall you can stick a "Dogs Playing Pool" poster over it or the more refined "Naked Fireman Holding Rescued Kitten".
I mean, it'll look ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as if you stuck one of those posters over a hole in your face.
I've deduced, that people aren't terribly afraid of hammering the nail in, it's what to do when you take it out. Because once you take that nail out you are left with ... THE DREADED NAIL HOLE.
So what to do? Well, much like if your face has a big indentation in it, you fill it up with filler.
You can buy a tub of drywall compound at the hardware store for between $5 and $10. Premixed, ready to go.
You might even have some in your basement that you bought when you first moved into your house thinking you were going to be very handy home improvement whiz but instead - hung up fireman posters.
If that's the case your compound is probably dried out BUT you can fix dried up drywall compound. Just add water to it and mix it.
You'll also need a putty knife. That's what I'm using here. It's a flexible thin metal blade.
DRYWALL REPAIR TIP
If you're buying drywall compound and a putty knife make sure the putty knife you buy is small enough to fit inside the tub of drywall compound.
If you don't have one and you're only filling small nail holes you can use anything stiff but also flexible. Like your retired Blockbuster video rental card! Or any other plastic credit card type thing.
Don't worry, you don't have to do all this stuff you see in the photo above, this is me patching an entire wall with joint compound, tape, etc.
I have for you today a very, very short video on how to PROPERLY fill a small hole. That means there will be no use of drywall tape, toothpaste, cat hair, ski goggles, shaving cream or nail polish in these instructions.
How to Fix a Hole in Drywall.
Fix those tiny nail holes in your drywall with just a bit of compound and a hammer. Because to fix the little nail hole you first need to make it bigger!
Materials
- Joint compound (also called Drywall compound or Sheetrock compound)
Tools
- Putty Knife
- Hammer (ball peen)
Instructions
- Remove any nails, screws or anchors that are in the wall.
- Using the rounded end of a ball pean hammer, hammer in the small nail hole to create an indent.
- Fill the indent with joint compound using a flexible putty knife. Just put a blob of compound over the hole and then scrape the area flat by running the putty knife over it several times until smooth.
- Let the compound dry (you'll know it's completely dry when it's all lightened up to the same colour) and then gently sand it to smooth it out.
- Prime the repair with paint primer.
- Paint.
Notes
The reason you hammer in the small nail hold is because nail holes have a tiny lip around them that you might not even be able to see. This lip needs to be hammered in to get rid of that small lip that sticks out from the wall.
Oh wait! You have a bigger hole? That's O.K. Those are easy to fix too. Have a look at my post on how to patch drywall.
So there you have it. Filling nail holes is not very hard, definitely nothing to be afraid of and the very first thing you should do before you paint your walls with a new coat of paint.
You may have noticed a small indent in the wall when I painted it. That was some other indent that didn't choose to reveal itself until I painted over it. It wasn't the nail hole. Just some angry, angry, vindictive wall scar impersonating as a nail hole. Mainly just for attention I think.
Now that you're not afraid of filling nail holes you might want to graduate to learning how to make a gallery wall.
Kitten and fireman posters are strongly discouraged.
Ruth
So I sat here with my headphones on, wondering why I was hearing nothing, when I realised said headphones weren't plugged in. I backed up the video, plugged in the headphone jack.... to hear exactly TWO tiny sounds. LOL!
Some time back, you got me with a loud surprise sound... and now you've got me again, because I was fully expecting to be blasted. Hehehe....
Gretchen Sexton
Who knew a video about nail holes could be so fun? Leave it to you Karen. (I'm glad I watched even though I already knew how to do it. )
Mary Werner
3rd paragraph - just like a man! sorry, couldn't help myself. it was just begging for the comment
Melissa in North Carolina
That had to be the shortest video ever! Sounds effects were awesome...more please!
Vicky
Love the sound effects! I am learning how to mud and tape as we make over our kitchen. Lots of fun! If only nail holes were all we had to fix! The good thing is your video can just be applied to the big fixes also.
