Repairing a Hole in the Wall so it can Support Fixtures

Holes in the drywall are pretty common repairs for diy-ers, flippers, or landlords. Small ones can just be spackled over or maybe need a bit of grid tape to support it. In this video we show you how to use plywood to fill in larger hole so that you can re-mount a towel rack into it.

In this instance, we had a renter put her full weight on a towel rack that hadn't been mounted into a stud. This is a way more common occurrence than you might think. Getting in and out of the shower, many renters have a tendency to support their weight on the towel rack.

To give you a better idea of what Adam's doing I'll give you a breakdown of the steps. Lily is below trying to eat drywall crumbs off the floor.

1. Cut the plywood slightly larger than the hole but small enough that you'll be able to slide it into the hole.
2. Pre-drill screw holes into the top and middle of the plywood.
3. Remove the middle screw and slide the plywood into the hole. (Adam made the hole bigger in order to do this.)
4. Add the middle screw back and remove the top screw then, holding it by the middle screw, slide the plywood so that it is completely covering the hole.
5. Drill two screws through the top, then two through the bottom to hold the plywood in place.
6. Tape and spackle, being sure to fill the hole with spackle.
7. Let dry.
8. Sand it down, being careful not to expose the tape.
9. Paint and done!

You may need to add two coats of spackle if you have difficulty completely and evenly covering the hole and tape with the first coat.

More of our tips, blog posts, and doggie pictures at Lily Buys Houses