Drywall Repair

Drywall repair fixes holes, cracks, nail pops, torn paper, loose corner bead and water-damaged sections so they disappear under paint. Safe Choice Painting tapes and finishes each repair, matches the texture of the wall or ceiling, then primes and paints it. Small repairs come with every interior paint job, and larger ones can be booked on their own.

Which drywall damage can be patched?

Most of it. The common repairs we make:

• Nail and screw pops that push bumps through the paint.
• Small holes from anchors, hooks, door handles and moving day.
• Large holes that need a new piece of drywall set in and taped.
• Cracks at seams and at the corners of doors and windows.
• Torn face paper from tape, wallpaper or a peeled-off mirror.
• Loose or dented corner bead on outside corners.
• Water damage on walls and ceilings after a leak.

Why do nail pops happen?

The Gypsum Association's GA-222 bulletin says fastener pops are largely caused by framing lumber shrinking after the drywall went up, and that overly long fasteners make it worse. The fix it describes is to drive a new screw of the right length into the same framing about 1-1/2 inches from the popped one, pressing the board tight to the framing, then reset or remove the old fastener and finish over both. That is how we repair them. GA-222 also notes that pops showing up a month or more into the heating season are often best fixed at the end of it, after the wood has finished drying.

How is the texture matched?

Most walls in our area have a texture: orange peel, knockdown or a hand-troweled pattern. A smooth patch on a textured wall shows from across the room. We match texture with spray or hand tools, test it on scrap board or a hidden spot, and blend the edges into the wall around it. On ceilings, the same goes for knockdown and other textures. Our ceiling retexture page covers ceiling textures in detail.

Texture matching comes up most in homes from the 1980s and 1990s. In Corinth about 54 percent of homes were built from 1980 to 1999, and in Lake Dallas about 39 percent, by Census estimates. See interior painting in Corinth and our Lake Dallas service area.

Ceiling drywall repair

Ceilings take the same repairs as walls, plus cracks along long seams and stains from leaks above. After popcorn texture comes off, ceilings often need tape and seam work, covered on our drywall repair after popcorn removal page. For a damaged spot in a popcorn ceiling you want to keep, see popcorn ceiling repair.

Water-damaged drywall: what has to happen first

1. Fix the leak. A roof, plumbing or AC leak has to be stopped first, or the repair will stain again.
2. Dry it out. Wet drywall and the framing behind it need time to dry.
3. Cut out soft board. Drywall that is soft, sagging or crumbling is cut back to sound board and replaced.
4. Block the stain. Stains on board that stays get a stain-blocking primer, such as an oil-based stain blocker like KILZ Original.
5. Finish and paint. Tape, compound, texture, primer and paint.

Painting after the repair so the patch does not show

Joint compound and drywall paper absorb paint differently from painted wall, so a repair painted with one coat often shows as a dull or shiny patch. National Gypsum notes that a skim coat equalizes porosity, and a primer does the same job on smaller repairs. Then the whole wall is painted, corner to corner, because old paint has faded and a touch-up rarely matches. Our interior painting service handles that last step, and ceiling painting covers ceilings. Walls with torn paper after wallpaper comes off are covered on our wallpaper removal page.

Cracks that keep coming back

A crack that returns in the same place, or keeps widening, can be a sign that the house is moving. Tape and compound will hide it for a while, but they will not stop it. If we see that pattern, we point it out so you can have it looked at before we repair the wall.

Nearby

• Drywall repair in Denton, TX
• Interior painting
• Ceiling painting
• Interior painting in Corinth, TX
• Wallpaper removal
• All service areas