Jane
I love that hammer. It looks like my grandfather's hammer. Not like the boring modern metal ones.
Stephanie
I love you so much. Well like in a blogger way. Not like a strange home repair voyeuristic way. Wait. Maybe just like that. Please keep doing the things!!!
Feral Turtle
Those are the damn hammers that I can always find when I need to pull a nail....like yesterday. When I need to fill a hole, I have plenty of claw hammers kicking around. Go figure.
Alice
Any hints for those of us with plaster walls? I don't think making an intention would be a good thing, but I could be wrong. Thanks.
Karen
Hi Alice - You fill the holes the same way, just just eliminate the step where you hammer it. Plaster won't push out at the nail hole the way drywall/sheet rock does, so that step isn't necessary. ~ karen!
Su
I knew this! I'm a bit smarter than I thought I was... :)
Tigersmom
And the Oscar for" best use of sound effects in a video lasting less than one minute" goes to......
I fear no Smartie.
I used to fear putting holes in the walls, but once I learned how to fix them that bad boy was conquered. Another advantage to having white walls, sometimes you can get away without the painting step.
Karen
Wow, who knew...?
Maureen Locke
So that's what the round end of a hammer is for.. go figure. Now I need one of those hammers cause I have a crap load of nail holes to fill before I paint this summer. I always wind up slicing off those humps but they still show. Love the video and the sound effects but I was looking forward to hearing your wit and humour this morning.. not just read it. :)
Bob Fay
Having been a landlord for many years I have filled hundreds and hundreds of holes, I think I have a better way. Since most walls are textured these days, I seldom use a putty knife since that does away with the texture. For most holes I simply use my finger and some lightweight Spackle. Push a small amount into the hole and wipe it flat - now you have the same texture of the wall. For very small holes such as thumbtack holes, most can be filled with paint. Roll or brush the paint over the hole and if necessary go over it one more time.
All this is accomplished very quickly and looks great.
Stephanie Hobson
Green anything other than veggies is terrifying. Candy, Jello, beer, cake, ice cream, you name it. Equally terrifying.
Jennie Lee
Mint chocolate chip ice cream? Jade?
Stephanie Hobson
Jade yes. Mint chocolate ice cream no. lol
My wedding ring is jade. 43 years ago the jeweler advised against it, saying it would break. Still wearing it!
Jennie Lee
Thanks for the video, Karen! My Dad left me a hammer like that, and I never knew what the ball-thing was for! (Thanks, Dad.)
Karen
You're welcome Jennie Lee! ~ karen
Sydney Barnard
Just an FYI, that would be a ball-peen hammer, typically used in metal working (think sword smithing) but great for finishing off a nailing or riveting job if you don't want to whack a flat surface with the full face of a hammer damaging the surrounding area.
Karen
Yes. I know, lol. That's why I used the ball peen hammer on to whack my flat surface. :) ~ karen!
Janni
Good advice and love the sound effects:)
TucsonPatty
And such a nice video with wonderful sound effects it is, indeed!! Short and to the point! I agree with the double filling - unlike double billing which I wrote first, and don't forget to let it dry before sanding! Love your videos, Karen.
Terri
Private!!! Oh no. :(
Karen
No more oh no. She's up and running now! ~ karen
Valerie
Ditto on "private" for the video.
One thing about nail holes I have noticed is that it works well to fill them twice with a 12 hour period between. The first filling tends to shrink a bit and if the hole is large - sometimes a tiny crack may appear but the first filling does create the base for the second and final filling, light sanding etc. prior to painting.
Karen
Video's up! ~ karen
brenda
Top Secret???? So private I have to contact the FBI???? Inquiring minds indeed.....
Karen
No longer private. :) Come have a look. ~ karen
Amber
hmmm, all I'm getting is that the video is private. Does this mean it's actually documentation of that time with that guy and the saran wrap and the chicken? Is it really about nail holes Karen? Inquiring minds...
Karen
You'll have to find out for yourself. Video is up and running now! ~ karen